Bathurst Thursday Notebook

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

***The annual track-to-town parade and launch party officially kicked off the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour on Thursday, which for the first time is part of a two-week Bathurst SuperFest that will feature the opening round of the Repco Supercars Championship next weekend.

***A number of Supercars teams and drivers are taking advantage of this event to get extra track time, albeit in different machinery. Triple Eight Race Engineering and Matt Stone Racing have entries this weekend while Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds, Cameron Waters, Nick Percat, Cameron Hill, Tim Slade, Jaxon Evans and Thomas Randle are among the crop of Supercars drivers taking part in the 12 Hour.

***Two-time and defending Bathurst 12 Hour winner Kenny Habul performed a small burnout in his No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo during the parade, which he was reprimanded for by local authorities. Habul later publicly apologized to the police for his behavior.

***Habul told Sportscar365 that he’s nearly back to 100 percent fitness following his back injury at last year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which took him out of the cockpit for nearly six months. The U.S.-based Australian made his racing return in December’s Gulf 12 Hours and also recently took part in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

***HubAuto’s late withdrawal of its Porsche 911 GT3 R entry for Kevin Estre, Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler came after multiple attempts to source alternative chassis after its car was delayed en route via sea freight. Sportscar365 understands one of the options was to air-freight a car into Australia, although it would have not likely arrived at the track in time for opening practice.

***Members of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship-winning GTD Pro squad Pfaff Motorsports were due to assist the Taiwanese team this weekend.

***Grove Racing is missing its first Bathurst 12 Hour since 2012, with the multi-time class-winning team having opted to focus its efforts on last month’s postponed Hankook 24H Dubai instead amid its switch to Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo machinery and plans to contest the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS Sprint season.

***Fourteen of the 30 entries are eligible to score Intercontinental GT Challenge points, as part of an overhaul to the points scoring system that no longer sees registered manufacturers nominate cars. The top two-placed cars per manufacturer (Mercedes-AMG, BMW and Porsche) score points in the race. Click Here for the IGTC-specific entry list.

***Pirelli has been dropped as the presenting sponsor of IGTC this year, owing to the fact that the newly added Nürburgring 24 will feature open tire competition per ADAC event rules. The Italian tire manufacturer, however, remains the exclusive tire provider for the three other IGTC races this year, including the Bathurst 12 Hour.

***Three full season drivers have been registered for the IGTC Independent Cup, although only Prince Jefri Ibrahim is due to race this weekend. Adrian D’Silva and Antares Au are expected to be present from the second round of the season at the Nürburgring 24, with both drivers taking advantage of the category’s one round drop score.

***Of note, multi-time Pro-Am class champion Habul is not currently registered for this year’s Independent Cup. Habul told Sportscar365 that he’s working on obtaining his permit license to compete in the German endurance classic, which will require him to contest at least one NLS or NES race on the Nordschleife beforehand.

***SunEnergy1 is running its own in-house team for the first time at Mount Panorama. The team linked up with Triple Eight Race Engineering for its maiden Bathurst win in 2022, and had operations from Akkodis ASP last year. Habul’s 75 Express outfit debuted at the Gulf 12 Hours and also recently contested the Rolex 24.

***The Heart of Racing is utilizing a Mercedes-AMG this weekend because the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which recently debuted at Daytona, is not homologated for this event according to team principal Ian James.

***The team, run in conjunction with SPS automotive performance, has a spare chassis on-site. James confirmed that neither car took part in last month’s Hankook 24H Dubai, where the Heart of Racing/SPS partnership yielded a fifth place Pro-Am class finish.

***A number of notable cars will be taking part in demonstration sessions on Friday and Saturday, including Ford’s all-electric E-Transit SuperVan 4.2, driven by Romain Dumas, a Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang and Triple Eight Race Engineering Chevrolet Camaro to promote the Thrifty Bathurst 500 Supercars race, as well as an unrestricted Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that Jules Gounon will attempt to break the unofficial lap record at Mount Panorama.

***Gounon’s weapon was spotted in the paddock on Thursday, sporting considerable aero upgrades to the rear wing as well as wing mirror treatments.

***This weekend’s event is due to attract a delegation of executives from Ford Australia, as well as staff from GM Specialty Vehicles, ahead of the prospects of both the new-for-2024 Ford Mustang GT3 and Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R making their Bathurst 12 Hour debuts next year. Versions of both production cars are on display in the fan village area.

***Sportscar365 understands that the Mustang GT3 is being earmarked for a full season Fanatec GT Australia campaign next year as well as a likely Bathurst 12 Hour bid.

***This weekend’s race also serves as the opening round of Fanatec GT Australia, as one of two endurance races on the 2024 schedule for the new-look championship that’s being promoted by the newly formed SRO Australia organization. The sprint season kicks off at Phillip Island on April 12-14 prior to trips to The Bend Motorsport Park, Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park.

***Track action begins on Friday with four 40-minute practice sessions, including two for Bronze-rated drivers only. The first session gets underway at 8:15 a.m. local time (Thursday, 4:15 p.m. ET) with live streaming coverage available for the first time for all sessions via the Bathurst 12 Hour social media channels.

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