THE organisers of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour have outdone themselves again, assembling perhaps the most well-credentialed grid ever to grace Mount Panorama.
A 53-car field was unveiled on Tuesday, spearheaded by 13 ‘Pro’ class entries and a further 12 ‘Pro-Am’ entries, packed with a wealth of driving talent that it’s hard to know exactly where to start.
Among the grid’s combined achievements are three FIA world championship titles and as many Le Mans 24 Hours wins; 12 Supercars championships and over 400 race victories; 36 Bathurst endurance race wins; 220 Formula 1 race starts; and 32 wins across the revered 24 Hour GT races at Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring.
Reigning winners Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes are back but with different teams and in different cars, trading their Ferrari for a Mercedes and a McLaren respectively.
Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin, the two fastest drivers around Mount Panorama in a GT car and a Supercar, are also McLaren mounted, the quartet leading a contingent of 11 full-time Supercars drivers to be suiting up for the once-around-the-clock enduro.
Chasing back-to-back Mount Panorama wins are reigning Bathurst 1000 champs David Reynolds and Luke Youlden, while Chaz Mostert would become the first driver to win all three major Bathurst enduros (1000, 12 Hour, 6 Hour) should his Schnitzer Team BMW M6 cross the line first on February 4.
The overseas contingent is just as formidable, with Audi, Mercedes, McLaren, Porsche and Bentley bringing the best of their factory stars to Australia for the race.
Tickets remain available for the event, with race day General Admission tickets priced from just $46, including free access to the paddock area.
ENTRY LIST - 2018 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour
Entry | No. | Class | Team | Car | Model | Driver 1 | Driver 2 | Driver 3 | Driver 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | PRO | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley | Continental GT3 | Steven Kane | Guy Smith | Jules Gounon | |
2 | 18 | PRO | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley | Continental GT3 | Andy Soucek | Maxime Soulet | Vincent Abril | |
3 | 22 | PRO | Valvoline Jamec-Pem Racing | Audi | R8 LMS | Garth Tander | Kelvin Van der Linde | Fredrick Vervisch | |
4 | 37 | PRO | Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi | R8 LMS | Robin Frijns | Stuart Leonard | Dries Vanthoor | |
5 | 43 | PRO | BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW | M6 GT3 | Augusto Farfus | Chaz Mostert | Marco Wittmann | |
6 | 55 | PRO | Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing | Mercedes | AMG GT GT3 | Nick Leventis | Lewis Williamson | Cameron Waters | David Fumaneli |
7 | 56 | PRO | Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing | Mercedes | AMG GT GT3 | Maximillian Buhk | Maximillian Goetz | Alvaro Parente | |
8 | 58 | PRO | YNA Autosport | McLaren | 650S GT3 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Craig Lowndes | Côme Ledogar | |
9 | 74 | PRO | Valvoline Jamec-Pem Racing | Audi | R8 LMS | Christopher Mies | Christopher Haase | Markus Winklehock | |
10 | 75 | PRO | Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing | Mercedes | AMG GT3 | Kenny Habul | Tristan Vautier | Jamie Whincup | Raffaele Marciello |
11 | 100 | PRO | BMW Team SRM | BMW | M6 GT3 | Steven Richards | Timo Glock | Phillip Eng | |
12 | 911 | PRO | Manthey-Racing | Porsche | 911 | Romain Dumas | Frederic Makowiecki | Dirk Werner | |
13 | 991 | PRO | Craft Bamboo Racing | Porsche | 911 GT3 R | Earl Bamber | Kevin Estre | Laurens Vanthoor | |
14 | 8 | PRO-AM | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Mercedes | AMG GT3 | Max Twigg | Craig Baird | Tony D'alberto | |
15 | 9 | PRO-AM | Hallmarc | Audi | R8 LMS | Marc Cini | Lee Holdsworth | Dean Fiore | |
16 | 11 | PRO-AM | Objective Racing | McLaren | 650S | Tony Walls | Warren Luff | Tim Slade | Jaxon Evans |
