For motorsport fans around the world, there are phrases spoken with reverence and wonder; tracks and events that conjure an almost ethereal response. Le Mans, or Spa Francorchamps, perhaps The Temple of Speed, or Daytona, for those on my side of the world, it’s Bathurst.
6.213km, climbing and falling across Mount Panorama, just outside of a country town 200km west of Sydney. While the 12 Hour has brought international eyes to one of Australia’s best tracks, the marquee event for the circuit, and for the Australian motorsport calendar, is the Bathurst 1000.
For 60 years, Bathurst has played host to the premier endurance event of the Australian Touring Car Championship. All the legends have a story here – Bob Jane won the first two events in succession. Allan Moffat’s 4 wins, including that iconic form finish in 1977. The likes of Jim Richards and Larry Perkins championed Holden’s successes, up against the likes of Dick Johnson and John Bowe for Ford. Tom Walkinshaw Racing winning in a Jaguar XJ-S. Richards and Mark Skaife conquered the Mountain in “Godzilla” – the Nissan Skyline GT-R that was banned shortly after.
A young man called Craig Lowndes burst onto the scene in the mid 90’s, alongside Greg Murphy, who drove quite possibly the most famous lap of the circuit. The modern legends; Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander, Steven Richards, Shane van Gisbergen. Jacky Ickx has won here, as has former Audi LMP1 driver Alexandre Premat.
Stories of dominance. Stories of redemption. Stories of justice. Stories of chaos. Bathurst has it all.
There is one name that is synonymous with Bathurst, the undisputed ‘King of the Mountain’: Peter Brock. After first attending as a fan at the 1966 event, Brock entered 32 editions of The Great Race, winning a record 9 times between 1972 and 1987. His most famous victory was a 6-lap win in 1979, in the iconic Holden Torana A9X, where Brock was so dominant that he set the fastest lap on the final lap of the race.
In 2006, just weeks before that year’s Great Race, Brock lost his life in a crash at the Targa West rally. That year, there was a tribute of Brock’s Bathurst winning cars, the front row of the grid was left vacant, a minute’s silence was observed, and the Bathurst 1000 trophy was redesigned and renamed the Peter Brock trophy.
The 2006 race was a blockbuster – two championship rivals, one Holden, one Ford, in a titanic tussle to decide the first holder of the Peter Brock trophy. In the end, it was Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, a friend and protégé of Brock, who prevailed, in a result befitting the celebration of Brock.
A key part of Bathurst, and of the Australian motorsport landscape, is rivalry: Blue vs Red, Ford vs Holden. For the first time in the 60-year history of the race, Holden is absent. After the brand was retired in 2020, the Holden ZB Commodore continued in the Supercars series until 2022, and with the introduction of the Gen 3 Chassis this season, GM moved to a Camaro-based platform.
While it is no longer Ford vs Holden, the rivalry and parochialism of the fanbase is still a key part of the event. Teams and drivers who cross the divide invariably cause rifts in the fanbase; long-time Holden competitors and the former Holden factory outfit Walkinshaw Andretti United’s change to Ford for 2023 brought along public outcry and for some, disgust.
Because you’re either Blue, or you’re Red. There’s no in-between on The Mountain.
This year, 28 cars will take on The Mountain; 15 Chevrolet Camaros, and 13 Ford Mustangs.
Supercars Gen 3 has been a significant change to the category: No longer based on family sedans, the Gen 3 car has moved to a coupe-style body with a significant reduction in aerodynamic efficiency and in-car adjustability. The cars produce more power and have less grip than their Gen 2 counterparts, and have produced some great racing this year.
However, the transition has not been entirely smooth; there have been ongoing parity complaints and adjustments, with only two of the 23 races so far won by Fords. Teams have struggled to find consistency with the new platform, and the lack of spares available has seen teams afflicted by parts issues. On the other hand, the Sandown 500 – the traditional Bathurst curtain-raiser – ran mostly without issue, showing the cars are mechanically robust and capable of the ultimate test at The Mountain.
