It’s been quite a turnaround down under after the unfortunate shenanigans of 2015 which saw the V8 Supercars and Bathurst 12 Hours organisers go head to head with a two-day compulsory V8 SC test scheduled to clash with the 12-hour race, effectively preventing any of the full-season V8 Supercar drivers from taking part.
Since then the rights to organise the 12-hour race have moved from Yeehah! Events to V8 Supercars, thanks in no small part to the major attention that the standalone enduro created both in Australia, with its terrestrial TV coverage, and far beyond.
One major plus from that move was the assured availability in 2016 of full season V8 SC driving talent and, sure enough, with a couple of teams still to announce their full driving squads, there’s absolutely no shortage whatsoever of Aussie talent on the entry list.
Indeed, even despite the withdrawal of the injured Craig Lowndes and the driver ranking enforced loss of Scott Pye and Tim Slade there are still no fewer than 16 drivers on the Provisional entry list that competed in V8 Supercars last season including 10 full season drivers.
They’re currently spread across 12 Class A (GT3) cars with a further pair featuring in Class B Porsche Cup entries.
And what a pleasure that is to see. The Bathurst 12 Hours is winning friends around the world as a true Aussie race that international teams and talent are noticing.
Having Aussie racing talent on display in depth adds massively to that appeal.
Bathurst 12 Hour Provisional entry with 2015 V8 Supercar drivers in bold.
1 Nissan Motorsport Rick Kelly Katsumasa Chiyo Florian Strauss Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
2 Phoenix Racing Laurens Vanthoor Markus Winkelhock Alex Davidson Audi R8 LMS
5 Melbourne Performance Centre Greg Taylor Barton Mawer Nathan Antunes Audi R8 LMS
9 Melbourne Performance Centre Marc Cini Mark Eddy Christer Joens Audi R8-LMS Ultra
10 Bentley Team M-Sport Steven Kane Guy Smith Matt Bell Bentley Continental GT3
11 McElrea Racing Tony Walls Warren Luff Matt Campbell McLaren 650S GT3
31 Bentley Team M-Sport Andy Soucek Maxime Soulet David Russell Bentley Continental GT3
32 Lago Racing Roger Lago Luke Youlden Steve Owen Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX
33 Mishumotors Mirco Schultis Renger Van der Zande Patrick Simon Alex Kapadia Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3
36 Erebus Motorsport David Reynolds Thomas Jaeger Nico Bastian Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3
37 Keltic Racing Tony Quinn Klark Quinn Craig Baird McLaren 650S GT3
40 Melbourne Performance Centre Dimitri Koundouris Theo Koundouris Marcus Marshall Shae Davies Audi R8 LMS Ultra
48 M Motorsport Justin McMillan John Mclntyre Dale Wood Glen Wood Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX
Vicious Rumour Racing Tony Defelice Andrea Montermini Benny Simonsen Renato Loberto Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
59 Tekno Autosports Shane van Gisbergen Alvaro Parente Jonathan Webb McLaren 650S GT3
60 Tekno Autosports Rob Bell Andrew Watson Will Davidson McLaren 650S GT3
62 Performance West Motorsport Peter Rullo Nick Percat Scott Andrews Lamborghini Gallardo
63 Erebus Motorsport Bernd Schneider Maro Engel Austin Cindric Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3
74 Melbourne Performance Centre Christopher Mies Christopher Hasse Marco Mapelli Audi R8 LMS
75 Melbourne Performance Centre Steve McLaughlin Rene Rast Garth Tander Audi R8 LMS
82 International Motorsport Andrew Bagnall Rick Armstrong Matt Halliday Audi R8 LMS Ultra
88 Maranello Motorsport Mika Salo Toni Vilander Tony D’Alberto Grant Denyer Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
4 Grove Motorsport Stephen Grove Earl Bamber Scott McLaughlin Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
6 Safe-T-Stop Richard Gartner Aaron Zerefos Indian Padayachee Michael O’Donnell Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
12 Mobil 1 New Zealand Porsche 997 GT3 Cup Scott O’Donnell Alan Dippie Chris van der Drift
21 J.F.C Freem Sam Fillmore Daniel Stuttard James Burgmuller Porsche 997 GT3
38 Wall Racing Paul Tresidder Daniel Bilski David Wall Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S
69 APO Sport Alex Osborne James May Paul May Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
77 Team NZ Motorsport Will Bamber Graeme Dowsett John Curran Craig Smith Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
16 PROsport Performance Porsche Cayman Pro 4 Adam Christodoulou Jorg Viebahn Fabien Hamprecht Nico Verdonck
28 On Track Motorsport Jake Williams Will Cauchi David Coxs Ric Shaw BMW 325i E92
54 MARC Cars Australia Tony Alford Beric Lynton Mark Griffith MARC Focus V8
65 Daytona Sports Cars Jamie Augustine Ben Schoots Deane Lille Daytona Sportscar Coupe
91 MARC Cars Australia Rob Thompson Lindsay Kearns Jimmy Vernon MARC Focus V8
92 MARC Cars Australia Michael Benton Hardian Morall Angus Kennard MARC Focus V8
93 MARC Cars Australia Jake Camilleri Morgan Haber Aaron Seton MARC Mazda 3 V8
94 MARC Cars Australia Bryce Fullwood Gerard McLeod Nick Rowe MARC Mazda 3 V8
