2012 Bathurst 12 Hour – Friday practice

Allan Simonsen sent a warning that he and his Ferrari 458 GT3 would mean business at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour when he set a new lap record around Mount Panorama last November. And so it proved in yesterday’s practice when he was the fastest man on track setting a time of 2:08.2824.

That’s still a way off his November mark of 2:04.956, a time which is unlikely to be broken this weekend thanks to a ‘balance of performance’ cap. That cap sets a benchmark time of 2:08 and if any driver goes below that time during any practice or qualifying session they may be subject to a 50kg weight penalty.

A complete list of times from all 27 cars in the field recorded during Friday’s practice is available on the official Bathurst 12 Hour website.

AUSmotive is trackside this weekend and has teamed up with photographer Marcel Stawiczny. Here’s a gallery of Marcel’s shots from yesterday. We’ll have more for you throughout the event.