Feller Leads Friday Morning Practice at Mount Panorama

Audi Sport Team Valvoline driver Ricardo Feller went quickest overall during the first morning of practice running for this weekend’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Feller posted a time of 2:04.515 to lead the opening 30-minute setup run at Mount Panorama in the No. 777 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II that is also being driven by Markus Winkelhock and Yasser Shahin.

Two practice sessions were held on Friday morning, with the first being open to all drivers and the second reserved for Bronze-rated competitors. A late schedule change saw the Bronzes take over the wheel after their Pro co-drivers had dialed the cars in.  

The fastest lap in the second session, which came right after opening practice, was a 2:06.581 from Brad Schumacher in the No. 74 Audi Sport Team Valvoline car.

Feller set the outright pace on two occasions, the Swiss driver first leading Practice 1 with a 2:04.908 effort.

That three-decimal figure was then matched by SunEnergy1 Racing’s Jules Gounon, who edged Feller by a microscopic 0.0003-second margin in the No. 75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo on his final lap.

Feller, however, was on a late-session improvement of his own further up the track and ensured that Gounon’s stay at the top of the leaderboard was a brief one.

Tony D’Alberto made it three different manufacturers in the top three with a time of 2:05.180 aboard the Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.

Cameron Waters was fourth in the No. 24 Tony Bates Racing Audi, ahead of Am class leader David Russell in the No. 47 Supabarn Audi run by the Melbourne Performance Centre team.

Feller’s co-driver Shahin finished second to Schumacher in the second session, marking a one-two result for the MPC-prepared Audi Sport Team Valvoline entries.

The second session was red-flagged with three minutes to go when the M Motorsport KTM X-Bow GT2 stopped at the Chase.

A split format will also be deployed for afternoon practice, with the first session booked for Bronze-rated drivers and the second permitting all drivers to take part.

The Bronze session gets underway at 3:20 p.m. AEST (6:20 a.m. ET) while the open session starts at 5:05 p.m. (8:05 a.m. ET).

RESULTS: Practice 1 / Practice 2