But Bathurst doesn’t allow you to get away that easily and with two hours to go, torrential rain fell on the circuit. It was on the Mountain at first. It caught out the entire field with rivers running across the track and drivers struggling to control their cars. Passing moves were made at 25 kph as the cars struggled.

Naturally, the safety car had to be called partly to allow the conditions to improve and partly to recover vehicles that crashed in the rain.

One of them was the I1 class Motionsport Lotus. The English team had ran in the Dubai 24 Hours and received their car only a couple of days before the event. In that time they had to fix it from Dubai and prepare it for Bathurst. They had been running strongly a lap in front of the I1 factory Peugeot RCZs.

Erebus Racing took top honors in Sunday's Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. (Photo: Nathan Wong)

The rain and track cleared but as they say, yellows cause yellows and this was never truer than here.

As the cars took the green the Australian Erebus car and the Motionsport Lotus would fight over the same bit of tarmac. The resulting collision eliminated the Motionsport Lotus and break the suspension of the Erebus car. It would recover to sixth after frantic work in the pits.

Team Erebus had been running 1-2 for hours and this incident left them with just one car running for victory.

These incidents had changed the complexion of the race and set it up for a very tense last hour.

Could the Erebus team hold on? Clearwater and the VIP Porsche were battling over second - and importantly would the rain return?

The rain did return and, again, it would bucket down. It caught out the unlucky Brendon Hartley in the United Autosports Audi who aquaplaned off the track, breaking the suspension and taking the team out of sixth.

Driver Mark Patterson was bitterly disappointed.

“It was 11 hours and 50 minutes of flawless Audi parts, mechanics operating on all cylinders and all three drivers putting in lap times they could only have dreamed about," Patterson said. "Problem is, this is a 12 hour race and a rainstorm right at the end created an unmanageable situation on slicks. Nicking a wall on Mount Panorama is like detonating a hand grenade at a Guy Fawkes party. Just a mess."

The Clearwater car got the better of the VIP Porsche and went one better than they did last year, while the VIP team repeated the third they scored in 2011.

Erebus did hold on but not without incident as Alex Roloff would run slightly wide at the last turn, sending a nervous gasp through the onlookers.

Naturally, the Erebus crew were delighted with their efforts.

Roloff explains that it was a difficult end to the race and that they certainly earnt their victory.

“I had no radio for the last stint, it was pretty amazing given the weather conditions," he said. "I didn’t know at the time, but the Erebus Motorsport team were radioing to the other car to try and read the conditions so they could put a pit board out for me, this shows the spirit of this team and the AMG Customer Sports program.

“I had no pressure because I had my rain tires on so I finished the race. It was a tough race, but the performance of the AMG Customer Sports machine came to the fore once again and the car is undefeated this year.”

The DragonSpeed car would come home 17th completing 233 laps, a great effort in their first trip to the Mountain, particularly after their early race issues. This was their third finish in their last three major endurance races.

David "CJ" Calvert-Jones also entered the race in Class B with Alex and James Davison, did not make it to the flag, after leading much of the race in class and completing 207 laps.

Instead, the Hunter Porsche (David Russell, Steve Johnson and Johnny Reid) won Class B. Class C was an emotional affair after Rob Thomson’s father passed away on the Thursday before the race. 2013 was his sixth attempt at the race and it his first win.

It was also emotional for Peugeot’s David Wall who raced here in the past with his father, Des. After last year, they had planned to race here together in 2013 but Des sucommbed to cancer in 2012.

Other class winners included Mal Rose Racing (Commodore) in Invitational 3 (13th overall), the No. 17 Motorsport Services Seat Leon Supacopa for Invitational 2 (20th overall). The production categories were taken by Racer Industries Holden Astra who successfully defended their 2012 title and GWS Personnel BMW in Class D.

The Peugeot squad would also take a 1-2 in the I1 class. Driver Bruce Jouanny was thrilled with his first trip to the Mountain.

“It was an experience for me - it was a win, I am very happy to be racing at Bathurst," he said. "The other car had a problem and the drivers helped fix the car - there was a great team atmosphere.

“It was a good choice for me to say yes (to drive). When it is a manufacturer it is always interesting and I hope more will come involved.”

The leaders covered 278 laps - with a record number of safety cars. The race wasn’t without controversy but undoubtedly it is growing in stature and is rapidly becoming a must-do event for teams and drivers from in Australia and around the world.