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Randle charges to record-smashing Bathurst pole
THOMAS RANDLE has stunned the Mountain to score a thrilling Norwell Motorplex-backed pole position for the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour in the race’s closest-ever session.
Driving the #92 Thryv / Race for a Cure BMW M2 Competition for GWR Australia, Randle bided his time in the session and used a second run to jump to the top of the times late in the 20-minute session for the top half of the field.
BATHURST 6 HOUR QUALIFYING RESULTS
His challenge was to overcome Cameron Hill and Jayden Ojeda who had set nearly identical times on their one and only qualifying laps earlier in the session.
Ojeda had fired first with a record-breaking 2m18.53s lap – only for Hill to beat the two-time winner by 0.0003 seconds driving Dean Campbell’s #1 BMW.
That pair looked insurmountable before Randle ran again and on his second run jumped from fourth to first with a remarkable last lap flyer.
He ended 0.041s quicker than Hill and 0.042s quicker than Ojeda in the closest 1-2 and closest 1-2-3 in Bathurst 6 Hour history and pocketed $1000 – which the team has confirmed will be donated to team and official event charity partner Breast Cancer Trials – in the process.
Will Davison’s 2m19.6s was good for the outside of the second row of the grid in the #23 car, while the third row is comprised of the two pacesetters in the A2 class.
As it was in the outright level, that battle was a record-breaker with Josh Muggleton setting the benchmark in the Cachet Homes Camaro before Cameron McLeod set about chasing them in his Mustang.
McLeod’s 2m20.510s best came late in the session and ultimately did the job, smashing the existing class record by just under two seconds.
The pair ended split by 0.005 seconds with Mustang just in front of Camaro.
Oscar Targett put the #60 BMW in 7th position with a 2m20.56s lap that would have been good enough for outright pole two years ago, while Bryce Fullwood was next in his Ford Mustang – and third in the A2 class.
Aaron Seton rounded out the top 10 in his two-time class winning Mustang.
Class X or A2 cars filled 19 of the top 20 positions in qualifying, with 20th place the A1 class leaders from Team Buccini Racing.
Their new BMW BMW M420 driven by Paul Buccini, Glen Ebert and Michael von Rappard did the job to grab the class pole ahead of the Inwood / Inwood / Inwood A1 Towing Bathurst BMW in second – and 22nd outright.
Class B1 pole went the way of Courtney Prince for the third consecutive year, re-setting her own qualifying record to put the Buccini BMW she shares with Karlie Buccini and Tabitha Ambrose 27th outright.
Randall Racing’s BMW grabbed the top spot in B2 qualifying, Drew Russell and Lachy Mineeff ultimately qualifying 24th. They were only 0.7s quicker than Scott Tidyman’s Commodore SSV, who was due to start second in class until being disqualified post-qualifying.
The next classes were all decided in part one of qualifying which featured the bottom 50% of the field running first.
Pole in Class C went to the father and son combination of James and Trevor Keene, the formers’ 2m33.944 a class record to secure the top spot.
Just behind was the class D polesitter thanks to an heroic effort by Brock Stinson, who throw his GR86 Toyota at the Mountain to set a 2m35.314s best to secure the Class D pole award – very nearly matching the class record.
The Honda Accord once again topped the Class E fight, but it only came after a late flyer from Boyle jumped a warring pair of Mazdas – who to that point were split by just 0.05s.
As it was in a majority of other categories, Ruben Dan’s 2m43.9327s was a class record in qualifying.
Class records were set in every class except one – Class D was only 0.1 seconds short of the previous benchmark.
This story was updated following disqualifications in post-qualifying scrutineering