Waters puts STM Mercedes on top in Practice 5
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CAM Waters has topped Practice 5 for Scott Taylor Motorsport on Saturday morning at the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour, in a session that also saw the first red flag interruption of the weekend.
The 2020 Bathurst 1000 pole winner set a 2:03.6930s in the final minutes of the session, after Supercars teammate and 12 Hour co-driver Thomas Randle also impressed.
The first 60-minute practice session of the weekend was halted just past the half-hour mark, after Paul Buccini whacked the wall at Sulman Park in the #25 GT4 McLaren, and sailed into the McPhillamy Park gravel.
The right front corner of the Artura sustained moderate damage, which saw the car to be driven by Buccini, Tom Hayman, and Ryan Sorensen ruled out of the remainder of the session, which resumed with 15 minutes left.
It was a dramatic morning for the Method Motorsport outfit, who had were involved in two separate incidents during the session.
Anthony Levitt had an awkward moment on the out lap when he had a spin at the exit of Griffin's Bend in the sister #24 entry, although was able to keep it off the inside concrete wall.
The Levitt entry has had a driver change overnight, with Cameron Campbell stepping aside to focus on his Ferrari Challenge Australasia duties, with two-time defending TCR Australia champion Josh Buchan stepping in, with Jake Santalucia maintaining his spot.
Brad Schumacher was another driver to push the limits early, losing the rear end of the #36 Ferrari from Arise Racing GT, and nearly clouting the wall at the exit of The Cutting.
The #32 BMW was once again quick out of the gates, with Augusto Farfus the first driver to break into the 2:03s range on a 2:03.8780s to continue Team WRT's impressive form this weekend, and would finish the session in sixth.
The Craft-Bamboo Mercedes also appeared at the pointy end this morning, with Austrian factory ace Lucas Auer only 0.0080s off Waters' benchmark in the #77 he'll share with Jayden Ojeda and Maximilian Götz.
The Jamec Racing Audi was also speedy in the hands of Broc Feeney, who leapt to the time of the timesheets on a 2:03.7340s a third of the way through the session before dropping to third at the chequered flag.
The Grove Racing Mercedes was next in the running order, and top Bronze entry by eight tenths of a second, with German Fabian Schiller, setting a 2:03.8140s to entrench himself amongst the Pro class contenders.
Ferrari and Porsche also showed much improved pace this morning, with the #26 Arise Racing GT Ferrari of Chaz Mostert/Will Brown/Daniel Serra in fifth, and Matt Campbell taking the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche to seventh following an overnight gearbox change.
The top Pro-Am entry was the #44 Geyer Valmont Racing Audi of Marcel Zalloua/Sergio Pires/Scott Andrews in 10th, with the Wall Racing Lamborghini topping the Silver class in 11th after an early lap from fast Kiwi Brendon Leitch.
The Invitational GT2 KTM finished in 19th outright on a 2:09.6410s, whilst the #24 Method Motorsport McLaren recovered from it's nervy start to top the GT4 class in 20th.
The final practice session of the 2025 Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour will begin at 10:25am, before Qualifying begins at 1:05pm.
Qualifying will be televised live on the Seven Network, Fox Sports, and Kayo. Check local guides for details.