For the first time since 2020, the Supercars championship is not being led by a Triple Eight Racing car. This year, that mantle is being held by Erebus Motorsport driver Brodie Kostecki, driving with co-driver David Russell.
Erebus Motorsport has become a force to be reckoned with this season, converting good qualifying into good results with consistency unmatched in the Supercars paddock. Importantly, the gremlins that have troubled the team in the past have been rectified – pit stops have been smooth and without issue, strategy decisions have been measured but aggressive, and they have been the team to beat because of it.
Brodie has been the standout driver this season, racking up six race wins so far, and holding a slim points lead. Kostecki has turned it on for Bathurst in the recent past; as a co-driver in 2020, he held off Jamie Whincup in the early stages, forcing Whincup into a mistake that put him out of the race. This was backed up by a podium in 2021, and a close-fought 4th place in 2022, both times with the experienced David Russell. After dominating the recent round at The Bend, and finishing second in last month’s Sandown 500, it’s impossible to look at the #99 Erebus Motorsport Camaro as anything but favourites for this year’s event.
They will face stiff competition from the sister car; the #9 Erebus Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro of Will Brown and Jack Perkins. Brown, like Kostecki, has had a breakout season in the Gen 3 Camaro. Flashes of talent have turned into consistency, with four race wins putting him fourth in the championship and firmly in the battle.
He pairs with Jack Perkins, who has performed consistently in his role as an experienced Co-driver for Erebus in the past few seasons. The team will be buoyed by a good result at Sandown, taking fourth place, but were disappointed after a mistake in the closing stages saw Brown off the road and off the podium. But that has been the new standard set at Erebus this season, which comes in as a firm favourite; a stark contrast to the circumstances of their surprise win in 2017.
The two Erebus cars sandwich the Triple Eight Race Engineering/Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaros in the championship, with reigning Bathurst and Series Champ Shane van Gisbergen leading young-gun Broc Feeney in their battle with the Erebus Camaros.
It has been a mixed year for the Red Bull Ampol Racing team; while sitting second and third in the championship would be satisfactory for most teams, for Triple Eight, it has been a difficult transition from their dominance of seasons past. A double disqualification in the first race of the season at Newcastle after finishing 1-2 due to a technical infringement started the year off on the wrong foot, and they have spent much of the season chasing steering gremlins in Van Gisbergen’s Camaro. But a double-podium at Sandown in a typically Triple 8 trouble-free performance puts the team in good stead for the 1000.
The #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro will have Shane van Gisbergen behind the wheel, driving with compatriot Richie Stanaway. While Shane has had a tough season by his standards, it has still yielded 4 race wins, which sees him sit second in the championship. Discussions over van Gisbergen’s future have been rife throughout the season, with it now confirmed that he will be leaving Supercars to join Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR, after a stunning win with the team as a guest driver at the Chicago Street Race earlier this year. With two Bathurst wins and three championships to his name, it would be a fitting send-off to one of the modern greats if he were to double up once again.
This year he’s paired with former Aston Martin LMGTE driver and fellow New Zealander, Richie Stanaway. After transitioning full-time to Supercars in 2018, two difficult seasons saw him retire after 2019. He roared back onto the scene last year in a wildcard entry, qualifying a surprise fifth, and ultimately finishing the race in 11th. This result saw him get picked up by Triple Eight for their GT World Challenge Australia programme, and subsequently into the co-driver seat of the #97.
The sister car sees Broc Feeney partnered with 7-time champion and 4-time Bathurst winner, Jamie Whincup, in the #88 Camaro. Much like Kostecki and Brown in the Erebus cars, Feeney has been able to turn flashes of brilliance into consistency in 2023, claiming five race wins including the Sandown 500 with Whincup last time out. The 20-year-old will make his third Bathurst start, but his first with proper expectations levied on his shoulders, with both the teams and drivers championships firmly in the equation. Adding Whincup, who appears to have lost none of his talent or drive in taking on team ownership, this car will certainly be in the mix come the end of the race.
