Mercedes take extraordinary win at chaotic, red-flagged Bathurst 12 Hour 2026
- Owen Bradley
- 9 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Written by Owen Bradley
The No.888 GMR Mercedes squad have taken an extraordinary victory at the Bathurst 12 Hour 2026 after qualifying 31st on the grid. The 12-hour endurance race was extremely chaotic, with multiple high speed crashes, a red-flag and much more!
The race started dramatically, with the leading cars going three-wide into the second corner. It was the No.77 Bamboo Mercedes car that ended up leading, with Max Goetz at the wheel. Further behind, the No.46 WRT BMW went from 7th to 4th in the first half of the opening lap after Augusto Farfus found several opportunities.
Just 20 minutes into the race, the No.64 Ford Mustang was involved in a major crash after a kangaroo jumped onto the circuit, colliding with the car. Christopher Mies was evidently shaken up after the incident, but the German came away unscathed.
This incident brought out the first Safety Car of the race, and subsequently the first strategy alterations for some teams. Alessio Picariello was the first to pit, coming in from third position in the No.911 Porsche, attempting to take on more fuel and run long into the race during the second stint.
Picariello was followed by Luca Stolz, who was behind the wheel of the No.75 Mercedes. However, despite the theoretical strategic advantages of pitting early, all of the cars that did, eventually found themselves stuck in traffic further behind, burning through their tyres and subsequently their fuel load anyway.
The No.32 WRT BMW squad benefitted from these pit stops massively, starting from 12th and ending up in sixth place after just 30 minutes of racing. However, after the first Safety Car restart, the No.32 car would pick up significant and developing damage on their front bumper, with the right-side headlight eventually falling, dangling between the front bumper and right front tyre.
After most of the field opted to come in for their pit stops, the No.888 GMR Mercedes squad found themselves in 13th position. Having started from 31st, it was an impressive opening hour, and a sign of things to come.
The No.268 BRM Audi crashed at the top of the mountain at Skyline just over one hour into the race, causing another Safety Car to be deployed. With most of the leaders having already pitted, Team WRT's BMW's were able to take a huge advantage, as MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi took the lead of the race, aboard the No.46 WRT BMW.
The No.32 WRT BMW of Charles Weerts also found themselves in second place, an exceptional feat after starting from 12th on the grid. Meanwhile, the No.100 Mercedes also found themselves in third place after starting from 21st, so the Safety Car benefitted many different cars and drivers.
Rossi would maintain the lead for several laps, but eventually the Italian had the No.2 Corvette of Alexander Sims breathing down his neck. Sims had taken the Corvette from 25th to second place after roughly two hours of racing.
Another Safety Car would be deployed after the No.111 IRC GT spun out after exiting the high speed, flat-out Turn 20. With debris all over the circuit, the stewards deployed the caution, before most of the leaders came into the pit lane.
Rossi made another exceptional break at the third restart, but was eventually being chased hard by Sims in the No.2 Corvette. Meanwhile, further through the field, the No.888 Mercedes were beginning to overtake several cars, eventually finding themselves inside the Top 10 after starting from 31st.
Eventually, Sims made it past Rossi at Turn 21, whilst the Italian was attempting to save fuel in order to run longer into the race. Eventually, the No.46 BMW would get back past the No.2 Corvette with Raffaele Marciello at the wheel of the BMW, although the No.888 Mercedes would also find themselves scrapping for the lead after some intelligent pit stop strategy decisions under the Safety Car.
Valentino Rossi was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct after he squeezed the No.222 Scott Taylor Mercedes in the braking zone of Turn 21, and whilst the No.46 BMW and No.222 Mercedes battled, the No.888 GMR Mercedes of Maxime Martin, was able to build a steady lead.
After several penalties and a frankly abysmal performance, the No.15 McLaren eventually crashed into the wall at The Dipper in Turn 14. This brought out another Safety Car around Mount Panorama at the halfway mark in the race.
At halfway distance, Mercedes led the way, with four cars inside the Top 5, only separated by the No.46 BMW of Rossi. The No.888 GMR Mercedes was leading after starting from 30th position.
The No.222 Scott Taylor Mercedes eventually spun around with Thomas Randle at the wheel. This incident put them several laps down and completely out of contention for race victory.
At the next round of pit stops, Valentino Rossi's No.46 BMW slid sideways out of the pit lane, hitting a cone and sending it into the middle of the track, subsequently bringing out another safety car. The Doctor was warned about this incident, but no penalty was given in the end.
On the other hand, the No.2 Corvette picked up a drive-through penalty for overtaking the race leader and the Safety Car. This was an unfortunate sign of things to come for the Corvette squad.
The No.46 BMW and No.888 Mercedes duelled for several laps before the Mercedes eventually got the better of the BMW, the pair battling for the net race lead at the time.
Suddenly, the No.263 Audi of James Golding was sent careering across the circuit at Turn 9, smashing into the outside barrier before being sent back across the circuit, with the car also on fire. Golding escaped the crash unscathed, but the incident did bring out yet another Safety Car.
This Safety Car eventually bred a Red Flag, after the No.79 Tsunami Porsche was turned around by a fellow backmarker, and was stopped on the downslope at Turn 17. The leading No.77 Bamboo Mercedes of Ralf Aron completely smashed into the Porsche at full speed, with debris flying everywhere.
After a relatively lengthy race stoppage, eventually the field went back to racing once again. Luca Stolz led the way for the No.75, 75 Express Mercedes. Behind, was the No.888 GMR Mercedes of Martin, with the No.95 McLaren of Kirchoffer coming under great pressure from a chasing Marciello in the No.46 WRT BMW.
Marciello attempted several moves to try and put the No.46 BMW past the No.95 McLaren, but it was to no avail. Eventually, the pair both ran themselves off the circuit at Turn 1, leading to the No.2 Corvette getting past the pair of them.
However, despite setting flying lap times after a recent pit stop, eventually the No.2 Corvette of Earl Bamber crashed out of the race at Turn 13. This incident brought out another Safety Car. The No.75, 75 Express beat the No.888 GMR Mercedes out of the pit lane under Safety Car conditions to lead the race at the start of the final hour.
The No.222 Mercedes eventually collided with the No.6 Mercedes at Turn 2, leading to the final Safety Car of the race with less than an hour remaining.
With multiple cars opting to come into the pits, WRT attempted to keep the No.32 BMW out on track to seize the lead of the race and assist the No.46 BMW in getting to the front of the field. However, the No.75 Mercedes was desperate to get past at the restart, running into the rear bumper of the No.32 BMW, forcing them both wide - allowing for the No.888 GMR Mercedes of Martin to come through and snatch the lead of the race and subsequently, the overall victory.
The No.86 High Class Porsche squad came home to finish in 2nd place after starting just one spot behind the No.888 Mercedes at the very start, and Augusto Farfus brought home a strong podium finish for Valentino Rossi's No.46 WRT BMW.
The first round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge was exceptionally dramatic, and is surely a sign of things to come this season.
Next time out at the Nürburgring for the 24 Hours, there may be a certain four-time F1 world champion racing amongst our GT field. His name, is Max Verstappen.
