2022 Bathurst 12 Hour Preview

It is a very different looking grid for the 2022 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. The opening round of the IGTC this year sees a larger focus on the Australian racing community, with the complete removal of the Pro GT3 class and a wholesale move to Pro-Am racing the result of a variety of factors, including the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some names on the entry list will look familiar (including 3 overall winners!), there are quite a few entrants that may be complete unknowns to those outside of the Australian Motorsport sphere. The Bathurst 12 Hour also doubles as Round 2 of the GT World Challenge Australia championship, while Audi, Mercedes Benz, Lamborghini and Porsche are represented for IGTC Manufacturer points.

GT3 Pro-Am (12 cars)

Audi

The current generation Audi R8 LMS Evo II makes up half the field in the Pro-Am class, with a great mix of local talent and international names throughout the field.

Headlining the entry are two cars for the factory-backed Audi Sport Team Valvoline, prepared by Melbourne Performance Centre. The reigning GTWC Australia champion Yasser Shahin is joined in the #777 by Swiss driver Ricardo Feller and experienced German Markus Winkelhock. Shahin, along with Christopher Mies, leads the GTWC Australia standings, tied with Liam Talbot and Chaz Mostert, after both combinations took a win and a second place in the opening round of the season at Phillip Island. While Winkelhock will be making his 8th journey to the mountain, it will be Feller’s first attempt, and the combination of youth, experience, and the current best Am-driver in Australia makes the #777 a formidable contender.

The #74 sister car sees last season’s GTWC Trophy-class (for older spec GT3 machines) champion and Bathurst based Brad Schumacher joined by former Rebellion LMP1 driver Nathaniel Berthon and Audi Factory driver Kelvin van der Linde. Schumacher spent last season in a fierce battle for Trophy-class honours with Brett Hobson, eventually winning out in the last round of the season. After running a privateer operation in the GTWC Australia, Schumacher steps into the factory set up for the first time at arguably the biggest stage.

Sharing the current points lead, the #65 CoinSpot Racing Team features Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross, joined by current Repco Australian Supercars driver and reigning Bathurst 1000 champion Chaz Mostert. Talbot has been one of the most consistent Am drivers in Australia over the past few years, winning the 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour Am class (while finishing Fourth overall), as well as taking victory the last time GTWC was at Bathurst with Fraser Ross last year. Ross himself has credentials at the Bathurst 12 hour, taking Silver-Cup honours with Martin Kodric and Dominic Storey in 2020 for 59Racing in a McLaren 720s. Adding Chaz Mostert to the mix, who has two Bathurst 1000 victories and captured international attention in the 2017 12 Hour with a cracking opening stint, makes this car one to watch.

Tony Bates returns to the Bathurst 12 Hour in his #24 Audi, alongside two current Repco Australian Supercars drivers in the form of David Reynolds and Cameron Waters. Bates has been a stalwart of Australian GT racing, with entries in the 12 hour dating back to 2015. He finished 4th in the GTWC Australia championship last year, but showed pace enough to challenge for race victories. Pairing up with 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds (who has raced the 12 hour 6 times) and back-to-back podium sitter Cameron Waters gives the team a great shot at victory.

The Audi challenge is completed by the #9 Team Hallmarc entry of Marc Cini alongside Dean Fiore and Lee Holdsworth, and the #17 of Team BRM, with Mark Rosser being joined by Nick Percat and Joey Mawson. Cini has raced at the 12 Hour every year of the GT3 era (since 2011) except 2012, but is possibly most famous for being tagged into a spin at Metal Grate while being lapped by the leaders and miraculously not hitting a wall. Joining him is current Bathurst 1000 champion Lee Holdsworth, who’s incredible drive last year earned him a route back into Supercars, and Dean Fiore, a former Supercars driver with a longstanding relationship with Cini. Mark Rosser is making his Bathurst 12 Hour debut, and will be looking to continue his improvement in the GTWC Australia field. Driving alongside him will be 2011 Bathurst 1000 champion and Walkinshaw Andretti United driver Nick Percat, and S5000 champion Joey Mawson. Mawson has international experience in Porsche Supercup, and has already taken 4 victories in this season’s S5000 championship.

Mercedes AMG

Mercedes AMG have four of the GT3 Evo examples fighting for overall honours, mixing some big international names with the very best drivers that this part of the world has to offer.

