Reynolds, SunEnergy1 Pace Practice 3 at Bathurst

Photo: John Dagys

SunEnergy1 Racing topped the time charts in the third practice session of the day at Bathurst, with a GT3 Pro-Am class Mercedes-AMG GT3 going quickest overall.

David Reynolds laid down a 2:04.931 lap time in the previous-gen Mercedes to bump the No. 77 Team Craft Bamboo Black Falcon Mercedes Evo of Luca Stolz from the top spot by 0.235 seconds.

The No. 77 Mercedes Evo returned to action following a right-rear suspension failure that sent Maro Engel into the barriers in Turn 2 this morning.

Engel turned the first laps in the repaired Mercedes Evo, prior to cycling through to fellow factory drivers Stolz and Yelmer Buurman throughout the 60-minute session, which did not feature any red flags.

The No. 18 KCMG Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 of Alexandre Imperatori was third quickest, ahead of the FP2 pace-setting No. 999 GruppeM Racing Mercedes Evo in fourth.

Triple Eight made it four Mercedes in the top-five with its No. 888 entry, driven in the closing stages of the session by Shane van Gisbergen.

Defending Bathurst 12 Hour winners EBM was sixth, ahead of the No. 911 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and Mirko Bortolotti’s Team Vavoline Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo in eighth.

Both of the Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3s were reported to have run into issues during the session, with the No. 8 entry of Alex Buncombe having gearbox problems and the Jules Gounon-driven No. 7 Bentley pitting with water spewing from the engine.

The No. 12 NED Racing Team Porsche returned following an engine failure in the morning, while work has continued at KCMG with its No. 35 Nissan, which sustained chassis damage from Josh Burdon’s accident in the closing stages of FP1.

The fourth and final free practice session of the day gets underway at 3:05 p.m. local time.

RESULTS: Free Practice 3

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