The first six hours of the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hours from Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia provided all the drama and excitement that endurance racing fans have come to expect from this popular international event.
The early action was intense. For much of the first three hours there were six different makes of cards occupying the top six spots—and for much of that time, thirty seconds separated to leader from the sixth-place car.
Things eased a bit after a pair of wrecks around the three-hour mark, heated up again while a pair of ace drivers disputed the lead, then settled down for an hour before a safety car wrapped up the first six hours.
Mechanical failures as well as collisions winnowed the 40-car grid down to 37 by halfway.
Trouble started almost from the waving of the green, as two cars hit kangaroos which were out and about in the cool morning air (the race starts at 6:15 a.m. local time.)
The #63 Erebus Mercedes clipped a kangaroo and lost part of the splitter (and a lot of downforce) but was able to continue. Peter Kox in the #23 JBS Swift Lamborghini Gallardo hit a kangaroo hard enough to total his car.
The thinning of the front-runner field continued on lap 60, two-and-a-half hours into the race, when Hiroshi Hamaguachi in the #33 Clearwater Racing Ferrari F458 Italia GT3 lost control cresting Mount Panorama, and Katsumasa Cyio in the #32 Nismo Athlete Global Team Nissan GT‐R slammed into the stalled Ferrari, which was obscured in a cloud of dust and glaring sun.
The race went back to green half an hour later, and half-hour fans were treated to an intense battle for the lead between local hero Shane Van Gisebergen in the #37 Darrell Lea McLaren and defending winner Bernd Schneider in the #1 Erebus Racing Mercedes.
