While the Pro class will have all the headlines and attention, the Bathurst 12 hour has a strong undercard with Four additional classes, each with storylines to follow over the 12 Hour event.
Missed out on DSC’s rundown of the Pro category? Catch up HERE >>>
Pro-Am (Five cars)
The Pro GT3 class is supported by a further eight GT3 machines; five in Bausele Pro-Am, and three in Silver Cup. With last year’s Pro-Am winner graduating up to the Pro class, the floor is open for someone else to make their mark on the event, and take home the Pro-Am class.
Second place in Pro-Am last year as well as runner-up in the 2023 GT World Challenge Australia, Yasser Shahin returns to the 12 hour, running the #911 Shell V-Power – The Bend Porsche run by Manthey EMA, ahead of his debut season in the World Endurance Championship.
He’s joined by a pair of Porsche drivers; 2023 ELMS GTE champion Alessio Picariello, and Harry King, who came third in last year’s Porsche Supercup. While neither Picariello nor King has been at the 12 Hour before, King used a wildcard entry to Porsche Carrera Cup Australia supporting last year’s Bathurst 1000 to great effect, taking home an incredible clean sweep of victories over the weekend.
Triple Eight Race Engineering is running a second car for Pro-Am; the #88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes AMG. 2017 12 Hour winner Jamie Whincup partners with Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Jordan Love.
Prince Jefri Ibrahim has steadily improved over his time with Triple Eight. Evidence of this came just last week with a pair of race victories at Abu Dhabi in the Asian Le Mans Series putting a firm exclamation point next to his name for this event. With seven-time Supercars champion Whincup and Love, who is on a meteoric rise of his own, the #88 is a formidable car not just for Pro-Am, but for a solid result overall.
The second of the three Mercedes-AMGs in the Pro-Am class is an interesting collision of worlds in Australian motorsport, with current Supercars Teams champion Erebus Motorsport partnering with M-Motorsport to run the #48. M-Motorsport’s Justin McMillan and Glen Wood stepping up to GT3 competition for this year, joined by regular GTWC Australia driver Garth Walden, and Erebus Motorsport’s Jack Le Brocq, in his first run after returning to Erebus.
Completing the trio of Mercedes in Pro-Am is an international entry by the #27 Heart Of Racing by SPS. Ian James is bringing the IMSA stalwart down to the 12 Hour for the first time. He, along with regular co-drivers Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas are all making their Bathurst debuts, which may see them start slightly behind the local teams with Bathurst experience already under their belt.
Audi is fielding one car under the Melbourne Performance Centre banner, with ever-present Marc Cini back on the grid in the #9 Hallmarc Audi, driving with regular co-drivers Dean Fiore, and 2021 Bathurst 1000 winner Lee Holdsworth. This team and driving combination has been a constant since the 2017 event, where the trio took a ninth overall and third in class.
Silver Cup (Three cars)
Silver Cup features three GT World Challenge Australia regulars, with some impressive driving talent amongst the 12 drivers listed.
Sergio Pires and Marcel Zalloua bring their Valmont Tigani Motorsport project back to the mountain, changing from a Mercedes to an Audi for this year’s event. After accident damage put them out early last year, the pair will be hoping for a longer run in this year’s event. Joining them in the #44 Audi will be Bathurst Local and Sports Sedan racer Brad Shiels, and 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner Luke Youlden.
On the other hand, the brothers Koundouris – James and Theo – have swapped Audi for Mercedes-AMG, bringing their #47 Supabarn Mercedes to the mountain in 2024. Joining them once again is 2023 Bathurst 1000 runner-up David Russell, and 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour and 1000 winner (and so far the only person to do the double in the same year), Jonathon Webb.
The Supabarn team has taken a class win as recently in 2022, under incredible circumstances: After writing off a chassis on Friday and with James rendered unable to race due to concussion, the team had a chassis freighted overnight from Melbourne, put together just in time to shake down during qualifying, and went on to win the class on Sunday.
Completing the Silver Cup entry is the #93 Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan Evo 2, with regular drivers Adrian Deitz, David Wall, and Tony D’Alberto joined by Bathurst local and Australian television star Grant Denyer. This year marks the debut for the Huracan Evo 2 at Bathurst, with the team updating their fan-favourite red-rings livery for the brand-new car.
