VAN DER LINDE BROTHERS BOSS BATHURST FOR BMW
BMW has conquered the mountain in the most convincing fashion with Augusto Farfus and brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde guiding Team WRT to a crushing 1-2 in the 2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
Having first arrived at the mountain with BMW in 2023 and only finished as high as fourth, it was a sweet success for Team WRT, which had also won the race with an Audi in 2018.
Bathurst Hour 8: BMW stays in front
With the final third of the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour now begun, the #32 Team WRT BMW remains in control.
Augusto Farfus in the black #32 machine has controlled the second third of the race and enjoys a 2s lead over Jayden Ojeda, who is fighting hard in the Craft Bamboo Mercedes.
Despite not having the same pace as the opening stint, Chaz Mostert remains in contention in the #32 Arise Racing Ferrari in third.Ayhancan Guven (#911) and Jules Gounon (#75) complete the top five.
But strategy is the name of the game with the contenders needing to do either three or four more stops to make it home with the #46 going on an alternate run in sixth.
Critically contenders Maro Engel (#888) and Broc Feeney (#183) are out of action after separate incidents.Sam Shahin has a strong grip on Pro Am, as does Villagomez in Silver, while Josh Buchan is four laps up in GT4.
Following a fourth Safety due to debris caused by a clash between Luke Youlden and Adrian Deitz, there was finally an extended green flag run that went for more than two hours all the way to half race distance.
The long stretch was dominated by Team WRT with the two BMWs heading the field by using smart strategy and fuel saving.
During this period Gounon had also pushed the SunEnergy1 Mercedes all the way into the top three, where Talbot had started his stint in the #183 Audi but slumped to ninth against more experienced drivers.
Critically the #44 Audi of Scott Andrews returned to the track after losing The long run was broken at the halfway mark due to Christodoulou going off at Hell Corner
.Following the restart Team WRT maintained control but there were multiple moments where lapped traffic saw its advantages vanish.
At one stage the top six ran nose to tail, but eventually Farfus was able to break clear.
Soon the intense pace proved to be too much for some of the top contenders.
In more Bathurst heartbreak for Feeney, the #183 MPC Audi got stuck in the sand at The Chase.A part failure in the braking area sent Feller suddenly careering into the sand and out of action.
After going from a lap down to running eighth during the seventh hour, it was tough to take.
“This place keeps disappointing me, so I hope it’s not too far until we have a good one,” Feeney said.
“I’m not really sure what happened yet, so hopefully we can get the car back and have a look.
“We were really fast earlier in the day.
“We were one of the only cars that could actually pass the Ferraris and Mercedes and all that.
“I thought if we were up there at the end we could fight for it today, but as always, Bathurst seems to have something up its sleeve for me.”
The #888 of Engel had dropped to the back of the five-way battle for the lead due to a pit lane penalty for leaving an earthing cable connected to the car as it left a pit stop during Hour 5.
However, the Team GMR Mercedes race came to an end on Lap 170, just six laps after the Audi.Sitting Martin seventh got slightly too wide leaving the Chase which saw him spear across the track and crunch hard into the concrete on the exit of Turn 22.
The impact was so severe the car went airborne and was wiped out on the spot.
Despite having led the race more than any international driver, Engel’s Bathurst 12 Hour drought continued for another year, but he was more worried about Martin.
“It was a pretty big impact into the concrete wall and it looks like he was not feeling great so I hope he is okay and that is the main thing,” Engel said.
“We were in the top four and Maxi was doing a great job. Looks like he just dropped a wheel in the sand but these things happen,” said co-driver Greiner.
During the yellow the #46 of Weerts took an extra stop to go on an alternate strategy to leading teammate Farfus.
Racing resumed with 4h34m left on the clock and Farfus immediately pulled the best part of 2s on Ojeda and Mostert.That remained the order after eight hours of racing in beautiful conditions.
VAN DER LINDE STAYS IN CHARGE AS FERRARI AND PORSCHE BATTLE
The ninth hour of the 2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour stayed clean as Kelvin van der Linde ensured the #32 BMW maintains the lead, currently 3s over Maximilian Gotz in the Craft Bamboo Mercedes.
They are well ahead of Alession Picariello and Will Brown, who are currently in an intense nose to tail fight for third on the road.
