Craft-Bamboo Aston Leads With Three Hours to Go

Photo: John Dagys

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Darryl O’Young is out front in the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour with only three hours remaining in the around-the-clock Australian enduro.

The No. 97 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 of O’Young took over the lead following the latest round of pit stops, and the race’s 15th full-course caution.

The pair of Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultras run second and third, followed by the No. 10 M-Sport Team Bentley Continental GT3 of Matt Bell, who has rebounded to fourth.

Richard Muscat completes the top-five in the No. 36 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, with the No. 35 NISMO Athlete Global Team Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in sixth.

The top-six all remain on the lead lap, with the No. 12 Ice Break Competition Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R running a strong seventh, but one lap behind in the hands of Patrick Long.

There have been a race record of 15 full course cautions, including incidents for the No. 63 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes, No. 43 Mazda RX-8, No. 52 Aston Martin Vantage and No. 7 VodkaO Mercedes, which made heavy contact at the Chase.

The race’s most notable incident came in the eighth hour when the No. 36 Erebus entry of Dean Canto made contact with the Michele Rugolo-driven No. 77 AF Corse Ferrari while battling for fifth, resulting in suspension damage for the Ferrari and a drive-through penalty for the Merc.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John