Cameron Waters Secures Pole Position for Bathurst 12 Hour
In a thrilling qualifying session for the 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour, Cameron Waters of Scott Taylor Motorsport clinched pole position with an impressive lap time of 2:01.0790, marking the second-fastest qualifying lap in the event’s history. This performance earned Waters the Allan Simonsen Pole Award and solidified Mercedes-AMG’s dominance at Mount Panorama.
“I can’t thank the team enough,” Waters said after his stellar run. “They tuned the car beautifully, and it’s been a dream to drive.” His lap is now second only to Maro Engel’s pole time from 2023, deepening Mercedes-AMG’s legacy at this prestigious race with a total of six poles.
The qualifying session saw a Mercedes 1-2-3 finish, with Waters leading Lucas Auer in the #77 Craft Bamboo Mercedes, who completed his best lap in 2:01.256, just 0.177 seconds behind. Luca Stolz in the #75 Express AMG GT3 EVO secured third place with a time of 2:01.290.
Matt Campbell’s #911 Absolute Racing Porsche emerged as the top non-Mercedes competitor, clocking in at 2:01.300 for fourth. Further down the grid, the #55 Jamec Racing Audi driven by Haase took fifth, while Marco Mapelli achieved sixth with a record-breaking lap for Lamborghini at 2:01.740.
The top ten was rounded out by Raffaele Marciello in the #46 WRT BMW, Scott Andrews in the leading Pro-Am #44 Geyer Valmont Mercedes, Broc Feeney in the #64 Team HRT Ford Mustang, and the #6 Tigani Motorsport AMG.
Waters’ pole position is particularly notable as it marks the first for an Australian driver since Chaz Mostert in 2022. Additionally, this is the first instance of back-to-back pole positions for a manufacturer since Mercedes achieved this feat in 2013-2014.
The race will commence at 5:15 AM local time (AEDT, UTC +11) on Sunday, setting the stage for an exhilarating opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
