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Mark Eddy, Warren Luff and Craig Lowndes celebrate winning the Armor All pole award with Armor All reps.

AUDI AND PORSCHE will go head to head in tomorrow’s Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour after locking out the first three rows of the grid during qualifying today at Mount Panorama.

AUDI have taken the initiative in the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour as the race began in perfect conditions this morning on Mount Panorama.

AUDI continued to pound out consistent lap times with Craig Baird staying in touch. Clear air allowed him to get the most out of his VIP PetFoods Porsche GT3 R not letting them pull away for the lead they enjoyed in the first hour before the safety car made its first appearance.

A heavy shower hit Mount Panorama coming into the third hour of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour. Those with a wealth of experience of the track found themselves holding an advantage in the wet as teams toyed with the idea of putting wet tyres onto their cars.

Bathurst 12H: Standings After 4 Hours

Mother Nature couldn’t make her mind up as the field continued their endurance race around the 6.2km circuit. Rain fell gently on and off as Mies found his groove, leading in the #8 Audi from teammate Luff in #7.

Audi continued the theme of the weekend, dominating in position one and two. As the track continued to dry up, the R8 LMS GT3 pair was seemingly untouchable.

It was an all German manufacturer top five early in the hour as the Audi pair lead from three Porsche entrants. As the Armor All Bathurst 12 hour hit the halfway mark, a spanner or two was thrown in the works.

Audi continues to lead the Armor All Bathurst 12 hour as the home stretch comes into view. Porsche looks prepared to upset Audi’s ultimate goal of a one/two finish early on as the #29 GT3 R sits in second after Eddy’s error in the #7 Audi after the restart allowed him through.

Bathurst 12H: Standings After 8 Hours

Mount Panorama rookies in the #8 Audi R8 LMS Gt3 continued to lead the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour at the beginning of the eighth hour. A brake pad change put the car back in the pack momentarily gifting the lead to the #29 Porsche, moving the #7 Audi into second.

Racing went back under green as we moved towards the final quarter of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour. Lowndes regained the lead from Quinn before his teammate moved through into second. Things seemed to be going Audi’s way as they resumed their preferred one/two position on track before Lowndes made what is widely regarded as an unexpected pit stop.

Fifteen minutes in and we were back under racing conditions and things soon settled into a comfortable rhythm as the field moved into the final hours of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.

The eleventh hour of the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour ran reasonably smoothly. #29 pitted but retained their position on track as the Audi pair stayed in prime position.