With less than three hours remaining Robichon heads Bronze, Jaxon Evans leads Pro Am by the best part of two laps having passed the #91, Jaylyn Robotham leads Tony D’Alberto in a tight fight for Silver, while Levitt is three laps ahead in GT4.
Despite Farfus looking strong, the top four compressed at the start of the ninth hour with only 1.7s separating them as the approached the 200-lap mark.
The next turning point was the lap 201 pit cycle where Mostert, Ojeda and Guven pitted nose to tail from second to fourth.
The trio were all released at the same time which saw the #911 of Picariello jump Brown’s Ferrari to slot in behind the Craft Bamboo Mercedes.
Farfus boxed from the lead two laps later and kelvin van der Linde jumped in with 4s up his sleeve.
Gounon and Weerts stayed out for another three laps to lap 206 and they retained track position.
With Stolz fifth in the #75 and Rossi sixth in the #46 the top six were separated by 20s.
The pair at close quarters were Picariello and Brown, who were running nose to tail in a thrilling fight for third with a particularly close call at Forrests Elbow.
Brown kept chasing hard for the remainder of the hour and sensed his moment at the arrival of the lapped #19.
He got a run down Conrod Straight and had a look at both The Chase and Murrays, but could not get close enough.
The Ferrari managed to even get some overlap when they arrived at Griffins Bend, but Picariello held firm on the inside yet again.
However, their scuffles saw them drift more than 15s away from leader Kelvin van der Linde, who retains a soldi 3s advantage.
Just three hours remain with the finish creeping every closer.
With just two hours remaining, BMW remains in the box seat at the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour, but plenty remain in contention.
Just 23s cover the top five after 10 hours and 248 laps of racing around Mount Panorama.
The van der Linde brothers of Kelvin and currently Sheldon maintained the #32 Team WRT BMW’s lead that currently sits at 4s.
Their nearest rival remains the Craft Bamboo Mercedes currently steered by pole sitter Lucas Auer with just 4s between them.
Around 17s further back is a heated battle pack of Daniel Serra in the #26 Ferrari, Luca Stolz in the SunEnergy Mercedes and Ayhancan Guven in the #911 Porsche.
Maintaining the Pro Am lead is Rovera in the sister Ferrari with Bronze controlled by Fiore and GT4 Santalucia.
There was a change in Sliver class with D’Alberto catching and passing Robotham’s Aston Martin at the start of the 10th hour.
However, there was more at play with Volante Rosso Motorsport pulling the Gulf backed machine into the garage.
Brown had been right under the wing of Picariello for over an hour and just when the Porsche appeared to break free from the Ferrari, things turned upside down thanks to one mistake.
Picariello bowled a wide at Murrays Corner, carrying too much entry speed and found the gravel.
Although he escaped swiftly, the damage was done with Brown snatching third place and going 3s up the road.
This released the pressure and tension at the front of the field as they charge towards the final two hours.
They returned to the pits together on Lap 233 and things remained the same with Serra leading Guven by 3s.
Gotz managed to keep up with van der Linde and squeezed an extra lap out of the stint.
Leader Van der Linde boxed with 2h21m to go and retained a 2s lead over Auer, while Rossi came to complete his third 12 Hour five minutes later.
The MotoGP legend unfortunately made the mistake of hitting the wall on pit entry, just before the limit line.
However, Stolz found even more range in his tank, going all the way until Lap 241, ensuring he returned third and perform the overcut on Serra and Guven.
However, the factory Ferrari river had the lights on and used the 296’s straight line speed to snare third place back with a committed move at The Chase.
As they wrestled for third, 20s up the road Sheldon van der Linde was importantly growing his lead over Auer.
After it started at 2s, it doubled to 4s by the end of the hour which could be decisive if it stays green.
Team WRT is the team to take the 2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour with Kelvin van der Linde enjoying a solid advantage into the final hour.
Van der Linde in the #32 BMW has controlled the second half of the race an enters the 12th and final hour with a 6s lead over Chaz Mostert.
However, Mostert is predicted to make another stop before the chequered flag with Lucas Auer in the Craft Bamboo Mercedes the nearest who does not need another top up a further 8s back.
Jules Gounon is back for another hero stint but has work to do in the SunEnergy machine, being 19s off the pace, while Raffaele Marciello in the #46 is keeping Matt Campbell out of the top five.
