12-HOUR CARNAGE
There was plenty of time for a nap during the Bathurst 12-Hour race.
The first two hours were frantic and stupid and entertaining and scary, and the last hour was a great race.
In between, . . . zzzzzzzzzzzz.
Someone said it only takes two dogs to make a fight, or two cars to make a race, but a field of just 22 runners in the 12-Hour was always going to mean long periods with nothing much happening in front of the spectators.
There were seven Safety Car periods with near-silence on the circuit.
For a while it even looked as if it would be a struggle to get two dogs to fight at the finish.
Thankfully, there were half-a-dozen genuine contenders for much of the race.
The squadron of Mercedes-AMG GTs looked and sounded great, there were two factory BMWs in the hunt, Matt Campbell had a quick Porsche 911, and there were sonorous Audi and Lamborghini V10s.
Chaz Mostert and Will Brown appeared to have the fastest car, a Ferrari 296, but they was taken out of contention because their Italian stallion was too thirsty and had to stop for fuel just as it needed to sprint. There was a sea of red tees for much of the Mount Panorama weekend, with all sorts of Ferrari owners and VIPs and billionaire team owner Laurence Escalante, but no smiles at the finish.
"That Ferrari is taking the piss. We are all doing the same lap times, then Mostert overtakes us all and goes out by eight seconds," said Benz driver Maxi Gotz after one of his early stints.
But the fastest car was beaten by the smartest team, as BMW instructed its drivers to use 'lift and coast' driving to save fuel. In the end, they had (just) enough gas in the tank to end the 12-Hour with a 1-2 result, the first victory at The Mountain for 15 years.
"I had a fuel surge on the way to the podium ceremony, so it was very, very tight," said Kelvin van der Linde, who was driving the winning BMW.

It was a result which would have been familiar for chequered flag man Jacky Ickx, a guest of the Genesis luxury brand, after his part in the historic 1-2 formation finish Falcon sweep at Bathurst in 1977 with Allan Moffat.
The winning car was crewed by the South African brothers Kelvin and Sheldon , sharing with Augusto Farfus, although it was Valentino Rossi – who created Peter Brock-style queues for his signature over the weekend – who got the attention.
"I think I will come back – yes," said Rossi, already thinking ahead to the 12-Hour in 2026.
The next running of the race promises to be an epic one, with both Ford and Chevrolet expected to arrive with the GT3 versions of their Mustang and Corvette.
And they are needed.
There have been complaints in recent years about a Supercars contest with only 25 cars at Mount Panorama, but that's 1000 kilometres and the GT3 rocketships run for more like 1700 kilometres and there were only 22 starters.
There was no sign of Bentley or Nissan, who enlivened previous 12-Hours, and won. Even McLaren, another previous winner, was only represented by a slower GT4 car.

It should be easy to get a field of 35-40 cars for the GT3 classic, as there are easily that many in garages around Australia.
But the Pro format for the 12-Hour, and a $400,000 bill for the weekend, means the amateur owners are often reluctant to take a risk at Bathurst.
"It should be a Pro-Am race," said legendary team boss Roland Dane, who has run cars at the 12-Hour in the past but was missing this time.
For the fans, as Supercars – the race promoter these days – announced an official attendance of more than 50,000 people, there was still plenty to like.
The 12-Hour is unique, the drivers are the best GT3 jockeys in the world, and there is always plenty of action.
Come 2026, the Bathurst 12-Hour needs to get back to its best with a big field, close racing, and none of the silly driving which took cars out of the race and punched giant holes in bank accounts in 2025.