MOTOR SPORT
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FOR the first time the Mount belongs to McLaren.
It was a scintillating start and finish to the race from Shane van Gisbergen in the Tekno Autosports McLaren 650S, as the V8 Supercars star did just enough to hold off a spirited chase from defending champion Katsumasa Chiyo in Sunday's Bathurst 12 Hour.
The McLaren, co-driven by Jonathon Webb and Alvaro Parente, saw off the challenge from Chiyo in the Nissan GT-R entry by 1.2 seconds - the man who one year earlier swooped home late to land the win.
Chiyo and his co-drivers Rick Kelly and Florian Strauss had to settle for the runner-up spot. Bentley M-Sport trio Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Matt Bell went one spot better than last year to come home in third place in their Continental GT3.
Van Gisbergen said driving at night around the Mount was a tough experience.
"It's been a pretty long day … and it was pretty tough. I've never driven around here in the dark before," he said.
"I couldn't see much. I had a good agreement with Garth [Tander] and Luffy [Warren Luff] in the morning. I said I'd just cruise along and after three laps I'll start pushing it. Some Euro kid came along flashing the headlights and I thought ‘oh man, I've got to get moving’.”
Mount Panorama didn't wait around this year to show its fangs as two Class A cars were taken out of the contest in the first minute of green flag racing, one being the 2014 champion Maranello Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia.
Van Gisbergen carried over the pace that helped him earn pole position as he dominated the opening hours of the race in the #59 Tekno Motorsport McLaren 650S.
Just past the half-way mark in the race, two close safety car periods brought the front runners back together.
Mark Cini in his Audi found the wall at the Cutting before Tony Quinn, sitting in fifth on the lead lap, took a tap at Griffins Bend to keep the safety car busy.
When Quinn's Darrell Lea McLaren entry dropped out of the hunt, the Phoenix Racing Audi, driven by Marcus Winklehock, stepped up to take its place after a long battle to join the frontrunners.
That led to a five-way battle on the lead lap between the #36 Erebus Motorsport Mercedes, #10 Bentley Continental, #59 Tekno Motorsport McLaren, Phoenix Racing and the defending champion NISMO Nissan GT-R.
The other half of the Erebus Motorsport campaign soon came a cropper as a blown tyre put Austin Cindric into the wall at Griffins then the #36 soon dropped off the lead lap to make it a four-horse race for overall victory.
A black flag for speeding in pit lane earned van Gisbergen a drive-through penalty and looked to have left his campaign in tatters.
Luckily for the Kiwi driver a puncture for Shae Davies' Audi brought out the yellow flag and with it a chance to keep in touch with the leaders.
Van Gisbergen seized his opportunity, raced to the front of the field and began his bid to hold off the previous year's hero, Katsumasa Chiyo, in the Nissan GT-R.
McLaren is the fifth manufacturer to win the Bathurst 12 Hour since its introduction of GT3 cars after Audi (2011, 2012), Mercedes (2013), Ferrari (2014) and Nissan (2015).
