BMW Bathurst 12 Hour one-two victory reiterates Valentino Rossi's ability on four wheels

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BMW has won the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race with a crushing one-two finish which saw motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi with his best result since his Bathurst debut.

The #32 BMW M4 GT3 driven by Augusto Farfus and brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde – which started fourth – led the #46 BMW of Rossi, Charles Weerts and Raffaele Marciello to the chequered flag after 12 hours, one minute and 53.13 seconds.

It was BMW's third Bathurst 12 Hour win but its first in the GT3 era (2011 onwards).

"Tastes sweet after that one," said Kelvin van der Linde in the post-race press conference after driving the last stint in the winning #32 BMW.

"I’m first of all very proud to be here with this guy [brother Sheldon].

"Second of all [I'm] very proud to be here with Augusto, as a guy I watched in touring cars on the T.V. as a young kid at home and now to win the race together, I’m very proud – so thank you both boys."

The only other race at the famous track won by brothers happens to be the 1997 Bathurst 1000 won by David and Geoff Brabham, also in a BMW.

In front of 51,372 spectators – the second-biggest crowd in the race's history – the winning BMW covered 306 laps and 1901.2km, nearly twice the length of the V8 Supercars' Bathurst 1000.

It was the fourth-longest distance covered since the first 12 Hour in 1991, with the race a battle between 'GT3' race cars since 2011.

The winning #32 BMW started second but after first taking the lead on lap 30 spent more than half the race in front, totalling 175 laps at the head of the field.

The BMW victory came after 14 different lead changes between six different competitors – including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche brands – across the 12 hours of racing.

The #46 BMW also led for 39 laps in the middle of the race, made more impressive as it started 14th, but had its chance of victory thwarted after a penalty when Rossi illegally overtook a car during a yellow flag period.

It is the first time a MotoGP champion rider – with Rossi having won seven world titles – has stood on the Bathurst podium. 

"It’s the perfect way to start the season, because the track is fantastic, and the race is also very difficult," Rossi said after the race.

"I want to come back [to the Bathurst 12 Hour] because for me it's good to come and race one time a year in Australia, because I like this place a lot."

Behind the two BMWs, Australian Kenny Habul, driving with Luca Stolz and Jules Gounon, finished third in the same Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo they drove to second in last year's race after winning in 2022 and 2023.

Habul was at the wheel of the #75 Mercedes-AMG when it was involved in the biggest crash of the race, when it contacted another Mercedes-AMG driven by another Australian competitor, Stephen Grove.

While he was able to exit the car without the need for assistance, Grove was taken to Orange hospital, west of Bathurst, after the dramatic incident, which saw his car launch wildly into the air and almost fly over the barrier at the top of Mount Panorama.

Grove is reportedly in good spirits and undergoing further tests as the race ended, an apologetic Habul making a point to admit he didn't see Grove's car when they collided, saying "I wouldn't wish that on anyone" after being shocked by replays of the airborne #4 Mercedes-Benz. 

The crash occurred just over two hours into the race – and only minutes after the #75 Mercedes-Benz forced the #36 Ferrari wide at the second corner to avoid a crash – which had started before sunrise at 5:45 am.

Mercedes-Benz driver Lucas Auer led the field in the pre-dawn start, having won the Allan Simonsen Award for pole position with a 2:01.278 lap time to start in first position in the #77 Mercedes-Benz he was sharing with Maximilian Gotz and Australian Jayden Ojeda.

The hopes of Australian Matt Campbell – who won last year's 12 Hour – were somewhat dashed after a lack of grip impacted on the driveability of his Porsche 911, which saw him start from an uncharacteristically low 11th.

Campbell – who hails from Warwick, Queensland – recovered to a fine sixth-place finish in the #911 Porsche, his solid progress only overshadowed by the #46 BMW's impressive climb to second place from 14th.

Seven-time Bathurst 1000 and twice Bathurst 12 Hour winner Craig Lowndes' campaign ended after damage caused by a mistake only 90 minutes into the race.

Contact with the wall saw Lowndes unable to make it back to the pits for repairs, ending what was a strong combination of fellow V8 Supercars Championship drivers Thomas Randle and Cam Waters in the #222 Mercedes-Benz.

The 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown – whose Red Bull Triple Eight Racing team announced a shock switch from Chevrolet to Ford two days prior – fared better, sharing a Ferrari 296 with Chaz Mostert and Daniel Serra to be among the pre-race favourites.

The yellow and red #26 Ferrari looked strong – Mostert setting the fastest lap of the race with a 2:02.2740 – storming past the #32 BMW for second on lap six before assuming the lead on the eighth lap.

Mostert pitted from first place a little over an hour into the race, with Brown taking over and then contacting the pole-sitting #77 Mercedes, sending it into the sand at the final corner and prompting the first Safety Car so it could be recovered to rejoin the race.

By comparison, the first and only Safety Car intervention at last year's Bathurst 1000 came 133 laps – around four-and-a-half-hours – into that race.

A wild second and third hour saw multiple crashes and cars off track, with a total of seven Safety Car periods all taking place in the first seven hours of the race.

That included V8 Supercars driver Broc Feeney who was out on lap 164 with a little more than five hours left to run.

The Audi R8 Feeney was driving with local Liam Talbot and Ricardo Feller ending up in the sand at The Chase – part of the circuit where the cars brake heavily after the high-speed Conrod Straight – with a mechanical issue forcing the car off the circuit.

After the chaos – including the huge Grove incident – the race wasn't interrupted by a Safety Car for the final four hours and thirty-five minutes – one of the longest green-flag periods in the event’s history.

The #32 BMW led the field with Farfus at the wheel after the last Safety Car peeled off into the pits and led the race to the end – despite challenges from rivals including Mostert in the Ferrari.

Mostert led with minutes remaining, with his co-drivers Brown and Serra both making some brilliant passes before Mostert claimed in to drive the final stint.

The Supercars driver passed the #32 BMW for the lead with just under 40 minutes remaining in a bold pass at The Chase, but had to make another pit stop for fuel, seeing it cross the line in fourth place.

A late incident with Rossi collecting the gutter as he entered pit lane was not enough to stop the #46 which looked set for a comfortable third place.

With Marciello at the wheel, the #46 hunted down the Habul/Stolz/Gounon Mercedes to snatch second place with a dramatic high-speed pass – the Italian driver putting two wheels on the grass – to make it a BMW in first and second place with 21 minutes left on the clock.

After the race, Kelvin van der Linde – driving the winning #32 BMW at the end – admitted the car was low on fuel and almost ran out while it was leading.

"I had a fuel surge on the way to the podium ceremony, so it was very, very tight," he said in the post-race press conference.

"The whole race we were fuel-saving, which is sometimes harder than pushing flat out, you know you can’t really do the pace that guys behind are doing.

"Especially when Chaz was coming at the end there, the guys were giving me numbers to hit and I knew it was going to be tight, but I’m so proud of everyone."

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