17 | 12 | PRO-AM | Competition Motorsports | Porsche | 991 GT3R | David Calvert-Jones | Patrick Long | Matt Campbell | Alex Davison |
18 | 19 | PRO-AM | Nineteen Corp | Mercedes | GT | David Reynolds | John Martin | Liam Talbot | Mark Griffith |
19 | 29 | PRO-AM | Trofeo Motorsport | Lamborghini | Hurracan | Jim Manolios | Ryan Millier | Ivan Capelli | Dean Canto |
20 | 32 | PRO-AM | Lago Racing | Lamborghini | Gallardo R-EX | Roger Lago | David Russell | Steven Owen | |
21 | 39 | PRO-AM | Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi | R8 LMS | Pedro Lamy | Paul Dalla Lana | Mathias Lauda | Will Davison |
22 | 47 | PRO-AM | YNA Autosport | Mclaren | 650S GT3 | Scott McLaughlin | Fraser Ross | Andrew Watson | Alexander West |
23 | 82 | PRO-AM | International Motorsport | Audi | R8 LMS | Andrew Bagnall | Matthew Halliday | Johnny Reid | |
24 | 540 | PRO-AM | Black Swan Racing | Porsche | 911 GT3 R | Tim Pappas | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Luca Stolz | Marc Lieb |
25 | 777 | PRO-AM | Buik Motorworks | Lamborghini | Gallardo GT3 REX | Yasser Shahin | Luke Youlden | Tomas Enge | |
26 | 3 | AM | Team ASR | Audi | R8 LMS | Ash Samadi | Daniel Gaunt | Dylan O'Keefe | |
27 | 6 | AM | Safe-T-Stop | Lamborghini | Gallardo | Richard Gartner | Hadrian Morall | David Wall | John Bowe |
28 | 69 | AM | Supabarn | Audi | R8 LMS | James Koundoris | Theo Koundouris | Ash Walsh | Duvashen Padayachee |
29 | 4 | B | Grove Motorsport | Porsche | GT3 Cup | Stephen Grove | Brenton Grove | Benjamin Barker | |
30 | 21 | B | JFC - Carter Grange | Porsche | 911 | Daniel Stutterd | Sam Fillmore | TBA | |
31 | 23 | B | Team Carrera Cup Asia | Porsche | 991 | Paul Tresidder | Chris Van der Drift | Andrew Tang | Chen Yi-Fan |
32 | 42 | B | On Track Motorsport | Porsche | 997 GT3 Cup | Garry Mennell | Kean Booker | Aaron Zerefos | Mark Caine |
33 | 85 | B | Wall Racing | Porsche | 911 GT3 Cup | Charles Putman | Charles Espenlaub | Joe Foster | |
34 | 13 | C | RHC-Lawrence/Strom (MarcGT) | BMW | M4 GT4 | Daren Eric Jorgensen | Cameron Lawrence | Brett Strom | Kuno Wittmer |
35 | 15 | C | Baigent Motorsport | BMW | M4 GT4 | Kent Baigent | Neil Allport | Matt Spratt | Ash Blewett |
36 | 30 | C | Boat Works Racing | BMW | M4 GT4 | Aaron Seton | Matt Brabham | Tony Longhurst | |
37 | 44 | C | BMW Team SRM | BMW | M4 GT4 | Dean Grant | Xavier West | Cameron Hill | |
38 | 46 | C | Prosport Performance GABH | Porsche | Cayman PRO4 | Jorg Viebahn | Max Braams | Marco Schelp | |
39 | 48 | C | M Motorsport P/L | KTM | X-Bow GT4 | Justin McMillan | David Crampton | Timothy Macrow | Caitlin Wood |
40 | 49 | C | KTM / M Motorsport | KTM | X-Bow GT4 | Glen Wood | Tent Harrison | Cody Hill | |
41 | 77 | C | Ginetta Australia | Ginetta | G55 | TBA | Coleby Cowham | Lindsay Kearns | |
42 | 88 | C | Ginetta Australia | Ginetta | G55 | TBA | Jaie Robson | TBA | |
43 | 111 | C | Ginetta Australia | Ginetta | G50 | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
44 | 33 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | Mazda V8 | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
45 | 54 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | II V8 | Tony Alford | Kyle Alford | Chad Parish | |
46 | 65 | I | Daytona Sportscars | Daytona | Coupe | Jamie Augustine | Dylan Thomas | Rhys Howell | |
47 | 66 | I | Daytona Sportscars | Dodge | Viper | Ben Schoots | Adam Macrow | Michael Caine | |
48 | 67 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | II V8 | Jake Camilleri | Morgan Haber | Aaron Cameron | |
49 | 91 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | II V8 | Keith Kassulke | Rod Salmon | Will Brown | |
50 | 93 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | Mazda V8 | Zane Goddard | Rob Thomson | Drew Ridge | |
51 | 94 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | Mazda V8 | Nick Rowe | Tyler Everingham | James Kaye | |
52 | 95 | I | Eastgate Engineering | MARC | Focus V8 | Geoff Taunton | Jason Busk | Bryce Fullwood | |
53 | 96 | I | MARC Cars Australia | MARC | Focus V8 | John Goodacre | Peter Major | Jordan Love |