The Allan Simonsen Trophy goes to Engel at the Bathurst 12 Hour

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A record-breaking Maro Engel has powered to pole position to secure his second Allan Simonsen Trophy.

Engel defeated Broc Feeney and Matt Campbell in a thrilling Pirelli Top 10 Shootout.

The #999 GruppeM Mercedes-AMG driver reset his own 12 Hour lap record en route to pole.

Engel clocked a stunning 2:00.8819s to undercut his qualifying record — a 2:01.0836s — set earlier on Saturday.

The German driver was forced to stave off an impressive riposte from Feeney, who had to reins of the #888 Supercheap Auto Mercedes.

Campbell, the 2020 pole winner, threw his name into the discussion late on.

Prior to Engel’s final flyer, the top three were covered by just 0.08s.

However, Engel turned up the wick and clocked the first 2:00s lap in 12 Hour history.

Pirelli Top 10 Shootout: LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour

PosTeamDriverTimeMargin
1#999 GruppeMMaro Engel2:00.8819
2#888 Triple EightBroc Feeney2:01.0983+0.216s
3#912 Manthey EMAMatt Campbell2:01.1730+0.291s
4#75 SunEnergy1Jules Gounon2:01.2916+0.409s
5#32 Team WRTDries Vanthoor2:01.7241+0.842s
6#65 Sportsbet/MPCChaz Mostert2:01.8694+0.987
7#74 The Bend/MPCMattia Drudi2:02.2197+1.337s
8#46 Team WRTMaxime Martin2:02.5083+1.626s
9#44 ValmontAaron Cameron2:02.5482+1.666s
10#77 Craft-BambooDaniel Juncadella2:03.0311+2.149s

Watch the onboard from the record breaking lap here

“It’s amazing,” Engel said.

“I’m lost for words. The grip level this weekend has been amazing.

“Big, big thank you to the team, to these guys [co-drivers Raffaele Marciello and Mikael Grenier] for trusting me.

“And to the team for an amazing car, it was a pleasure.”

Track conditions seemed to have deteriorated since qualifying earlier in the day, when Engel set his record lap.

Aaron Cameron (#74 Mercedes-AMG) set the early pace in the first group with a 2:03.7168s.

Mattia Drudi (#74 Audi) and Maxime Martin (#46 BMW) then dropped into the 2:02s with a 2:02.7225s and 2:02.8966s respectively.

Martin backed it up with a 2:02.5083s, before Drudi went faster again on a 2:02.2197s.

Mostert began to throw down the gauntlet, with the Supercars star jumping to second with a 2:02.2609s.

With just over a minute remaining, Mostert jumped into the 2:01s with a 2:01.8860s.

Fastest Bathurst 12 Hour pole times

PosYearDriverCarTime
12023Maro EngelMercedes-AMG2:00.881
22016Shane van GisbergenMcLaren2:01.286
32018Chaz MostertBMW2:01.934
42022Chaz MostertAudi2:02.493
52015Laurens VanthoorAudi2:02.552
62017Toni VilanderFerrari2:02.861
72019Raffaele MarcielloMercedes-AMG2:02.934
82020Matt CampbellPorsche2:03.555
92014Maro EngelMercedes-AMG2:03.858

Mostert went again and undercut his own benchmark by a scant 0.017s with a 2:01.8694s.

Mostert 0.3503s to the good over Drudi, with Martin, Cameron and Daniel Juncadella (#77 Mercedes-AMG) second through fifth.

Drudi was later revealed to be under investigation over Shootout procedure once the final five rolled out.

Feeney fired to the top with a 2:01.6716s in the early minutes of the second segment.

“I was thinking about him today. I’d like to think he had an eye on all of us.” Maro Engel

Gounon bowled a wide at The Chase and surrendered his first flyer as Engel jumped to top spot on a 2:01.2531s.

Feeney went on with it and went purple in the first sector, and jumped back to the top with a 2:01.1945s.

Gounon recovered and jumped to third with a 2:01.4675s, but Engel went quicker again with a 2:01.0896s.

The riposte from Feeney continued, with the 20-year-old’s 2:01.0983s just 0.0087s off Engel’s benchmark.

Campbell jumped to third, and when the chequered flag flew, the closest margin for the Simonsen Trophy looked set to fall.

However, Engel powered to his 2:00.8819s to put 0.2164s on Feeney, with Campbell a further 0.0747s behind.

Gounon was fourth, some 0.4s behind Engel, with Dries Vanthoor (#32 BMW) fifth on a 2:01.7241s.