Austrian beats Ricardo Feller’s Jamec/MPC Audi to top spot
Intercontinental GT Challenge | February 1, 2025
Craft-Bamboo and Mercedes-AMG will start 2025’s Intercontinental GT Challenge season opener from pole position thanks to Lucas Auer who claimed his first Allan Simonsen Trophy at the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
The Austrian earnt his place in the top 10 shootout by setting seventh fastest time across Q1 and Q2. Clearly, however, he’d saved a little more for when it mattered most in the final 15-minute Pirelli Pole Battle.
His first and, as it turned out, only flying lap – 2m01.2760s – was the second fastest pole time in 12 Hour history and 0.1250s quicker than Ricardo Feller’s best in the Jamec Racing / Team MPC Audi that earlier topped combined qualifying.
Maro Engel heads up row two in GMR’s Mercedes-AMG after chipping away at Auer’s time. The German ultimately fell 0.284s shy but did get the better of WRT’s #32 BMW driven by Sheldon van der Linde. Last year’s pole winner opted to wait before joining the action but couldn’t repeat the same feat as 12 months ago.
The best of Arise Racing’s Ferraris was next up courtesy of Chaz Mostert who also made gains as the session developed. He ended up less than 0.02s behind Van der Linde and almost two tenths clear of The Bend’s Laurin Heinrich whose Porsche completed a top six comprising five manufacturers.
Two-time 12 Hour winner Luca Stolz starts seventh for 75 Express, while Scott Andrews’ Audi moved up two places after scraping into the Pole Battle at Matt Campbell’s expense.
Cam Waters paced Practice 5 and 6 earlier today so might be disappointed with qualifying STM’s Mercedes-AMG ninth, one place ahead of the event’s best placed Bronze entry driven by Lee Holdsworth.
Two pro entries – Absolute’s Porsche and WRT’s #46 BMW – failed to reach the Pole Battle and therefore start where they qualified in 11th and 12th, respectively.
However, with half a day’s racing ahead of them both can still score significant IGTC points for their manufacturers.
The Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour goes green at 05:45 AEDT (GMT +11) on Sunday. International viewers can watch it live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, while Seven Network, Fox Sports and Sky Sport NZ will broadcast the same coverage in Australia and New Zealand where geo restrictions apply.
Intercontinental GT Challenge | Photos: Intercontinental GT Challenge
