Dennis Claims Pole; GruppeM Mercedes-AMG to Start First

Photo: Bathurst 12H

Jake Dennis has claimed pole position for Sunday’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, although the R-Motorsport Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 will not start the race from the front row.

Dennis, who topped qualifying heading into the Top 10 Shootout, reeled off a 2:02.494 in the No. 62 Aston Martin to outpace Raffaele Marciello by a sizable 0.440 seconds in the Pirelli Top 10 Shooutout to earn the Allan Simonsen Pole Award in his debut at Mt. Panorama.

However, the Team Jota/Arden-run Aston will roll off from third on the grid, after being handed a two-position grid penalty for a pit speed infraction in Qualifying 1.

It has promoted Maro Engel in the No. 77 Craft Bamboo/Black Falcon to second, in a front row sweep for the German manufacturer, led by Marciello’s GruppeM entry.

Marciello and GruppeM also led the way among the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli entrants, as Aston Martin is not a registered series manufacturer.

Steven Kane qualified the No. 107 Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 in fourth, followed by David Reynolds, who made it three Mercedes in the top-five overall.

The No. 777 The Bend Motorsports Park Mercedes was the highest GT3 Pro-Am qualifier.

A slight off by Kelvin van der Linde on his hot lap dashed hoped of a pole for the South African, who will line up sixth in the No. 22 Team Vavoline Audi R8 LMS, ahead of Porsche Young Professional Matt Campbell in the GT3 debuting Earl Bamber Motorsport squad.

Yelmer Buurman, Christopher Haase and Alexandre Imperatori completed the top-ten.

The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour gets underway Sunday at 5:45 a.m. local time.

RESULTS: Pirelli Top 10 Shootout

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