Katsumasa Chiyo has taken the flag of the 2015 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on behalf of team mates Florian Strauss and Wolfgang Reip in the #35 NISMO Global Athlete Group Nissan GT-R following twelve hours of intense racing at Mount Panorama today.

Chiyo crossed the line ahead of the #15 Phoenix Racing Audi and the #97 Craft Bamboo Racing Aston Martin, while the fastest lap of the race went to the pole-sitting #15 thanks to Markus Winkelhock’s 2m 03.3091s effort on lap 29.

An amazing set of safety car occurrences in the final hours saw the entire race boil down to a 15 minute dash to the finish between the #10 Bentley, the #15 Audi and the #35 GTR that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

The race hosted an amazing 20 safety cars across its duration – surpassing the previous record for number of safety car periods, previously 15 for the 2013 race.

Five safety cars alone were called in the final three hours of the race, first for the #6 SAFE-T STOP Porsche at 3.10pm after a spin at Meguiars Corner in the opening minutes of the hour.

Twenty minutes later it was again called for following a very large impact for the #91 MARC Cars Australia Mazda 3 with Ivo Breukers at the wheel at McPhillamy Park, with the Mazda suffering contact after an inside dive from the #16 Phoenix Racing Audi with Felix Baumgartner at the wheel, seeing the Mazda careen off track to make heavy contact with the wall.

Clear green running them took place from lap 216 until lap 253, when the #11 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley came to a stop on the Mountain straight – seeing the lead battle shape up as incredibly tense with less than an hour left to run, before becoming even more tense when the #8 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley into the wall at the exit of The Cutting on the first lap of the restart, with 38 minutes remaining on the clock.

This created an epic sprint to the finish, with three restarts in the final hour, two in the opening twenty minutes (for the #11 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley and the #8 Flying B Motorsport Bentley) and then at the 20 minute mark for the #4 Grove Racing Porsche.

Receiving black flags throughout the final quarter were the #28 GWS Personnel BMW, the #93 MARC Cars Australia Focus – which will be subject to a post-race receive for ignoring the flag – the #18 Sherrin Rentals BMW for a driver change within the garage and the #50 Team LHI Porsche 997 (pit lane speeding infringement).

Taking victory in their respective classes at the finish line were:

Darrell Lea GT3 Outright/Pro-Am – #15 Phoenix Racing Audi (2^nd outright)

GT3-Am – #35 NISMO Global Athlete Team Nissan GT-R (1^st outright)

Class B – #47 Supabarn Supermarkets Porsche 911 (16^th outright)

Class C – #54 Donut King Lotus Exige (24^th outright)

Class D – #23 Bruce Lynton BMW M (27^th outright)

Class I –  #93 MARC Cars Australia Focus (15^th outright)