Engel fastest, Rossi impresses in final Friday all-in practice

BATHURST 12 HOUR veteran Maro Engel has topped Practice 3 at the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for Mercedes-AMG Team GMR, whilst Valentino Rossi also showed impressive pace for Team WRT.

Engel, who will be driving with Belgian Maxime Martin and Canadian Mikael Grenier this weekend in the #888 Mercedes, set a 2:03.8510s to top the final all-in session of the day.

The German, who holds the 12 Hour qualifying record at a 2:00.8819s back in 2023, was buoyed by the result in the final all-in practice session of the day.

"It's great to be back here, always such a magical place I've loved driving," said the 39-year-old German post-session.

"We're here to try and get that win. Whether this is the year, I don't know, but we have a strong team, a strong car, and great teammates.

"The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is an amazing car, a proven race winner here and just very, very nice to drive. Good feedback and good handling, and that's exactly what you want at a place like this.

For the first time all weekend, track running occurred with a hot pit lane, allowing all 22 entries and teams to practice pit stops and refuelling before the 12 Hour race on Sunday.

Amongst the pit stop practice, the two Team WRT BMW's found themselves back at the top of the timesheets, and they were joined by the two Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3's.

Rossi had teammate Kelvin van der Linde in tow in the black #32 BMW, however it was the Italian who got the upper hand on a 2:04.1110s, beating the South African by just 0.005 seconds.

Rossi's time held up for the balance of the session, with the #46 WRT BMW finishing the session in fourth place, one spot ahead of the sister car.

Local star Broc Feeney also impressed in Practice 3, finishing in second in the #183 Jamec Racing Audi he'll share with Ricardo Feller and Liam Talbot, finishing only 0.0260s behind the #888 Mercedes of Engel.

The top three was rounded out by the top Pro-Am entry, with German Laurin Heinrich impressing in the EMA Motorsport Porsche on a 2:03.9730. Brothers Sam and Yasser Shahin, and Dutchman Morris Schuring complete the line up in the #91.

The fastest Silver Class entry was the Supabarn Supermarkets Mercedes of James Koundouris/Theo Koundouris/David Russell/Luke Youlden in 10th outright on a 2:04.5550s.

The Grove Racing Mercedes of Brenton Grove/Stephen Grove/Fabian Schiller topped the Bronze Class in 12th outright on a 2:04.6900s.

The Invitational Class GT2 KTM finished in 19th outright on a 2:06.1490s, whilst the Team Nineteen Mercedes topped the GT4 Class once again in 20th on a 2:15.9970s.

The session also saw the first appearance of wildlife for the weekend, with Skippy making a brief appearance at the exit of Forrest's Elbow and hopping across a clear track without incident.

The final session of Friday at the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour begins at 4:30pm, and is open to Bronze rated drivers only.

The rest of the Bathurst 12 Hour field will take to Mount Panorama at 8:35am tomorrow morning for Practice 5, which will be a 60-minute session.