Hour 7 Update: Longhurst races to lead  Â

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  Pit stops and shocks in second half…

  An old rivalry was re-ignited in hour seven, as Tony Longhurst traded positions and tactical blows with his old foe, Paul Morris.

  Longhurst famously punched Paul Morris through the window of his car at Winton after they came together at the 1994 Australian Super Touring Championship at Winton Motor Raceway, and 15 years later there was no love lost between the two drivers as they diced for position around Mt Panorama.

  Morris, in a BMW 335i, dragged the Skwirk Evo X up Mountain Straight shortly after Longhurst regained the lead at 1:05pm, using his twin-turbo six’s grunt to steal up the inside on Turn Two.

  This would move him up to the lead lap – and to stay in front of the lead car in case another safety car was called.

  However, Longhurst was having none of it. Using the AWD of the Evo to full capacity, he launched out of Forest Elbow and raced Morris head-to-head down Conrod Straight, politely fitting back in behind him at the kink, and taking the opportunity to undercut Morris at Turn 1.

  Utilising the experience of countless laps around Bathurst, and aided by the high rate of attrition at the front of the pack, Longhurst closed the seventh hour with a commanding 2:19sec lead over the nearest competitor.

HOUR SEVEN
1     1  R.Salmon/T.Longhurst/D.White                
TMR Australia                  Mitsubishi Lancer RS  06:51:49.1796 
2    55  G.Crimp/T.Ricciardello/S.Kostera               
West Surfing Products          Mitsubishi Lancer RS 06:54:03.4609 
3    11  B.Morcom/L.Searle/P.Stubber
Rondo Building Services        BMW 335i              06:54:11.0416 
4    23  S.Briffa/M.Zukanovic/T.Sipp                  
GSK Group                      Holden VE R8 Clubsport  06:53:00.2142 
5     3  S.Jones/K.Wade/A.Caratti               
Messages on Hold    Mitsubishi Lancer RS  06:53:11.6134