Bathurst 12 Hour most 'brutal' race Bentley's Jarvis has been in

Jarvis has joined the British manufacturer as a factory GT driver following Audi's LMP1 exit, with the Mount Panorama endurance race his first outing.

The M-Sport Continental GT3 Jarvis shared with Steven Kane and Guy Smith endured a difficult build-up and started in 23rd place.

However, the trio kept out of trouble - particularly as the early stages claimed a number of high-profile contenders - and picked their way up to finish third, nabbing the final podium position after Shane van Gisbergen's late crash.

"This is an incredible place and I don't think I have ever been in a race as brutal as that," Jarvis said.

"I have been involved in a lot of endurance racing but I have never seen so much carnage within the first three or four hours of a race, and some of the top drivers sticking it into the wall.

"We had a game plan simply to stay on the lead lap.

"We didn't have a great run up to the race with a lot of issues with the brand new car but the team did a fantastic job.

"It didn't stay issue-free throughout the race, but coming out third is a great result and a credit to my team-mates."

Smith believes the unlikely podium was something all three drivers should be proud of, despite not being able to challenge the Maranello Ferrari for the win.

"We had a couple of issues throughout the race and basically were just trying to stay on the lead lap," he said.

"Ultimately we didn't have the pace. [But] if you had told us after qualifying 24th that we would be on the podium we would have taken it all day long.

"We are very happy; the team did a fantastic job and congrats to all the guys here for a great race."