Waters gaps the field, Mostert misses Q2 after scare

CAM Waters continued his rapid pace at the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour as Supercars rival Chaz Mostert missed a Q2 berth at Mount Panorama.

Waters, who topped Saturday morning's Practice 5, kept the #222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG on top with a 2:02.7000s through 60 uninterrupted minutes.

The #222 was 0.2750 ahead of the Bronze class #27 Heart of Racing by SPS Mercedes-AMG of Ross Gunn, the Silver #14 Volante Rosso Aston Martin of Jamie Day, Tony D'Alberto's #93 Wall Racing Lamborghini, and Laurin Heinrich's Pro-Am #91 The Bend Porsche.

The WRT BMWs of Raffaele Marciello and Sheldon van der Linde were fifth and sixth, ahead of Mercedes-AMG duo Maro Engel (#888 Team GMR) and Jules Gounon (#75 75 Express/SunEnergy1 Racing).

Ricardo Feller (#183 Jamec Racing/MPC Audi) was 10th ahead of Ayhancan Guven, who snuck the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche into the final segment of Qualifying on his last flying lap.

"I was up on all of the laps, and then the traffic was just getting in my way, the Porsche was really bad," said Waters, who was baulked by Yasser Shahin before setting his fastest lap.

"It was good to get a lap at the end, and it was probably the perfect conditions right at the end, the track was rubbered up the most. The car was good, we're definitely pushing out there, and we're getting the most out of it which is cool."

WRT set the pace in the early running, Augusto Farfus (2:05.4920s) and Valentino Rossi (2:06.2940s) holding down first and second before improving to a 2:04.9600s and 2:05.4420s respectively.

The #9 Audi was a surprise pace-setter throughout, Dean Fiore sitting third early on with a 2:05.7480s, with Lee Holdsworth later clocking a 2:03.6890s heading into the final 20 minutes.

The likes of Maximilian Götz (2:05.4250s) and Daniel Serra (2:05.3390s) sat second as Farfus (2:04.6000s) and Götz (2:04.4620s) lowered the early benchmark. Aboard the Pro-Am Porsche, Heinrich then put 1.3s on the field with a 2:03.0870s, which held sway for the balance of the session.

The #183 Audi hit the track after the 15-minute mark, with Broc Feeney initially seventh through 23 mins with a 2:04.8240s, before Feller jumped to second with a 2:03.3160s.

WRT again warmed to the task, van der Linde putting the #32 into second with a 2:04.3300s ahead of Feeney (2:03.7730s) and Mostert (2:04.0440s), before Feller took over the #183 and improved.

One of the stars of Friday, Day, landed in fourth in the #14 Aston Martin with 20 minutes to go, before Sheldon van der Linde (2:03.2810s) and Marciello (2:03.3880s) both continued to find speed, as did D'Alberto (2:03.7140s).

Mostert pushed hard and grazed the concrete at Reid Park as the session approached the 50-minute mark, with Stolz firing the #75 Mercedes-AMG into fifth with a 2:03.4560s. Stolz went on with it, going fastest in the first sector and moving to second with a 2:03.2780s.

Scott Andrews impressed to fifth in the #44 Audi with a 2:03.3520s with seven minutes remaining; at that stage, the likes of Waters (12th), Mostert (13th), Guven (15th) and Jayden Ojeda (16th) were all staring down the barrel of missing Q2.

As Day powered to the top with a 2:02.9940s, the first 2:02s of the day, Mostert bobbled at Murray's Corner and only ended up 11th. Waters, meanwhile, was on fire in the first sector, but was caught by Yasser Shahin across the top of the Mountain.

Van der Linde and Gounon jumped to third and fourth approaching the final minute, as D'Alberto set the timesheets alight in Sector 1. Just as D'Alberto jumped to second with a 2:03.0350s, Gunn vaulted to top spot with a 2:02.9750s, before Waters put nearly 0.3s on the field.

At the death, Guven jumped to 11th with a 2:03.3160s to steal a Q1 berth from the #44. Mostert was 14th, nearly 0.8s from the pace.

Into Q2 are the #222 Mercedes-AMG, #27 Mercedes-AMG, #14 Aston Martin, #93 Lamborghini, #91 Porsche, #46 BMW, #32 BMW, #888 Mercedes-AMG, #75 Mercedes-AMG, #183 Audi and #911 Porsche.

Q1 will be contested by the #44 Audi, #47 Mercedes-AMG, #26 Ferrari, #77 Mercedes-AMG, #4 Mercedes-AMG, #9 Audi, #36 Ferrari, #50 KTM, #19 Mercedes-AMG GT4 and #24 McLaren, with the #25 GT4 McLaren undergoing repairs following its Practice 5 crash.

The first 11 cars will roll out for Q1 at 1:05pm local time, followed by Q2 at 1:50pm. The fastest 10 drivers on combined times will contest the Pirelli Pole Battle at 4:05pm.

Qualifying will be televised live on the Seven Network, Fox Sports, and Kayo. Check your local guides for details.