MOTORSPORT: Stacked field set for Bathurst 12 Hour

The Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour takes its next step in rebuilding after the pandemic this weekend, with champions from around the motorsport world converging on Mount Panorama for our international endurance race.

The 2023 entry list includes 84 drivers assembled from 15 countries, who will take to the circuit in 18 teams representing marques such as Audi, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche, Lamborghini, BMW, KTM, SIN and MARC Cars.

The star of the show will be Bathurst debutant Valentino Rossi, with the seven-time MotoGP champion lining up for BMW in a two-pronged all-professional attack, which finished first and third in the season-opening Dubai 24 Hour.

Numerous drivers and teams will be backing up from today’s Daytona 24 Hour, including the defending Bathurst-winning crew of Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz, who return in a Mercedes-AMG.

Meantime fresh from victory in the GTD Pro class, Maro Engel and Dani Juncadella will be looking to continue their winning streak aboard different AMG entries.

The Mercedes-AMG tribe will have four starters in the outright Pro class, with local hopes resting on the shoulders of the Triple Eight Race Engineering-prepared machine of Shane van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Maximilian Gotz.

Also in the top tier of the entry are Christopher Haase, Patrick Niederhauser and Mattia Drudi aboard an Audi, while Porsche hopes rest on the shoulders of local ace Matt Campbell, alongside Mathieu Jaminet and Thomas Preining.

The Pro-AM section of the competition is entirely likely to spring an outright surprise if the nominated amateur-ranked drivers can keep their car near the lead lap, with safety car wave-around rules likely to tighten the competition.

Local stars to keep an eye out for include Anton De Pasquale, Lee Holdsworth, David Reynolds, James Golding and Craig Lowndes, while international hired guns like Frédéric Vervisch and Christopher Mies will add spice to proceedings.

A second Triple Eight AMG with Jamie Whincup, Richie Stanaway and Prince Jefri Ibrahim aboard will be one to watch.

Even in the Silver class ranks, drivers such as Chaz Mostert, Tony D’Alberto, Jonathon Webb, David Russell and Grant Denyer will be interesting additions to the grid.

Outside of the entry to the race, there will be several other factors worth tracking.

Firstly, Pirelli is bringing a new compound control tyre to the event, which in other events overseas has proven to be faster over a single lap, while also offering improved consistency across the length of a stint.

Subsequent to the potential uptick in speed, if the race runs largely green, there is a strong chance that the magical 2000km distance benchmark could be broken on race day, with the existing record set in 2020 sitting at 1950km, or 314 laps.

A major sideshow at this year’s event will be the appearance of a Red Bull Racing F1 car, with Kiwi young gun Liam Lawson behind the wheel.

The 2011 RB7 model is currently in Australia on promotional duties and will be out to better Jenson Button’s unofficial lap record of 1m48.88sec set during a McLaren publicity stunt in 2011.

The new 2023 Mercedes-AMG C 43 sports sedan will also make its Australian debut at this year’s B12H.

Following qualifying on Saturday, the final 10 grid places will be determined via split 15min sessions as per the 2022 race, with the race scheduled for a green flag at 5:45am on Sunday.

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