Triple Eight Race Engineering is the headline story for Mercedes; bringing along both of their Supercars drivers – highly rated rookie Broc Feeney and current series champion Shane Van Gisbergen – to partner Prince Jefri Ibrahim for his Bathurst debut. Ibrahim’s debut GTWC season last year saw him finish up in second overall, in a season that saw constant improvement for the Malaysian driver. It will be Feeney’s second 12 hour, after he was part of the Invitational-Class winning MARC II Mustang in 2020, while 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour winner Shane Van Gisbergen will be a force to be reckoned with, after anchoring Triple 8 to a podium in 2020.

Kenny Habul brings the #75 SunEnergy 1 Racing Mercedes down under for another tilt at an overall crown, with a line-up that features huge international talent. Reigning Bathurst 12 Hour Champion Jules Gounon will join Habul, as well as returning Austrian Martin Konrad, and Mercedes driver Luca Stolz. Habul has an overall second place in the 12 hour (2018), and was the inaugural Bronze-Class IGTC champion. While Habul has a bronze rating, the quality of the drivers around him and the chaos of The Mountain means that this car is sure to be a challenger late in the race.

Hong Kong based Craft Bamboo Racing will return for their third run at The Mountain, under the direction of two-time champion Darryl O’Young. The team features Bathurst veteran Maro Engel, alongside rookies Daniel Juncadella and Macanese driver Kevin Tse. Engel has had a storied history at Bathurst, with pole position in 2014 marking his arrival, but a best finish of only 5th coming in 2020 with Craft Bamboo. A dramatic late-race accident for team-mate Van Gisbergen in 2017 lost an almost-assured podium for Engel, who was particularly disappointed when giving an interview immediately after the crash. Tse has been racing in Britsh GT, and with plenty of experience around the Macau Guia circuit, will hope that his experience of close barriers has him well prepared for Bathurst.

The Mercedes Pro-Am challenge is rounded out by the #19 Nineteen Corp. Racing Team of Mark Griffith. Griffith has been representing Mercedes AMG in the GTWC Australia, taking the GT4 Championship last season. Joining him is current Erebus Motorsport Supercars driver Will Brown and his Bathurst 1000 Co-Driver from last year, Jack Perkins. Brown set the Mountain alight during qualifying for the Bathurst 1000 last year to take a surprise provisional pole, and remains one of Supercars’ most exciting young prospects. Pairing with the experience of Perkins, who has almost two decades of experience in Supercars and GT machinery at Bathurst makes this trio one to watch.

Porsche

Porsche are represented by a single 911 GT3 R in the hands of Grove Racing; father and son pairing Stephen and Brenton Grove, joined by current GR Racing (WEC) driver Ben Barker. Stephen Grove is currently tied for the most Bathurst 12 Hour Class victories; Class B victories in 2014, 16 and 18 along with the 2020 Pro-Am victory puts Grove level with Mark Brame, who won the production A Class in a Suzuki Swift each year from 1991 to 1994. Stephen and Brenton combined for fourth in last year’s GTWC Australia Championship, and along with Ben Barker won the Pro-Am category in the 12 Hour in 2020.

Lamborghini

Wall Racing bring the Lamborghini Hurucan GT3 Evo to the grid, with former Supercars driver David Wall and regular co-driver Adrian Deitz joined by current TCR Australia leader Tony D’Alberto and Australian TV personality and Bathurst local Grant Denyer. While Denyer is most well known in Australia as the host of a variety of game shows (such as Australian Family Feud), he is an accomplished racer with Bathurst experience at the seat of a Supercar and in the 12 hour, including a podium in 2008 in the production-car era, and a class win in the Invitational class in 2014, driving a MARC Focus.

Am Class (3 cars)

The Am class features a further Audi R8 LMS Evo II’s and two additional Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo.

