Auer fires Mercedes to Bathurst 12 Hour pole
Lucas Auer only needed one lap, but that was enough for him to put Mercedes on pole for the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
Auer fired a scorching 2:01.2760 to take the Allan Simonsen Pole Award which means he, Jayden Ojeda and Maximilian Gotz will head the field in the #77 Craft Bamboo Mercedes.
Forced to settle for second best was Ricardo Feller in the Melbourne Performance Centre Audi he shares with Broc Feeney and Liam Talbot.
In another Mercedes, Maro Engel won a tight battle for third ahead of Sheldon van der Linde in the #32 BMW and Chaz Mostert, who pushed hard in the Ferrari.
Auer was thrilled to get a special pole for Craft Bamboo.
“Big thanks to my team and Mercedes AMG. Really looking forward to the race,” he said.
“It is a legendary place and such a legendary circuit. Great place to race.”
Completing the top 10 were Laurin Heinrich, Luca Stolz, Scott Andrews, Cameron Waters and Lee Holdsworth.
The 15 minute blast for pole started slowly with Engel and Auer staying in the lane as others slowly built up to their tyre temperature.
Holdsworth was the first to fire a lap in anger, posting a 2:05.7840 at the five minute mark
It took another two minutes for Holdsworth’s time to be beaten albeit by just 0.07s with fellow Supercars rival Waters.
As the final five minutes began, the chase for pole erupted as the track ramped up.
The driver who kicked the session into overdrive was Feller, being the first in 2m01s window.
Heinrich was the next to join him and was just a tenth away after posting a purple middle sector.
Waiting in the wings was Auer, but it was worth it.
His #77 Mercedes flew up Mountain Straight and down Conrod to set a scorching 2:01.2760.
Having thrown down the gauntlet, he was so happy with his one lap, he spent the final two minutes in the lane, asking the rest to catch me if you can.
Meanwhile, Andrews jumped both Waters and Holdsworth to fifth before some big names made improvements.
Engel was the next to have a crack and he shot up to third.
Mostert tried to join them with a purple middle split but did not have the straight line speed to challenge the top four.
As all of this happened van der Linde found himself down in 10th before rising to fourth, but this was far from his first attempt.
He opened his next flyer with a purple opening sector, but could not carry the momentum across the top of the mountain and had to settle for fourth.
Engel was the last to have a crack and set a personal best middle sector, but could not improve.
It all happened quickly, but Mercedes was the car to have in an intense fight for pole.
With the Allan Simonsen Pole Award decided, attention turns to the 12 hour torture test tomorrow.
The race begins at 5.45 AEDT.
Image: GT World Challenge Australia
2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour Pole Battle results
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