Triple Eight are also running a wildcard for the event in the form of the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro, featuring 7-time winner and Bathurst legend Craig Lowndes, driving with Zane Goddard. Goddard has driven one full season of Supercars with Matt Stone Racing in 2021, but is yet to finish a Bathurst 1000 in three starts. Last year, he was unlucky to get caught out by the extremely wet run-off at The Chase, firing off the road and then back onto the circuit, collecting another car. While Goddard has three starts at The Mountain, Lowndes will be racking up his 30th start in succession, and after the pair took home 10th from Sandown, a surprise result is not out of the question.
The most likely challenger from the Blue Oval looks to be from the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang of Cameron Waters and James Moffat, a combination that has finished on the Bathurst podium the last two years. Waters is one of two drivers to have taken a race win for Ford this year, inheriting the win from the first race of the season after both Red Bull Ampol cars were disqualified. However, it has been an inconsistent season that has only featured one podium since. Bad luck at Sandown saw Waters and Moffat finish 20th after a tyre came off a preceding car and landed on the boot lid of the #6 Mustang, destroying the rear wing mounts. Without that incident, the #6 Mustang was in the mix for a podium.
Tickford Racing’s quartet of Mustangs also features the #5 of James Courtney and current Super 2 leader Zac Best, the #55 of Thomas Randle and Garry Jacobson, and the #56 of Declan Fraser and Tyler Everingham. While there have been patches of good form for Tickford (including three podiums in a row for Randle at The Bend), the team struggled at Sandown, with the #5 finishing 12th as the best car of the group. The team will be hoping for a better result at The Mountain.
Also in the fight for Ford will be Chaz Mostert in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Mustang, driving alongside Lee Holdsworth. The pair have been reunited after winning Bathurst together in 2021, while Mostert has podiumed on each of the last three occasions. It has been a relatively quiet season for Mostert, who has 6 podiums under his belt, but without a race win. He and Holdsworth had a shocking Sandown 500, with damage in the early melees dropping them a lap down, and unable to get back into the fight.
It was a similar story for their sister car; the #2 of Nick Percat and Fabian Coulthard, who also finished a lap down and outside the top 20 at Sandown. Percat has won at Bathurst before, taking a win alongside Garth Tander back in 2011, while Fabian partnered Mostert to second last year, indicating the quality of the team. However, it will require a good run with better luck than the team has had to be in the mix.
Sportscar fans around the world will recognise the Grove Racing team from their entries to the Bathurst 12 Hour and the Intercontinental GT Challenge in 2023, and the Stephen Grove-owned team brings two interesting cars to Bathurst. In the #26 Mustang is 2017 Bathurst winner David Reynolds, and 5-time Bathurst winner and reigning champion Garth Tander in his first Bathurst in a Ford. With 41 Bathurst starts between them, Reynolds and Tander were quick in Sandown and were the lead Mustang until Tander’s left-rear wheel parted company with the car into Turn 6.
Across the garage, the #19 features young New Zealander, Matt Payne, and Porsche Penske Motorsport driver Kevin Estre, in a combination with one Bathurst start between them. Payne has been impressive in his junior career, winning the Toyota Racing Series in 2021 before joining the Earl Bamber Motorsport team for Carrera Cup Australia. Combined with Kevin Estre who was impressed and impressive in his first go in a Supercar is a formidable combination, and the pair finished 6th at Sandown as the first Mustang home.
The last Ford winners of the 1000 are Dick Johnson Racing, who are the current homologation team for the Mustang. DJR are bringing along their two full-season cars, plus an additional car as a wildcard entry. Dick’s famous #17 features brothers Will and Alex Davison, while the #11 has Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto.
