Kenny Habul, Martin Konrad, Jules Gounon, and Luca Stolz won the Bathurst 12 hour race while Mercedes took a clean sweep of the podium.
Shane van Gisbergen had a clean day in the Triple Eight Race engineering entry to take a podium result.
The race got underway in difficult conditions, with thick fog around the already dark circuit, making visibility challenging for the drivers.
The fog became an ongoing issue through the morning with the race starting under safety car conditions before returning to the track twice due to visibility issues. While later in the day periods of rain would also sweep through the track.
The first half of the race was chaotic with a number of safety car periods, the first of which was for Zane Morse who crashed at the top of the mountain in the tough conditions.
Broc Feeney in the Mercedes AMG GT3 he shares with Shane van Gisbergen and Prince Jefri Ibrahim took the lead around two hour of the race, with the team able to keep the car near the front for the majority of the day.
After taking pole position for the race the Audi R8 EVO II shared by Chaz Mostert, Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross had a difficult day, struggling with a number of issues. Including the car making contact with Tony D’Alberto early on, which would see them struggle to open the door in the next pitstop.
The team would also deal with mechanical dramas later in the day, which would see them stopped on the side of the track before the car would get moving again after completing a restart. The car later made contact with the wall through skyline with the damage ultimately forcing its retirement from the race.
The 91 entry of Kevin Tse, Daniel Juncadella, and Maro Engel had a different strategy through the race opting to do all their compulsory timed pit stops early in the race to save time in the later stages of the race. The team would stay near the front of the pack for the majority of the day despite completing 21 pitstops through the race.
The Audi Sport Team Valvoline shared by Kelvin van der Linde, Brad Schumacher, and Nathanael Berthon raced with the leaders untill they recieved a 2 minute penalty for exceeding the drive time an Am driver can complete.
The penalty dropped them a lap down with a few hours remaining, Van der Linde was consistently the fastest car on track through the final stint of the race, however, the team wouldnt get their lap back, finishing fourth a lap down.
The 17 car of Mark Rosser, Nick Percat, and Joseph Mawson had a difficult weekend after a crash early in the weekend which saw them miss qualifying, recovered through the race staying in the top ten much of the day, to finish eighth.
The race leading group of Gounon, Engel, and van Gisbergen made their penultimate stops with just over 2 hours remaining in the race, with their final stops coming just an hour from the checkered flag.
The Kenny Habul, Martin Konrad, Jules Gounon, and Luca Stolz entry took the race win, crossing the line almost 9 seconds clear of Kevin Tse, Daniel Juncadella, and Maro Engel who took second.
Third place went to the Triple Eight entry shared by Prince Jefri Ibrahim, Broc Feeney, and Shane van Gisbergen who were the last car on the lead lap, 1 minute 35 seconds behind the race winner.
Main image: GT World Challenge Australia
