13 Autosport Set for Bathurst 12H Debut; N24 Plans in Works

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squad 13 Autosport is set to make its Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour debut in February, having confirmed plans of taking one of its Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs to Mount Panorama as part of an increased global effort.

The Canadian squad, which won its third consecutive Bob Akin Award in last weekend’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, which provides a LMGT3 class auto-invite to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, could also take on next year’s Nürburgring 24 according to team owner Orey Fidani.

“We’ve got a few things cooking for next year and in the future for sure,” he told Sportscar365. “We’re planning to do Bathurst in February next year. I went and did my Nürburgring permit a month ago, so I’ve got all that.

“We don’t have plans of when and what we’ll be doing [Nürburgring 24] yet. It’s definitely going to happen at some point, whether it’s next year or the year after.”

Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern will be drivers for the team’s first trip to Australia, in a deal that just came together “recently” according to the team owner/driver, who said racing at Bathurst has been a personal dream of his.

“It has been,” said Fidani. “And we definitely want to pick off some more stuff in Europe in the near future.”

The N24 effort would be dependent on GM’s proposed Nordschleife kit being approved in time for next year’s race.

“It’s tough,” said Fidani. “We are also waiting on GM as well because they have to build a new kit for the Nürburgring. It’s dependent on when we can get our hands on that and start testing that.

“We’ll have to wait for that before we jump the gun.”

Under the tutelage of Nordschleife expert Kern, the 39-year-old Canadian took part in last month’s NLS8 and NLS9 rounds in Manthey-prepared Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports, first securing his permit in a detuned version of the car in the first race before being upgraded to a Manthey GT4 build the following day.

He said the team will be purchasing an all-new Corvette Evo for next year’s planned WeatherTech Championship program, which would be its fourth Pratt Miller-built Corvette.

The team’s Le Mans chassis will be upgraded via an Evo kit, while its 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD class-winning car remains retired from competition as a museum-piece.

When asked if he’s interested in one day mounting a full season Intercontinental GT Challenge program, which includes Bathurst and the N24 on its five-round globe-trotting GT3 series calendar, Fidani admitted he currently “hasn’t thought of it.”

“I love IMSA,” he said. I want to stay here long-term but I want to do some other things.

“It’s just about fitting in what works and when and hoping schedules change a little bit. Sometimes you can squeeze those things in.”

Reflecting on his first year as a team owner, with Fidani having purchased the team from former operator AWA, he said it’s been a seamless transition.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot of things but I’ve been around these guys now for a pretty long time,” he said. “I’ve pretty much seen and learned all that stuff before, so it’s actually been quite an easy transition.

“It’s really just been a name and paperwork change. Other than that, everything is technically been pretty much the same. It hasn’t been that tough in terms of that.

“Obviously I built a new shop back home with the team, so it’s been busy all year in between races, coming back and getting all of that organized as fast as possible.

“It’s pretty much done now. For the beginning of next year, we’re set in terms of everything. It’s just full tilt.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John