THIS is how the grid will look when the 2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour starts on Sunday morning.
Maro Engel took his second Allan Simonsen Pole Award with a stunning 2m00.8819s lap to give he and teammates Raffaele Marciello and Mikhail Grenier pole position in their #999 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Alongside them on the front row will be the #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG of Broc Feeney, Maximilian Goetz and Shane van Gisbergen.
PARITY: Mercedes hit with extra weight on eve of race
EXCLUDED: Two cars hit with penalties after Top 10 Shootout
TV GUIDE: Where and when to watch the Bathurst 12 Hour
SPOTTER GUIDE: What every car in the Bathurst 12 Hour looks like
A pair of exclusions from the Top 10 Shootout result in a few changes in the back half of the top 10.
Both the #32 BMW and #74 Audi were stripped of their times, dropping them to the fifth row of the grid for Sunday’s race.
The full 26-car field that started the weekend will not make it to the start of Sunday’s race after a series of incidents during practice and qualifying involving Invitational Class runners.
The #52 MARC II V8 of Keith Kassulke, Hadrian Morrall and Cameron McLeod was withdrawn from the event following Kassulke’s terrifying crash in Practice 4 on Friday afternoon.
The #66 Daytona Sportscars Sin R1 has also been withdrawn after enduring a difficult weekend where it was plagued by a persistent oil leak through Friday’s running before a hard crash at McPhillamy Park during Practice 5.
Another car to sustain damage on Saturday was the #111 MARC I Mazda, which crashed during Qualifying 1 with Grant Donaldson at the wheel, although work continues to repair the car in time for the race.
The Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour is scheduled to start at 5:45am AEDT on Sunday.
THE GRID: 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour
| Pos | No. | Drivers | Class | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 999 | Engel / Grenier / Marciello | Pro | Mercedes-AMG | 2m00.8819s |
| 2 | 888 | van Gisbergen / Feeney / Goetz | Pro | Mercedes-AMG | 2m01.0983s |
| 3 | 912 | Campbell / Jaminet / Preining | Pro | Porsche | 2m01.1730s |
| 4 | 75 | Habul / Gounon / Stolz | Pro | Mercedes-AMG | 2m01.2916s |
| 5 | 65 | Mostert / Ross / Talbot | Pro-Am | Audi | 2m01.8649s |
| 6 | 46 | Farfus / Martin / Rossi | Pro | BMW | 2m02.5083s |
| 7 | 44 | Zalloua / Pires / Padayachee / Cameron | Silver | Mercedes-AMG | 2m02.5482s |
| 8 | 77 | Juncadella / Ellis / Catsburg | Pro | Mercedes-AMG | 2m03.0311s |
| 9 | 32 | Van der Linde / Vanthoor / Weerts | Pro | BMW | Excluded |
| 10 | 74 | Haase / Niederhauser / Drudi | Pro | Audi | Excluded |
| 11 | 6 | D’Alberto / Wall / Denyer / Deitz | Silver | Lamborghini | 4m06.1474s |
| 12 | 55 | Schumacher / Golding / Vervisch | Pro-Am | Audi | 4m06.2117s |
| 13 | 10 | Gaunt / O’Keeffe / Fawcett | Silver | Audi | 4m06.3393s |
| 14 | 47 | Russell / Webb / T Koundouris / J Koundouris | Silver | Audi | 4m07.1897s |
| 15 | 99 | Whincup / Stanaway / Ibrahim | Pro-Am | Mercedes-AMG | 4m07.4681s |
| 16 | 777 | Mies / Feller / Shahin | Pro-Am | Audi | 4m07.9583s |
| 17 | 222 | Lowndes / Davison / Emery / Taylor | Pro-Am | Mercedes Benz | 4m10.0765s |
| 18 | 24 | Bates / Love / Reynolds | Pro-Am | Mercedes-AMG | 4m10.4495s |
| 19 | 101 | Poulakis / Hunt / Tse / Hui | Silver | Mercedes-AMG | 4m10.6122s |
| 20 | 4 | S Grove / B Grove / De Pasquale | Pro-Am | Porsche | 4m11.7226s |
| 21 | 9 | Holdsworth / Fiore / Cini | Pro-Am | Audi | 4m12.2893s |
| 22 | 50 | Harrison / Wood / Crampton | Silver | Audi | 4m18.4235s |
| 23 | 19 | Schiller / Pancione / Griffith | Invitational | Mercedes Benz | 4m27.6002s |
| 24 | 111 | Currie / Donaldson / Taunton | Invitational | MARC | NTR |
