Bathurst 12H Organizer Expecting Record GT3 Field

The 2027 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour is set to feature the largest and almost certainly the most competitive grid of GT3 machinery ever assembled in Australia.

Confirmation that a stunning Bathurst field is building comes following the closure of early bird entries for the Feb. 12-14 event, the opening round of the 2027 Intercontinental GT Challenge season.

While entries remain open for competitors through mid-December, the number of entries already lodged has eclipsed the previous benchmark achieved for GT3 cars at Mount Panorama, which stands at 33 cars, achieved in both 2017 and 2020.

Earlier this year, 32 GT3 cars competed out of a total starting field of 34 cars.

Ten different manufacturers are currently confirmed, at least eight with more than one representative. As well as a host of domestic entries, teams will travel to New South Wales from Asia, Europe and North America.

Several first-time entries have been lodged alongside teams with a long-standing presence at Mount Panorama.

The full field will be announced in late December following entries officially closing.

The efforts showcase the ongoing partnership between the event and SRO, the global force behind GT racing and the IGTC, to position the event as a ‘must do’ for teams from around the world.

“It is an extremely exciting group of teams and cars to have entered so far,” said Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour event director Shane Rudzis.

“To have eclipsed our previous benchmark for GT3 cars already is incredibly pleasing for the team behind the event who continue to work hard and aim to improve every year, and highlights our ongoing relationship with SRO.

“The interest from local and international teams to conquer the Mountain is high and the fact several new teams are coming in 2027 is proof; as is the return of some competitors we’ve not seen since before 2020 along with those who are regular contenders.

“We continue to evolve and grow and the addition of more track time this year, in the form of Thursday testing, showcases that.

“Moving on from the pandemic, plus the global shipping and freight issues that followed, we have been consistent in our confidence that we would rebuild the event to a position where it was better than what many accept as ‘the peak’ in 2019 and 2020.

“This year was a huge step: 2027 is when we look beyond that.”

Teams to have already publicly confirmed entries for the 2027 Bathurst 12H include Scott Taylor Motorsport (Mercedes-AMG), Tsunami RT (Porsche) and Triple Eight Race Engineering (Ford), while others such as 13 Autosport (Corvette) and Team KRC (BMW) have also signalled intentions to compete.