R-MOTORSPORT has been excluded from the results of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour Pirelli Top-10 shootout, officially handing the Allan Simonsen pole position award to GruppeM Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Officials found a technical breach related to the mandated rev limit threshold of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3s V12 engine.

The breach was unintentional and related to the vehicle’s manufacturer-supplied homologation documents.

The penalty applied by the stewards of the meeting was exclusion from the results of the Pirelli Top-10 Shootout.

Exclusion from the shootout results relegated the car to 10th position, with the existing two-position grid penalty for speeding in pit lane during an earlier session ultimately moving them a further two places down the grid to twelfth.

R-Motorsport had initially been award the prestigious Allan Simonsen pole trophy despite the pit lane speeding penalty – which was to be applied to starting grid rather than the shootout results.

However, the exclusion of the car ensures the car will be recorded to have failed to set a time – handing the Allan Simonsen Pole Award to GruppeM Racing on their first visit to Mount Panorama.

A stunning Shootout lap from Italian young-gun Raffaele Marciello saw the bright yellow entry climb from ninth in qualifying to second – and now first – on the final grid.

The official starting order will be released later this evening once any further penalties from qualifying have been applied.