Ferrari has won the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour after a thrilling dash to the finish with Mercedes-AMG team Scott Taylor Motorsport. This is the second Bathurst win for the prancing horse thanks to Maranello Motorsport with the #88 Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Toni Vilander.

The #22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Shane van Gisbergen who was defending his Bathurst 12 Hour title crashed out of the race moments before chequered flag, ultimately losing second place overall. Shane has staged an incredible race against Whincup in the Ferrari, the Mercedes led after the final pit stops but Whincup managed to jump ahead and build a gap until a late safety car brought the two rivals closer.

Speaking after his victory, Whincup said: “It was quite ironic that me and my teammate Gizzy were fighting for the win right at the end there. He was driving like he usually does, all over the place which is good! He’s hard and fair. Certainly enjoyed the battle, there is always a bit of grass action when we’re rubbing panels.”

With the Mercedes out of the way, second place went to the #12 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Ice Break Competition Motorsport driven by Marc Lieb, Patrick Long, Matt Campbell and David Calvert Jones. This was the first outing for the new GT3 R in Australia, a well deserved win for Porsche. The GT3 R already proved to be reliable by winning in the GTD class at the Daytona 24 Hours last weekend.

Bathurst 12 Hour (5)

Third place went to the #17 Bentley M-Sport Continental GT3, a team led by long time Bentley Boy Guy Smith together with Steven Kane and Oliver Jarvis. Fourth place went to the #912 Walkinshaw Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Liam Talbot, John Martin and Duvashen Padayachee, they finished first in the GT3 AM class. TEKNO Autosports rounded off the top five in their #1 McLaren 650S GT3.

Full results can be viewed here. A total of 40,364 spectators attended this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour race.

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