The field for the 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour is set, with 28 entries confirmed for the Mountain on the 3-5th of February. The opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli will see entries from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Hong Kong, Belgium, and the United States, with 22 GT3 machines and an additional 8 invitational entries making up the field.
The 22-strong GT3 grid sees entries across Silver Cup, Bausele Pro-Am, and returning for the first time since 2020, a fully Pro class. On the entry list are reigning champions Mercedes AMG with a record 9 cars through the field, as well as the return of Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Lamborghini.
The 8-car Pro class will be an all-German hit out, with Mercedes AMG looking to retain their title earned last May, battling against Porsche, BMW, and Audi. The Mercedes AMG Pro-class stable features all three teams on the podium from last year – Triple Eight Race Engineering, Craft Bamboo Racing, and champions Sun Energy 1 racing – with the addition of GruppeM Racing in the Pro class.
Repco Australia Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen will be behind the wheel of the Triple Eight Race Engineering machine, along with his Supercars teammate Broc Feeney, joined by international ace Maximilian Gotz.
BMW will be fielding the new M4 GT3 for its Bathurst debut, with experienced outfit WRT running the cars this year. 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour winner Dries Vanthoor and current DTM champion Sheldon Van Der Linde head up the #32, while the Bathurst debut of Moto GP legend Valentino Rossi in the #46 headlines the sister car. WRT last competed at Bathurst in 2018 with an Audi R8 LMS to great success, coming away with the race victory.
Audi themselves return with a single Pro-class entry run by Melbourne Performance Centre, while Manthey EMA returns to the Pro class with a Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The Bausele Pro-Am category features a further 8 cars; three Audi R8 LMS Evo 2’s, three Mercedes AMG GT3’s, and two Porsche 911 GT3R’s.
Grove Racing appears in the Pro-Am category, partnering with Earl Bamber Motorsport (EBM) Giga Racing for one of the Porsches, while the other is a sole EBM Giga Racing entry.
Scott Taylor Motorsport’s #222 Mercedes AMG will race Pro-Am, with Bathurst legend Craig Lowndes headlining the entry, once again competing with the backing of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Also in Mercedes AMG will be Makita Volante Rosso Motorsport, and a second entry from Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Notably in Pro-Am is the return of the Hallmarc Audi and of Marc Cini, who will notch up a record 11th Bathurst 12 Hour start this year. Also in Audis are a second car entered out of Melbourne Performance Centre and Schumacher Motorsport Fuchs Racing.
Silver cup welcomes 6 cars, including 2 further entries under Melbourne Performance Centre Audi and another car from Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport Mercedes AMG; both teams expanding their entries across multiple classes. GTWC Australia regulars Valmont Racing Mercedes, Supabarn Audi, and Wall Racing feature, with Wall Racing bringing along the only Lamborghini Huracan to the field.
The 22-car GT3 field will be bolstered by 6 additional Invitational entries, including a few fan-favourite machines!
Both generations of the MARC Cars Australia are listed; the MARC I Mazda and MARC II V8 bringing the classic V8 sound to The Mountain once again.
Mark Griffith will return to Bathurst in his Nineteen Corporation Mercedes AMG GT4, while Our Kloud, UpTo 11 Motorsport returns with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
M-Motorsport will again field the KTM X-Bow GT2, while the Daytona Sports Cars team returns after a 5 year absence from the Mountain. Daytona Sports Cars have previously run a Daytona Sports Coupe and a Dodge Viper, and will this year run a Sin R1, which last hit the track in the Australian GT Championship in 2019 at Sandown.
The full entry list, including drivers, will be released closer to the event.
2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour Entry List
- Sun Energy 1 – PRO – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Supercheap Auto Racing – PRO – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- GruppeM Racing – PRO – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Mercedes-AMG Craft-Bamboo Racing – PRO – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Melbourne Performance Centre – PRO – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Team WRT – PRO – BMW M4GT3
- Team WRT – PRO – BMW M4GT3
- Manthey EMA – PRO – Porsche 911 GT3R
- Schumacher Motorsport Fuchs Racing – PRO-AM – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Melbourne Performance Centre – PRO-AM – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Hallmarc – PRO-AM – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Makita Volante Rosso Motorsport – PRO-AM – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Triple Eight Race Engineering – PRO-AM – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Scott Taylor Motorsport PRO-AM Mercedes-AMG – AMG GT3
- EBM Giga Racing – PRO-AM – Porsche 911 GT3R
- EBM Giga Racing – PRO-AM – Porsche 911 GT3R
- Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport – SILVER – Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Valmont Racing – SILVER Mercedes-AMG GT3
- Wall Racing – SILVER – Lamborghini Huracan
- Supabarn – SILVER – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Melbourne Performance Centre – SILVER – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Melbourne Performance Centre – SILVER – Audi R8 LMS Evo 2
- Our Kloud – UpTo 11 MotorSport – INV – Porsche 991 GT3 Cup Gen II
- Nineteen Corporation – INV – Mercedes-AMG GT4
- MMotorsport / Vantage Racing – INV – KTM GT XBOW
- Daytona Sports Cars – INV – SIN R1
- MRA Motorsport – INV – MARC I Mazda
- Wheels / FX Racing – INV – MARC II V8
