Front row lockout for the Audi R8 LMS at the Bathurst 12 Hour
Fans at the legendary Mount Panorama Circuit in Australia were thrilled by an enthralling duel for pole position, which went to Chaz Mostert after he and Audi Sport driver Kelvin van der Linde traded fastest times in their Audi R8 LMS cars throughout the session. This marks the fourth pole for Audi at the Bathurst 12 Hour – a new record for the event. The popular Australian race driver, Mostert, who is sharing the #65 Coinspot Audi R8 LMS with his compatriots Fraser Ross and Liam Talbot, set the fastest time in the closing moments and secured the coveted 2022 Allan Simonsen Pole Position Award, becoming the first driver to have won it twice. The South African van der Linde missed out on first place on the grid by a mere eight hundredths of a second. He rounds out the front row lockout with the #74 Audi R8 LMS from Audi Sport Team Valvoline that includes fellow Audi Sport driver Nathanaël Berthon and Bathurst resident Brad Schumacher. The sister #777 car of Audi Sport drivers Ricardo Feller and Markus Winkelhock, as well as the reigning GT World Challenge Australia champion Yasser Shahin, will line up fourth on the grid. Longtime Audi Sport customer Marc Cini’s #9 Hallmarc entry also made it into the Top 10 Shootout with Lee Holdsworth securing sixth place – they are joined by Dean Fiore. Sixteenth place went to the #24 C Tech Laser Audi R8 LMS that failed to get a clear lap during the red-flag-interrupted qualifying session. Bringing up the rear of the grid will be the cars of Supabarn (#47) and Team BRM (#17) – both teams suffered accident damage, but will be taking part in the race. After a crash on Friday, the Melbourne Performance Centre-run Supabarn team put in a tremendous effort by overnighting a replacement car nearly 800 kilometers from Melbourne to Bathurst, preparing it on site and making it out in time for qualifying. The Audi R8 LMS has topped all of the sessions so far this week ahead of the 12-hour race that will begin at 5:15 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, May 15 (9:15 p.m. Saturday CEST).
