Campbell Puts Manthey EMA Porsche Quickest in Practice 5

Photo: Kevin Pecks/SRO

Matt Campbell was quickest in the penultimate practice session for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, putting Manthey EMA on top of the time sheets Saturday morning at Mount Panorama.

The Australian reeled off a best lap of 2:02.751 in the No. 912 Porsche 911 GT3 R to edge out two-time and defending race winner Jules Gounon by 0.769 seconds.

Gounon’s No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo initially went quickest with a 2:02.828 in the second half of the 60-minute session prior to Campbell’s improvement with five minutes to go.

Richie Stanaway put the Pro-Am class No. 99 Tripe Eight Race Engineering Mercedes third quickest with a 2:02.857 lap time followed by the No. 999 GruppeM Racing Merc that was driven by Maro Engel in fourth.

The No. 74 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II completed the top five.

Twenty-five of the 26 initially entered cars set times in the session, including the No. 50 MMotorsport entry, which is now an Audi GT3 car after switching from a KTM X-Bow GT2 due to engine issues.

The No. 52 MARC II V8, which was also competing in the Invitational class, has been withdrawn following Keith Kassulke’s heavy accident in Friday’s Practice 4 session.

A final one-hour practice is on tap from 10:50-11:50 a.m. local time, followed by qualifying and the Top 10 Shootout.

RESULTS: Practice 5

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