Bathurst 2024

A combination of seasoned Australian drivers and an impressive international line-up of Audi Sport talent will team up again this weekend looking to build on the brand’s record at Mount Panorama in the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour. Melbourne Performance Centre (MPC) which looks after Audi Sport customer racing operations in Australia will field three Audi R8 LMS GT3 cars in this year’s race, with two in the outright Pro category and the third racing in Pro-Am. A fourth Audi R8 LMS GT3 from Valmont Racing/Tigani Motorsport will also compete in the race in the A-Silver category, giving Audi depth right across the field.

It’s a slightly different strategy from the seasoned MPC operation this year, which will see the Bronze-ranked Brad Schumacher (current GT World Challenge Australia Am champion) team up with Platinum Audi Sport drivers Markus Winkelhock and Ricardo Feller in the #2 KFC R8 with another Bronze/Platinum/Platinum combination of current GT World Challenge Australia  Pro-Am champion Liam Talbot, joined in the #22 Wash It car by internationals and platinum Audi Sport drivers Kelvin van der Linden and Christopher Haase.

Both Australian drivers are at the top of their game and fresh from winning their respective categories last year, while the international contingent of drivers boast numerous Bathurst 12 Hour starts between them and a wealth of experience from every major international endurance race.

It’s a combination MPC boss Troy Russell feels could pay dividends this year with both local drivers having won their respective GT categories last year and the Audi Sport drivers all boasting extensive experience around the famous 6.2-kilometre Bathurst circuit.

“Pairing extremely experienced drivers like Brad and Liam with the Pros we have access to, all who have been here before and all who are extremely quick at Mount Panorama, we think is the way to go,” Russell said in the lead up to the race.

“The regulations allow those combinations to be competitive which gives guys like Liam and Brad a chance at winning Bathurst outright. We're thrilled with those combinations in the pair of Jamec Racing entries, with KFC and Wash It on board as major partners.”

“The Hallmarc car, with Marc, Lee and Dean, is such a solid combination. The Pro-Am competition is as tough as ever this year but at the same time we think they're a good shot at challenging there.”

In the Pro-Am category, seasoned campaigners Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore and Marc Cini will once again team up in the #9 Hallmark car looking to build on an impressive history in the race. This year’s outing will be Cini’s 12th which is a record in the GT era which began in 2011, in a year which saw Audi dominate with its historic one-two result.

Another Audi R8 will take to the mountain in the A-Silver category with Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Pires joined in the Valmont Racing/Tigani Motorsport entry by Brad Shiels and Bathurst 1000 winner Luke Youlden.

Audi is the current record holder in the Bathurst 12 Hour since GT rules were adopted in 2011, with three outright wins to its credit. The last was in 2018 when Robin Frijns, Stuart Leonard and Dries Vanthoor took top honours after a race that was marred with accidents and stoppages. 

This year competition will again come from the likes of Mercedes and Porsche with strong entries from both German brands as well as a field of top local and international talent.

Practice gets underway today with qualifying on Saturday and of course the race from 5:45am on Sunday. For those not able to make it to the track, all of the action will be broadcast live for Australian viewers on both Fox and the Seven Network.