Bathurst 12 Hour

There were sort of some obscure facts that I spent absolutely ages investigating.

chasing and you know for example we were talking about the big Enduros and of course there's the Bathurst 12 hour which is part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge which links now Nürburgring Spa 24 hours Bathurst races in This is in Malaysia as well.

And I spoke to Stephanie, he goes, well, it wasn't actually my idea, the IGTC.

And he was saying, oh, is this bloke? I can't remember his name.

Nothing against SRO or anything like that, but I mean, we've spoken about it on the pod.

It kind of does feel a bit same-samey to the Bathurst 12 Hour, right? So, um, I think, I think there's a few clues in those quotes from the mayor, um, you know, talking about bringing something different, and I'm not sure that a standalone GT World Challenge Australia round is something different.

Now, if we think back to when the Bathurst International got the nod for the fifth event, which was back in 2019, I think it was, um, because it, yeah, the 2020 event effectively didn't really happen, so I think that decision was made in 2019.

The two leading submissions were Australian Racing Group with the Bathurst International concept, and Supercars with what was effectively a Goodwood Festival of Speed style event, as opposed to a traditional race meeting.

They don't tune in to watch, uh, the, the commentators.

But yeah, I think i- it was funny, I went into the start of the year and, and, and Neil told me the plans that were sort of in place, and I went to the Bathurst 12 Hour as the support category commentator, and that was the, uh, that was the test weekend-

[laughs]

... believe it or not.

... how long can I wait between events?" And, you know, the, I think there is definitely a willingness from Barclay and from, you know, Supercars generally speaking to, uh, to have more events and to maybe, I don't know whether they're gonna condense the calendar because there are obviously a few things that they've got to consider.

You know, whether that's the Bathurst 12 Hour, whether that's the, the literal weather windows that you've got to, got to deal with.

But 12 rounds, I don't know how long you can keep doing it and expect to, to make progress, especially against, you know, the, the titans like NRL and, and AFL especially.

Yeah.

Most people, uh, will not be able to get time off work or whatnot, so people will be actually coming down unless they're going away for the weekend to actually go-

Is, is the Bathurst 12 Hour still on at Easter? Is there, is there a big boys race at, at, at that beautiful mountain at, at Easter?

I believe it's in February.

Okay, righty-o.

It's underscored by Mark Rushbrook coming here at the beginning of the year.

I know it was Bathurst 12 Hour and stuff, but I mean, he was there for the launch of what you guys were doing and so on.

Yeah.

Mark's Terrific guy and a real enthusiast.

Very, very cool.

Um, The extension to that story for me goes back to the beginning of the year, really, to Bathurst 12 Hour.

That car you just described was on display in a very cool marquee and spectator area on the inside of the chase at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

You had some top brass from America come over.

Mark Rushbrook was there, for example, and so on.

Uh, just listening to your, um, chat on Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli racing in the Supercars.

You fucking idiots, they're not racing in the Supercars, they're racing in the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Oh, 12 Hour.

So they don't need to be...

Yeah.

Uh, can we get someone on the motor games desk that knows what they're talking about? Uh, he's all, uh, Charles Leclerc this and Charles Leclerc that.

But, uh, yeah, no, Max Verstappen's, uh, looking at coming to the Bathurst 12 Hour, not the Bathurst 1000.

Ah.

All right, let's get into some Formula 1 news now.

And the 2027 F1 calendar has opened the door to potentially... a couple of F1 stars coming down under for the Bathurst 12 Hour.

So for more on this story, let's bring in Daily Telegraph journalist James Phelps.

Phelps, good to see you.

Yours is up there, Jess.

It better be.

Tell me, what is the latest around who might be coming down for the Bathurst 12 Hour next year?

Yeah, look, it's not just two names in world motorsport.