RAM Motorsport sees regular drivers in the #45 Mercedes AMG, Michael Sheargold and Garth Walden joined by Trophy-Class challenger Brett Hobson. While Sheargold is making his 12 Hour debut, he has won the Bathurst 6 Hour in the A1 class two years running, winning with Dylan O’Keeffe and Ollie Shannon in April. He and Walden currently lie second in the GTWC Australia AM class, with long-time racer Walden making his fourth appearance in the GT3 era. Brett Hobson is an experienced campaigner in the GTWC Australia series, running the Nissan GTR. While he hasn’t yet had a stellar result at the 12 Hour, Hobson did take an overall victory at The Bend last year in changing conditions. The team has already had challenge making it to the grid for the weekend; a crash last week at Sydney Motorsport Park in testing damaged the Mercedes AMG beyond repair ahead of the event. Luckily, the team were able to source a replacement Mercedes AMG, and will be able to race come Sunday!

Brothers James and Theo Koundouris are bringing their Supabarn #47 Audi R8 to Bathurst, with established Supercars co-driver David Russell and former Australian Drivers Champion Paul Stokell rounding out the team. The Koundouris brothers have two class victories at the 12 Hour to their name, taking Class B (Carrera Cup) honours in 2015 and Am honours in 2018, while Stokell has been racing as far back as the 1980’s, with three Australian Driver’s Championships (for Australia’s top open-wheel category) from 1994-96. They are joined by David Russell, who has had a long career as a co-driver for the Supercars Enduros.

Valmont Racing rounds out the Am category in the #55 Mercedes AMG, and brings together Porsche Carrera Cup competitors Marcel Zalloua, Sergio Pires and Duvashen Padayachee. Valmont, the brainchild of Zalloua and Pires, is running in support of a pair of charities over the weekend, raising money for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, and the Sony Foundation “You Can Stay” program, focussing on supporting children and their families with emergency accommodation to those required to travel from rural areas for treatment in major centres.

GTC: Carrera Cup (2 cars)

For the first time since 2019, Carrera Cup cars return as part of the big event in the GTC class. Car #11 for Our Kloud-UpTo11 Motorsport features regular driver Eric Constantinidis with Indiran Padayachee and Aaron Zerefos. Both Padayachee and Zerefos have experience driving the Carrera Cup car around the mountain in the 12 hour, and will act as great guidance for Constantinidis on his first trip to the Mountain.

The #222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Porsche features an All-Star line up of Australian GT talent. Scott Taylor features behind the wheel, along with 2019 Australian GT champion Geoff Emery, former Supercars and Porsche WEC driver for Gulf Racing Alex Davison, and Australian racing legend Craig Lowndes. With 7 Bathurst 1000 wins and two 12 Hour victories, there are precious few who have driven more laps around The Mountain than Lowndes.

Invitational Class (3 cars)

The Invitational Class returns for the Bathurst 12 Hour, featuring some crowd favourites as well as a notable Bathurst debut. The Invitational class is driving to an index time of 2:06.000 around the Mountain, effectively limiting the outright pace of the class, separating the Inv. Cars from the GT3 field.

M-Motorsport are debuting the KTM X-Bow GT2 at Bathurst after a successful first outing in a GT Endurance event at Sydney Motorsport Park. The car retains much of the construction of the GT4 machine that M-Motorsport have campaigned in GTWC Australia last season, but will see a sharp step up in performance. Driving the KTM will be David Crampton, Trent Harrison, Glenn Wood and his brother, current Porsche Carrera Cup front runner Dale Wood. M-Motorsport last competed in the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2019, winning the GT4 class with the KTM X-Bow with Glenn Wood as part of the line up.

The two remaining Invitational cars are MARC II V8’s, speciality endurance machines powered by a 5.2L Coyote V8 Engine. MARC cars have been a fixture of the Bathurst 12 Hour for the last decade, and their unmistakable roar will once again wake up the campers on top of the Mountain. The #52 Wheels/FX Racing PNG machine will be piloted by long time MARC competitor Keith Kassulke, with Hadrian Morall and current Super 2 driver Zane Morse for company, while the #95 MARC Cars Australia example will feature MARC Cars owner Geoff Taunton, the experienced Jake Camilleri, and another Super 2 driver in the form of Declan Fraser.

How To Watch

For those in Australia, coverage will be provided by Fox Sports and it’s streaming service Kayo, with free-to-air coverage on the 7 Network, while international viewers will be able to watch on the SRO GT World YouTube channel.

Race start is 5:15am local time (Australian Eastern Standard Time UTC+10) on Sunday the 15th of May, with the Allan Simonsen Pole Award being contested on the Saturday at 16:10 Local.