Although BMW is in the box seat, things can easily shake up in the final hour.
Heading Pro Am is Alessio Rovera in the #36, Silver is fronted by Brendon Leitch, while GT4 is headed by Josh Buchan.
Kelvin Van der Linde was setting a hot pace up the front of the field, growing their advantage to 7s as the race entered the penultimate hour.
Fiore was around 20s adrift of Bronze leader Gunn at the start of the 11th hour, but their battle would not go any further as the #9 Audi headed into the garage.
GT4 Mercedes of Christodoulou also suffered the same fate.
With the race closing down the contenders were most worried about fuel strategy and maintaining track position.
The Team WRT BMWs were in the best position, being predicted to make it home with just one more stop, while the rest may struggle to do the same.
Serra had the foot down and was going hard, reducing the deficit to van der Linde to 19s before stopping on Lap 265 with 1h24m to go.
Both the #26 Ferrari and #911 Porsche carried on their battle, pitting together to put Mostert and Campbell in with the hope of a late Safety Car.
A slow getaway for the Porsche star gave away 9s to his Arise Racing rival.
Next to need fuel was second placed Auer, who pitted three laps later for tyres and fuel.
The Craft Bamboo Mercedes came out 5s clear of Mostert, but in an awkward position in regards to file saving over the final 76 minutes.
As a result, Mostert only needed three laps to fly by down Conrod.
Having built an 18s advantage, leader van der Linde waited until Lap 273 to make the final fuel stop and change over to brother Kelvin.
Despite coming out third on the road, those ahead had to still pit and with nearest rival Auer 15s back, this left him with a 66m stint from glory.
Those ahead of Stolz and Marciello pitted line astern just one lap later, the positions rained the same with Gounon jumping into the SunEnergy machine for the run home.
2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour results
Pos Drivers Class Car Laps Time
1 A.Farfus/S.van der Linde/K.van der Linde PRO BMW 306 12:01:53.1350 +3
2 V.Rossi/C.Weerts/R.Marciello PRO BMW 306 +10.245 +10
3 K.Habul/J.Gounon/L.Stolz PRO Mercedes 306 +11.363 +5
4 C.Mostert/W.Brown/D.Serra PRO Ferrari 306 +1:03.9620 +1
5 M.Gotz/L.Auer/J.Ojeda PRO Mercedes 306 +1:27.9040 -4
6 A.Picariello/A.Guven/M.Campbell PRO Porsche 306 +1:42.0680 +7
7 R.Gunn/Z.Robichon/I.James BRO Mercedes 305 +1 Lap +6
8 J.Evans/E.Schutte/B.Schumacher/A.Rovera PAM Ferrari 303 +2 Laps +8
9 T.D’Alberto/B.Leitch/G.Denyer/A.Deitz SIL Lamborghini 303 +2 Laps +6
10 L.Heinrich/Y.Shahin/S.Shahin/M.Schuring PAM Porsche 303 +2 Laps -5
11 L.Holdsworth/D.Fiore/M.Cini BRO Audi 291 +15 Laps -1
12 L.Youlden/D.Russell/T.Koundouris/J.Koundouris SIL Mercedes 283 +23 Laps +3
13 J.Day/M.Villagomez/J.Robotham SIL Aston Martin 276 +30 Laps +5
14 A.Levitt/J.Buchan/J.Santalucia GT4 McLaren 276 +30 Laps +8
15 D.Crampton/T.Harrison/G.Wood INV KTM 270 +36 Laps +4
16 M.Griffith/A.Christodoulou/D.Bilski GT4 Mercedes 261 +45 Laps +4
17 S.Andrews/M.Zalloua/S.Pires PAM Audi 241 +65 Laps -9
18 M.Engel/M.Martin/M.Grenier PRO Mercedes 170 +136 Laps -15
19 R.Feller/B.Feeney/L.Talbot PRO Audi 164 +142 laps -17
20 F.Schiller/B.Grove/S.Grove BRO Mercedes 53 +253 -6
21 R.Sorensen/T.Hayman/Buccini GT4 McLaren 36 +270 Laps –
22 C.Lowndes/T.Randle/C. Waters PRO Mercedes 35 +271 Laps -13
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