> Bathurst 12 Hour entry list
Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour organisers have revealed the full entry and driver list for 2019’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli season opener, which takes place on February 1-3.
An initial list of cars and teams was revealed before Christmas, but this is the first time that driver crews have also been included.
Some of Australia’s best drivers will go head-to-head on home soil against the world’s biggest GT stars. Indeed, the list features more than 120 drivers representing 22 nationalities, as well as 13 different brands and teams from 10 countries.
One of the many eye-catching crews features 2018 Intercontinental GT Challenge Drivers’ champions Tristan Vautier (overall) and Kenny Habul (Am) who once again team-up aboard SunEnergy1 Racing’s Mercedes-AMG. The pair will be hoping to go one better this season after finishing second last year.
Meanwhile, reigning Manufacturers’ champions Audi bring five R8 LMS GT3s to the same event they won last season, although none of them feature 2018 victors Stuart Leonard, Dries Vanthoor and Robin Frijns.
The entry, which includes 28 GT3s amongst its 41-car total, also boasts seven former Bathurst 12 Hour winners and three Allan Simonsen Pole award winners, including defending polesitter Chaz Mostert who again lines up with Intercontinental GT Challenge newcomers BMW.
Eight different Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winners account for 19 Great Race victories, including seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes, while drivers entered have also won the Bathurst 6 Hour (Paul Morris and Chaz Mostert) and the twice-run Bathurst 24 hour (Garth Tander and Cameron McConville) races as well.
Further afield, there are also champions from SRO’s Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, Sprint Cup and Asia categories, while British Touring Car and DTM champions join their Supercars relatives on this year’s grid.
2019’s Intercontinental GT Challenge campaign begins with practice on February 1 and concludes after a day of dawn-to-dusk racing on February 3.
It’s one of five classic endurance contests that comprise this year’s schedule, which also includes outings at the California 8 Hours, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Suzuka 10 Hours and revived Kyalami 9 Hour.
Further Intercontinental GT Challenge entries are expected to join Audi, Bentley, BMW and Porsche on the full-season list before the season opener in just over two weeks’ time.