Bathurst 12 Hour a World Class Affair at Mount Panorama

The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour has become one of the most prestigious races on the Australian Motorsport landscape – and is rapidly becoming one of the ‘must win’ endurance races on the global scene as well.

Held on the February 7-9 weekend, the Bathurst 12-hour race pits the world’s greatest brands against each other and the famous Mount Panorama circuit for twelve hours of non-stop action.

Having been contested for four years in the early 1990s before disappearing, the race returned to the Australian motorsport landscape in 2007 as a primarily production-car based encounter, with GT vehicles being introduced into the field in 2011 to stimulate international growth.

Three years on from the first steps towards an international GT race, a near-full field of more than fifty cars and some of the best brands in the world – and the best drivers to go with them – will take on the Mountain this February.

The race has rapidly become one that drivers from around the world are desperate to add to their career accomplishments.

The field is exciting and includes some of the most incredible cars around, including defending winners Erebus Motorsport (who are also involved in V8 Supercars Racing) with their thundering Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 racer.

The famous ‘Gullwing’ headed home Ferrari and Porsche to win the 2013 race, a driving squad led by German Touring Car legend Bernd Schneider winning the race by just over one lap in a tense battle.

Erebus is back this year, confirming Schneider’s return along with their new V8 Supercar signing, Will Davison, to lead the squad.

Bathurst legend Craig Lowndes moves from Audi to Ferrari for his third attempt at adding a 12-hour victory to his many Bathurst 1000 titles – and his chances are good given his co-drivers include Australian Touring Car great John Bowe and Finnish former F1 star, Mika Salo.

Lowndes’ Maranello Motorsport squad is one of four Ferraris to enter the race this year in a concerted attack to give the prancing horse a coveted Mountain victory.

Audi won the first two ‘GT’ Bathurst 12 Hour races in 2011 and 2012 and after a quiet season last year are back with a vengeance this season.

LeMans winning team Phoenix Racing has entered an Audi R8 that has an all-star international driving squad including three-time Porsche Supercup champion Rene’ Rast – one of the best young GT racers in the world.

Meanwhile, Nissan’s famous GTR – ‘Godzilla’- will return to the Mountain in an official capacity for the first time in 22 seasons thanks to a factory entry made up of their Nissan / NISMO global driver exchange program. V8 star Rick Kelly heads the driver line-up.

World champion team Vita4One Racing are bringing two BMW Z4M GT3s, there is a squad of Lamborghini’s and even a Chevrolet Corvette with four-time Bathurst champion Greg Murphy behind the wheel.

There are two former F1 drivers, a host of the best GT champions from around the world and five Bathurst 1000 champions – including current champion Steven Richards.

It is an incredible outright field – but it doesn’t start there, with racing expected to be tight right throughout the bumper field: class racing is a Bathurst tradition and the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour is no exception; six classes of racing set to entertain.

Behind the outright GT3 vehicles in Class A, two additional GT classes catering to everything from a pack of Porsche’s to a little Lotus Exige S make this the biggest field of GT vehicles ever assembled on the Mountain.

Behind them come the more traditional Bathurst fare; production-based vehicles going head-to-head with limited modifications and the real Bathurst ‘spirit’.

The Bathurst 12 Hour commences at 6:15am on Sunday, February 9 but there is much more than that, with Friday and Saturday of race week filled with on-track action including qualifying for the 12-hour race and three support categories.

The HQ Holdens, Improved Production Cars and the Bathurst debut of the Radical Australia cup make this a true Motorsport Event as much as it is one famous race.

The final three hours of the 2014 race will be broadcast live on SBS TV around Australia, with the remainder of the race streamed live and free on the internet via the Bathurst 12 Hour website, to a global audience.

Tickets are available through the Bathurst 12 Hour website; www.bathurst12hour.com.au

The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour supports Camp Quality as its official charity in 2014.