HOUR 11 UPDATE LIQUI-MOLY BATHURST 12 HOUR

HOUR 11 UPDATE LIQUI-MOLY BATHURST 12 HOUR

MOUNTAIN MADNESS HITS FEVER PITCH

Just when we thought the 2013 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour couldn't get any more exciting, Mother Nature decides she's going to come to the party.

Into the eleventh hour Erebus Motorsport continued to maintain their comfortable lead, with Holdsworth hanging two seconds behind Schneider. Their nearest rival, Clearwater Racing, being over a lap down meant that the two could drive comfortably without any pressure.

The pair were handed another break when the Clearwater car was forced to pit, a stop which spelt disaster as a drama removing the right rear tyre saw the team lost another lap.

It wasn't long into the hour before the expected storms hit. At Bathurst you can never tell what you are going to get and today was no different, with the clouds dumping tremendous amounts of water onto the circuit. As the leaders crossed the top of the mountain they were reduced to driving at walking pace, and in scenes reminiscent of 1992 every driver slid their way back down the hill.

All competitors were handed what was effectively a free pitstop with the safety car being called for the removal of the stranded Car Hire Excess Lotus Elise. As always at Bathurst, a safety car bred another caution period. In an exceptional case, it was the same car causing the stoppage as the same Lotus was turned into the pit straight fence upon the resumption of racing.

Like many of its competitors, luck would run out for the Erebus Motorsport number 63 SLS AMG of Lee Holdsworth. The front right wheel showed signs of suspension damage as the car limped back to the pits with the yellow flags out. With 2 laps advantage over the third place car of Craig Baird, the team frantically dived under the AMG to try and fix the problem.

With Holdsworth still stranded in the garage, the race returned to green, Roloff (who had taken control of the 36 Erebus Car under safety car) now pushing forward, alone on the lead lap.

Current Top Five: Roloff, Holdsworth, Baird, Van Gisbergen, Kristoffersson

Pedigree GT3 Class B:
Hunter Sports Group Porsche 997 GT3

Rydges GT4 Class C:
nurburgring.com Lotus Exige S

V8Race Production (High Performance) Class D:
GWS Personnel BMW 335i

Race Fuels Production (Performance) Class E:
Racer Industries Holden Astra HSV

Meguiars Invitational Class I1:
Team Peugout RCZ Peugout RCZ Cup

Meguiars Invitational Class I2:
Motorsport Services SEAT Leon Supercopa

Meguiars Invitational Class I3
Mal Rose Racing Holden VY Commodore


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