MOTORSPORT: Bumper Bathurst 1000 this weekend

The biggest festival of speed in the history of Mount Panorama will be held this week in the lead-up to the 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 this weekend.

The Supercars grand final is the climax of a six-day meeting comprising races for 10 all-sorts categories from classic muscle cars to S5000 single-seaters, one-make Porsche Carerra Cup to Toyota 86 coupes, and V8-powered utes to new-age TCR hot hatches.

The Bathurst week will also include, on Friday morning, the first public appearance of the all-new Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro that will compete under Gen3 regulations in the Supercars championship from season 2023.

The focus is obviously on the Supercars grand final, for which newly-crowned series champion Shane van Gisbergen is the odds-on favourite for a contest that should still be as close and competitive as any recent season.

The race is starting later than usual – at just after noon on Sunday – due to predictions of 40-plus temperatures on the day, resulting in sweltering 60-plus conditions in the cockpits.

But the Bathurst forecast this week is for rain and cool temperatures, which could easily upset the pecking order in The Great Race and cause unexpected dramas for the massive number of supporting-race competitors.

Apart from Supercars and the Super2 class for newcomers to the V8 heavyweights, there is a lot of interest in the first appearance at Mount Panorama of the V8-powered S5000 cars.

The high-tech single-seaters are expected to demolish the track record and will add an extra dimension to the meeting.

Otherwise, the program is dominated by all types of touring and sports cars.

The fastest will be the GT cars – Audi R8, Porsche 911, Mercedes-AMG GT – but the most entertaining will be the packed field of American-built TransAm cars and the old-fashioned Touring Car Masters runners.

Bathurst will also cap the disjointed second season for the high-tech turbo TCR Australia Series, with Chaz Mostert hoping to clinch the championship for Audi.

In the main event, and with the 2021 Supercars trophy already won, van Gisbergen is promising to go all-out with his rock-solid co-driver Garth Tander in search of back-to-back wins.

“We’re just going there purely for the race win. It will probably be more intense but more enjoyable, I think,” says van Gisbergen.

“It’s good. I’m relaxed about it now.”

But there are plenty of contenders, including Will Brown. The youngster broke through for his first Supercars win at Sydney Motorsport Park during the four-weekend end to the sprint season.

“I think anyone can be beaten at Bathurst. We’re positive and feeling confident,” says Brown.

“I feel this year we [Brown and Jack Perkins] can contend for a podium and possibly a win. Driving for four weekends in a row in Sydney is always going to help. And we’ve been competitive all the way through. It’s been a really positive year for us.”

David Reynolds, a past winner with carsales’ Luke Youlden, agrees.

“Bathurst is Bathurst. It’s a unique race and its own standalone championship,” he says.

“It’s the only race that can genuinely surprise you. You see people doing extraordinary things at Bathurst.”

But Anton De Pasquale, who should be the quickest Mustang driver based on his pole positions at SMP, is not intimidated by van Gisbergen.

“Anyone can beat them. A fast car wins the race,” he says bluntly.

2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 entry list:
#2   Bryce Fullwood - Warren Luff - Commodore
#3   Tim Slade - Tim Blanchard - Mustang
#4   Jack Smith - David Wall - Commodore
#5   Jack Le Brocq - Zak Best - Mustang
#6   Cam Waters - James Moffat - Mustang
#7   Andre Heimgartner - Matt Campbell - Mustang
#8   Nick Percat - Dale Wood - Commodore
#9   Will Brown - Jack Perkins - Commodore
#11 Anton De Pasquale - Tony D’Alberto - Mustang
#14 Todd Hazelwood - Dean Fiore - Commodore
#17 Will Davison - Alex Davison - Mustang
#18 Mark Winterbottom - Michael Caruso - Commodore
#19 Fabian Coulthard - Jono Webb - Commodore
#20 Scott Pye - James Golding - Commodore
#22 Garry Jacobson - Dylan O’Keefe - Commodore
#25 Chaz Mostert - Lee Holdsworth - Commodore
#26 David Reynolds - Luke Youlden - Mustang
#34 Jake Kostecki - Kurt Kostecki - Commodore
#35 Zane Goddard - Jayden Ojeda - Commodore
#39 Broc Feeney - Russell Ingall - Commodore
#44 James Courtney - Thomas Randle - Mustang
#88 Jamie Whincup - Craig Lowndes - Commodore
#96 Macauley Jones - Chris Pither - Commodore
#97 Shane van Gisbergen - Garth Tander - Commodore
#99 Brodie Kostecki - David Russell - Commodore