Richards Leads as Schnitzer BMW Penalized in Hour 4

Photo: BMW

The No. 100 Team SRM BMW M6 GT3 of Steven Richards leads the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour near the end of the four-hour mark, as the all-dominant BMW Team Schnitzer entry has been handed a penalty.

Richards held a narrow 0.29-second advantage over the No. 74 Jamec Pem Racing Audi R8 LMS of Christopher Mies, with teammate Kelvin van der Linde in third, prior to another safety car period.

It came after the pole-sitting No. 43 Schnitzer BMW of Marco Wittmann surrendered second place on the track to serve a drive-through penalty for an improper restart procedure, dropping the DTM ace to 10th, but still on the lead lap.

The latest yellow, already the seventh of the race, was for the No. 18 Bentley Continental GT3, which had a right-front tire puncture in the hands of Maxime Soulet, following a lengthy gearbox change.

Separate incidents for the No. 3 Audi and No. 65 Daytona Coupe resulted in previous safety car periods.

The SRM entry has charged from the rear of the 50-car field following an overboost infraction in qualifying.

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