Bathurst 12 Hours Preview: Runners and Riders

Mount Panorama. The revered spiritual home of Australian motorsport and the playground of its favourite son, the late Peter Brock, the allure of Bathurst remains as strong as ever, as a 44-car entry of V8 Supercar stars and internationals alike are drawn in once again for the ever-growing Bathurst 12 Hour enduro. Ahead of its eighth season in its current format, The Motorsport Journal runs through the likely names to look out for. 

Returning winners Erebus Motorsport are back with Bernd Schneider once again leading the line. The German DTM maestro, who races for fun these days, is still a formidable force behind the wheel of an SLS AMG GT3 at the age of 49, and would have won his fifth consecutive endurance race on the spin in Dubai – following a clean sweep in 2013 of Dubai, Bathurst, Nurburgring Nordschleife and Spa – before mechanical gremlins struck. Joined by the V8 Supercars refugee Maro Engel, a dab hand himself in a GT car having set a lap record for Erebus at Macau last year and youngster Nico Bastian, who raced an SLS in the VLN Series last year, the all-German crew should be the ones to beat.   Erebus’s new V8 Supercar signing Will Davison will be partnered by Erebus Academy prospect Jack LeBrocq and veteran Greg Crick in the sister car.

Erebus Motorsport are strong favourites with
their pair of Mercedes SLS GT3's. (Credit: Erebus Motorsport)

A third Mercedes has also been entered for Bathurst by HTP Motorsport, which delivered Maximillian Buhk the Blancpain Endurance Series title in 2013, despite only competing in three of the five rounds. 21-year old Buhk returns for his Bathurst debut, with 2013 Bathurst winner Thomas Jaeger and Harold Primat completing what should be a victory contending line-up.

Audi are also well-represented, with Phoenix Racing running a de-facto factory entry for treble Porsche Supercup champion Rene Rast, FIA GT champion Laurens Vanthoor and former DTM racer Rahel Frey. Fresh from his dramatic last lap run-in with Alessandro Pier Guidi for the class win at Daytona, Markus Winkelhock joins Eric Lux and Mark Patterson at United Autosports, while V8 Supercar star Jason Bright will share with Warren Luff, Liam Talbot and Rod Salmon in the latter’s eponymous entry. Not to be discounted also is Christopher Mies, who won back-to-back Bathurst 12 Hour races in 2011 and 2012 and will look to add a third alongside Marc Cinci and Mark Eddy.

2006 V8 Supercar champion and Jack Daniels Nissan team-owner Rick Kelly heads up the Japanese marque’s attack in the GT-R Nismo, which includes the experienced Alex Buncombe, rising Japanese F3 star Katsumasa Chiyo and 2012 GT Academy winner Wolfgang Reip, who did a stunning job on his LMP2 debut with Greaves in Bahrain, while cult hero Steve Richards, a member of that elite club to have won at Bathurst in both a Holden and a Ford, will look to become the defending winner of the Bathurst 1000 and 12 Hours simultaneously in the M Motorsport Lamborghini.  

Fan favourite Craig Lowndes, a five-time winner of the Bathurst 1000 race, links up with the Maranello Motorsport Ferrari team, and should prove competitive with ex-F1 racer Mika Salo, veteran pro John Bowe and Peter Edwards keeping things ticking over.  Further Ferraris are entered by Clearwater Racing, who pin their hopes on the hugely experienced Kiwi Craig Baird and Irish ace Matt Griffin, while Italians Michele Rugolo and Marco Cioci will hope to put AF Corse in the mix.  In another coup for the series, McLaren will also make its first appearance on the mountain in the A class, as Andrew Kirkaldy joins father and son Tony and Klark Quinn and V8 Supercar racer Shane van Gisbergen at VIP Petfoods Racing.

BTCC champion Gordon Shedden is a late addition to
the entry list in a Class C Lotus. (Credit: Riad Ariane Media)

In Class B, 2012 WTCC champion Rob Huff is back for a second crack at the mountain alongside fellow countryman and factory Corvette driver Oliver Gavin, Richard Meins and Kevin Gleason at Rotek Racing in the proven Audi R8 LMS.  Gavin’s ALMS sparring partner Patrick Long is also present, the American ace joining McElrea Racing, with David Calvert-Jones and Will’s brother Alex Davison alongside in a promising-looking Porsche 997 GT3. Elsewhere, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Earl Bamber, recently announced as the winner of a factory scholarship, will partner Ben Barker and Steven Grove in the latter’s 997, and Hollywood actor Eric Bana makes his return to the mountain in a Racing Incident Lamborghini with Peter Hill and Simon Middleton.  Class C also has a star name of its own, as 2012 BTCC champion Gordon Shedden makes his first trip to Mount Panorama in the Motionsport Lotus Exige GT4 which was unlucky not to beat the factory Peugeot's last year.

As a footnote, Ryan McLeod is entering the invitational class with three of the brand new MARC Ford Focus V8s, set to compete in the South African Global Touring Car series (GTC) later this year, with Chris Pither among those set to drive.  

The fearsome new Focus GTCs will race in their own 
South African-based series in 2014. (Credit: Speedcafe)