While DJR has taken a win this season with De Pasquale at Townsville, it has been a difficult and disappointing season for the Ford team; incidents early in the season saw De Pasquale drop out of the title race very quickly, while Davison struggled for consistency in the early part of the season. The pair currently sit ninth and 10th in the championship, a far cry from their championship-challenging status for much of the last decade. The two cars finished seventh and eighth at Sandown, just outside the battle for the leading positions.
The #98 Mustang sees an exciting combination for the series, with Simona De Silvestro returning, alongside highly-rated youngster Kai Allen.
Simona returns to Supercars after three years away and will be the only woman on the grid this year. She partners with Kai Allen, who sits second in the Super 2 drivers championship coming into Bathurst. Allen, at only 18 years old, took six wins in the Super 3 championship last year, and was on track to win the championship until a crash in the final race of the season at Adelaide. In Super 2 this season, he has a round win at Townsville and is firmly in the championship hunt.
For Supercars fans in Australia, Kai Allen is a name they will be hearing plenty in the next few years, and partnering with De Silvestro at Bathurst is a great opportunity to accelerate his development.
Brad Jones Racing brings 4 cars to The Mountain, headed up by the #8 Camaro of Andre Heimgartner and Dale Wood. Heimgartner has been the quiet achiever of this season – six podiums and no big blemishes see him sit fifth in the championship, continuing his move forward through the field in the last few seasons. Fifth for the pair at Sandown was a solid result, which they could replicate at Bathurst. Also in the Brad Jones stable is the #4 of Jack Smith and Porsche Supercup race-winner Jaxon Evans, as well as the #14 of Bryce Fullwood and Dean Fiore, and the #96 of Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys.
The entry is rounded out by two Camaros each from Team 18, PremiAir Racing, and Matt Stone Racing, plus two Mustangs from the Blanchard Racing Team stable.
Blanchard Racing Team owner, Tim Blanchard, is co-driving the #3 Blanchard Racing Team Mustang alongside regular driver Todd Hazelwood, while an additional wildcard is being run by the team for former Supercars full-timer Jake Kostecki, and BRT Super 2 driver Aaron Love. Love is a highly-rated youngster, who has competed in Porsche Supercup and has taken podiums in Super 2 this season.
Matt Stone Racing has had a successful season so far, with Jack Le Brocq taking a race win at Hidden Valley, while also currently sitting eighth in the championship. He partners with Jayden Ojeda in the #34 Camaro, while the sister #35 car will be piloted by 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion Cameron Hill, driving with Jaylyn Robotham.
Team 18 have also tasted success, with Mark Winterbottom also picking up a victory at Hidden Valley; the first for the team. However, having both cars outside of the top 10 in the championship is not where they’ve been accustomed to sitting at this stage of the season. 2013 Bathurst winner Winterbottom pairs up with Michael Caruso in the #18, while Scott Pye teams up with experienced co-driver Warren Luff, who has six podiums at Bathurst in the last 12 years.
The newest team on the grid is PremiAir Racing. Sitting comfortably in the mid-pack, the team has a best result of fourth this season and has had spells in and around the top 10, with the #23 of Tim Slade and 2016 Bathurst 1000 winner Jono Webb finishing in ninth at Sandown. The #31 Camaro of James Golding and Dylan O’Keeffe completes the entry.
Track action for the Bathurst 1000 is split over 4 days, with two practice sessions each on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Qualifying held on Friday afternoon and the top 10 Shootout on Saturday afternoon. Race Start for the Bathurst 1000 is at 10:45 AEDT (UTC+11:00) on Sunday the 8th of October, for 161 laps around the Mount Panorama Circuit.
Australian viewers can catch all sessions on Foxtel and Kayo, with free-to-air coverage on Channel 7 and 7+ on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, while international viewers can watch all sessions online via Superview.
Images courtesy of Erebus Motorsport, Chevrolet Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Dick Johnson Racing and Ford Performance
