Melbourne Performance Centre has announced a three-car Bathurst 12 Hour effort that gives the Audi team a shot at victory in both the outright and Pro-Am classes in the February 16-18 event.
The team has confirmed it will enter two of its Audi R8 LMS GT3s in the Pro class, drawing on the hugely experienced ranks of professional drivers that have history with the team to build out both entries.
The KFC-backed Jamec Racing entry will be steered by Bathurst local Brad Schumacher, Markus Winkelhock and Ricardo Feller.
The sister Jamec Racing entry will see Liam Talbot joined by 2024 FIA WEC Lexus LMGT3 driver Kelvin van der Linde and Audi stalwart Christopher Haase.
While both cars technically feature ‘Pro-Am’ driving line-ups, they will enter the outright class which removes the minimum driver time requirement for bronze-ranked drivers – the same rule used by the SunEnergy1 team to win the race in 2023.
Meanwhile, Marc Cini will be joined by Bathurst winner Lee Holdsworth and Dean Fiore aboard his Hallmarc Team MPC Audi R8 LMS entry entered in the Bausele Pro-Am class.
In Schumacher and Talbot the team has two of the most experienced and successful Audi drivers in the country. Talbot claimed six race wins en-route to the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS title last year, driving an MPC-run Audi R8.
Schumacher, meanwhile, won seven times on his way to claiming the GT-Am title last year.
The experienced internationals alongside them bring an enormous amount of Bathurst experience and success to the team.
Ex-F1 driver and former GT1 champion Winkelhock will make his ninth Bathurst start this year and was a runner-up in the 2015 race with Audi.
South African van der Linde has four starts on the Mountain and has twice qualified second – including on his most recent visit in 2022. He has also set the fastest lap of the race on two occasions.
Feller, from Switzerland, made his Bathurst debut in 2022 for Team MPC, while Christopher Haase has become one of Audi’s go-to experts when it comes to Bathurst.
The German, a former Nürburgring 24 Hour winner, will start his eighth Bathurst enduro this year, all with Audi.
Hallmarc Team MPC driver Marc Cini will start his 12th 12 Hour this year, a record for anyone in the race’s GT3 era.
He, Bathurst 1000 winner Holdsworth and West Aussie expert Dean Fiore are one of the longest-term driving combinations in the race and finished seventh outright in the 2022 race driving together.
“After a few years of challenges and bad luck, we’ve taken a different approach this year but it’s one we think that can pay off,” team boss Troy Russell says.
“Pairing extremely experienced drivers like Brad and Liam with the Pros we have access to, all who have been here before and all who are extremely quick at Mount Panorama, we think is the way to go.
“The regulations allow those combinations to be competitive which gives guys like Liam and Brad a chance at winning Bathurst outright. We’re thrilled with those combinations in the pair of Jamec Racing entries, with KFC and Wash It on board as major partners.
“The Hallmarc car, with Marc, Lee and Dean, is such a solid combination. The Pro-Am competition is as tough as ever this year but at the same time we think they’re a good shot at challenging there.
“The Audi R8’s still have plenty to give and we showed that by winning the GT World Challenge Australia Championship last year.”
The 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour will be held on the February 16-18 weekend.
Image courtesy of MPC