GT4 (Four Cars)
A dedicated GT4 class returns to the Bathurst 12 Hour for the first time since 2020, with four cars in class. While GT4 machinery has raced in the Bathurst 12 Hour in the interim, they have run as part of the Invitational class. The four cars consist of two each under the Nineteen Corporation and Method Motorsport Banners.
Mark Griffith’s Nineteen Corporation is running both Griffith’s #19 Mercedes AMG GT4 as well as the #56 Ginetta G55 GT4 for Ginetta’s first race at The Mountain since 2019. Griffith is joined in the Mercedes by Hong Kong’s Daniel Bilski, and Mercedes factory driver Adam Christodoulou, who is making his first start at Bathurst since 2016.
Driving the #56 Ginetta G55 features a pair of Britons – 4-time Ginetta GT4 Am champion Colin White and Ginetta class Britcar runner Owen Hizzey – and a pair of Australians – production car racer Paul Buccini and regular Bathurst 12 Hour and 6 Hour starter Aaron Zerefos.
The 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour marks the debut for Method Motorsport; the project of 2-time Allen Simonsen Pole Award winner Chaz Mostert. The team is debuting two brand-new McLaren Arturas – the #25 with Mostert himself, alongside teenage Porsche Carrera Cup talent Marcos Flack, and Bathurst debutant Jesse Bryan, while the #230 features Trans-Am race winner Tom Hayman, Radical Cup Australia runner-up Elliott Schutte, and Porsche Sprint Challenge podium finisher Tom McLennan.
Invitational (Seven Cars)
Once again, the Bathurst 12 Hour features a significant Invitational class, with some returning favourites and out-there machinery, as is tradition for the 12 Hour. Seven cars will be competing for invitational honours, all running to an index time of 2:06 around Mount Panorama.
MARC Cars Australia fill the bulk of the entry, with two examples of the Mustang-shelled MARC II V8, and three MARC IRC (Innovation Race Cars) GT’s, making their Bathurst 12 Hour debuts.
The MARC IRC GT is MARC’s most recent offering, powered by a GM LS3 V8 Motor with GT-like styling, and is just as quick as the MARC II V8. Supercars team Matt Stone Racing is running the #10, with Supercars pilots Cameron Hill and Nick Percat being joined by John Hollinger.
Localsearch T2 Racing upgraded to the GT, with Adam Hargraves and Daniel Jilesen returning to the 12 Hour for the first time since 2020, once again with Cedric Sbirrazzuoli in the #20.
The #702 TekworkX Motorsport features IRC owner Daniel Studderd, along with former Australian GT regular Max Twigg, Trans Am race winner Nash Morris, and Canadian Champ Car legend Paul Tracy.
MRA Motorsports returns in the #111 MARC II V8, with regulars Darren Currie and Axle Donaldson joined by Rylan Gray, while the #91 Wheels/FX MARC II V8 sees the return of Keith Kassulke to the Mountain after his mega practice crash last year, alongside regular co-drivers Cameron McLeod, Hadrian Morrall, and Supercars veteran Tim Slade.
Returning to the 12 Hour is the KTM Vantage Racing outfit of David Crampton and Trent Harrison, with the #50 KTM X-Bow GT2. Last year, an engine failure on Saturday forced the team to lease a spare Melbourne Performance Centre Audi GT3, bumping them into the Silver Cup, where they were a strong finisher. This year, the KTM is back, with Laura Kraihamer making the trip over from Austria to fill the driver line up.
Rounding out the grid is a car absolutely out of left field, French boutique manufacturer Vortex bringing their 6.2L Chevy powered Vortex 1.0 to the event. The Vortex has been running in the Creventic 24 Hour series, at events such as the Dubai 24 Hours, since 2017, and is making its first run on Australian soil with French trio Lionel Amrouche, Julien Boilot, and Philippe Bonnel at the wheel.
While they might not be battling for overall honours, 19 cars entered in the Pro-Am, Silver, GT4 and Invitational classes shows that the Bathurst 12 Hour is slowly making strides towards the pre-pandemic grids. The support of not only the local motorsport community, but international entrants into Pro-Am and the Invitational class are encouraging signs, and are sure to create fascinating storylines throughout the 2024 edition of Australia’s International Enduro.
