The success of Triple Eight Engineering in 2022 has continued at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International, full-time Am driver Prince Jefri Ibrahim partnering with Pro Broc Feeney to take honours in the three hour enduro.
In a see-saw of a battle between the #888 Mercedes AMG GT3 and the #55 Audi R8 LMS Ultra of Brad Schumacher and Tim Slade, the latter led for the majority of the race before being overtaken in the last 30 minutes to finish second.
It was Jordan Love and Ross Poulakis who rounded out the podium, their Mercedes AMG GT3 with enough pace to easily top fourth-placed getters Jack Smith and New Zealander Tim Miles.
Fourth place, however, is a commendable effort for the professional Supercars driver, the event his first time racing GTs.
In conditions which almost replicated last month’s Bathurst 1000, the race began in wet conditions but quickly dried throughout proceedings.
It was the local Schumacher who go away fastest, quickly putting a gap on Ibrahim as the race set into a rhythm.
The Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG GT was never far behind, however, and when Feeney took the wheel for his final stint he went about hunting down Slade up the road, overcoming an 18 second deficit in just 30 minutes to take the lead on Pit Straight at the start of Lap 62.
The Red Bull Supercar driver never looked back, putting 11 seconds on rival Slade over the final 30 minutes.
The pairing of Poulakis and Love finished a further 16 seconds down to road to finish third.
The victory comes as a consolation of sorts for Triple Eight, the squad left with the prospect of a large repair bill after Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim rolled their other entry in qualifying on top of the mountain.
The crash left the chassis bent, the car withdrawn from proceedings and Prince Abu Bakar, who partnered Supercars legend Jamie Whincup for the event, forced to the medical centre for check ups.
They were unable to take the start for the race.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge returns for the final round in Adelaide in early December, however will likely be without several Pro drivers who will be committing to the headlining Adelaide 500 at that event.
