WPS Bathurst 12 Hour - Hour Two

The second hour of the 2008 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour has seen the first safety car called when Holden Sportwagon driver Nathan Pretty came together with Guy Gibbons Lotus Exige on Caterpillar Corner after Pretty experienced brake problems, leaving both cars stranded and causing the yellow flag to be flown at approximately the 90 minute mark.

Before the safety car was called Klark Quinn had regained the lead when previous race leader (by a gap of ten seconds) Damien White pulled his #87 SMIRK.com Mitsubishi EVO IX into pit lane for fuel and a driver change five laps into the second hour, with Rod Salmon taking over the drive and rejoining the field in 7th place.

Over the next laps Quinn would pit to allow Morris to claim the lead for the first time; however it was short-lived with Quinn reclaiming the lead after rejoining the field after taking on fuel.

Car #71 of Terry Wyhoon, David Mertens and Leigh Mertens experienced trouble just before the safety car was called, with the car needing to be pushed to its pit bay after the car ran out of fuel with ten and a half hours yet to run.

The safety car led the field for a period of seven laps under which all entries in the field pitted with some undertaking driver changes before racing resumed, with the top ten of Quinn (#29), Craig Baird (#20), Layton Cranbrook (#11), Terry Symonds (#43), Bob Pearson (#33), James Winslow (#26), Salmon (#87), Michael Trimble (#34), Rob Rubis (#91) and Jack Elsegood (#25) leading the rest of the field on the restart as the race time ticked over to two hours.

The second hour also saw the Briffa Smash Repairs entry officially withdrawn, with the Mitsubishi EVO down to seven cylinders and with the extensive damage caused on Friday further complicating matters, the team has decided to end their campaign with only six race laps completed.

Also destined not to complete the race are the #16 Sherrin Motorsport entry and the #76 Thomson Alfa entry, with both withdrawing prior to the race start due to issues from yesterday?s sessions.

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