Bathurst 12: Hour four notes

WPS BATHURST 12 HOUR - HOUR FOUR

The fourth hour of the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour has been a haven for the safety car, with three in total deployed to bring the total of the race spent under safety car as of the close of the fourth hour at 10.45am to 12 laps.

The Race's second safety car was deployed half way through the fourth hour to retrieve a sick track marshall via the circuit, leading the field for one lap.

Proving the old age adage that 'safety cars breed safety cars', the field hardly completed a lap before the third safety car for the Race was required for another lap after the #93 entry of Darren Harris, Nick Lange and Lindsay Kearns came unstuck, with the green flag being flown with 20 minutes of the fourth hour left to run.

The #5 Donut King Holden HSV GTS of Nesbitt/Alford/Freestone had a touch with the #25 Wilson Brothers Racing Subaru at Hells Corner (turn one), and while both were able to recover to avoid a safety car, it wasn't long before the fourth yellow flag of the day would be flown.

Bob Pearson's #33 Pro-Duct Motorsport Mitsubishi EVO drove head-on into the right hand wall coming out of the final corner heading onto the main straight after a clutch failure at 10.30am, causing the fourth safety car.

Driver Anton Mechtler is currently being checked over by the Event's medical crew, while the crew will pull apart the #33 entry to try and continue the race; however car-owner Bob Pearson was doubtful as to whether they could return.

The field ended their fourth hour of today's race behind the Alfa Romeo Safety Car, with Grant Denyer (#29), Graham Alexander (#87), Layton Cranbrook (#11), Des Wall (#43), Craig Baird (#20) and Andy Knight (#26) on the lead lap and waiting for the green flag to get back to racing after the three safety cars of the past hour.

-credit: www.bathurstmotorfestival.com.au