Pole position drama at Bathurst 12 Hour

Saturday, 2 February 2019:

Aston Martin driver Jake Dennis has been stripped of pole position at the Bathurst 12 Hour despite destroying the field in the top 10 shootout at Mount Panorama.

Dennis blitzed the field by almost half a second to take the coveted Allan Simonsen Pole Position award on Saturday, but his team drops down two places on the Sunday's grid for speeding in pit lane during qualifying.

The Brit retains the pole position trophy but is no longer on the front of the grid with the Mercedes AMG GT3 of Raffaele Marciello, Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Goetz leading the way with the Craft Bamboo AMG of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Gary Paffett.

Dennis, however, ensured the Vantage GT3 should get a good send-off when it is replaced by the next generation Aston Martin after three years of service.

"I knew if I put a clean lap together we would have a good chance," he said.

"The car was another step up from qualifying, it was so, so strong. All I had to do was drive clean and fast. It's a long race, we need to be there in the last two hours with a clean car."

It is the first time at Mount Panorama for Dennis and his Aston Martin team, making the dominant performance even more impressive.

"The first few sessions were a bit daunting but once you find a good rhythm and balance in the car you can build confidence," he said.

Marciello bounced back from ninth in qualifying with a sizzling flying lap to jump back to the top, until Dennis finished with a flourish.

Young Aussie Porsche star Matt Campbell with start from seventh after he lost ground with a mistake on the first corner of his qualifying lap.

David Reynolds is the leading V8 Supercars driver in fifth while Chaz Mostert was 15th fastest.

The much vaunted 888 pairing of Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Shane van Gisbergen could only manage 19th and Lee Holdsworth 24th.

"In a 12-hour race qualifying means absolutely zero, but I don't want that to be seen as an excuse," said Whincup, who qualified the car.

Mostert, who took pole position here last year, had similar struggles in his BMW M6 GT3 he is driving with Brazil's Augusto Farfus and Germany's Martin Tomczyk.

The Bathurst 12 Hour starts at 0545 (AEDT).






AAP