The Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour entry list has been released and there will be plenty of storylines in what is Australia’s leading international GT race.
Nine manufacturers, 27 international drivers from 15 countries and the top five from the Repco Supercars Championship highlight a strong field of contenders for the once around the clock event.
Check out what the Repco Garage will be keeping a watch of at this year’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
The roster of drivers
It’s a fair line-up of drivers set to line up for the 2025 edition of the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour. Factory pilots include Fabian Schiller, Jamie Day, Daniel Serra, Augusto Farfus, Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde, Alessio Rovera, Charlie Weerts, Raffaele Marciello, Maximillian Gotz, Lucas Auer, Morris Schuring, Ricardo Feller, Maro Engel, Maxime Martin, Alessio Picarello, Ayhancan Guven, Aussie Matt Campbell and the ever popular Italian Valentino Rossi complete an all-star cast.
But there’s more.
The top five drivers to finish in the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will also contest the race led by champion Will Brown, with Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert, Cameron Waters and Thomas Randle joining him in the field. Jaxon Evans is also entered, with Bathurst winners Craig Lowndes, Lee Holdsworth and Luke Youlden further highlighting the quality.
Young guns Jayden Ojeda and Jaylyn Robotham also have drives, while overseas returnee Scott Andrews brings IMSA winning experience.
Tony D’Alberto, David Russell and Dean Fiore complete the ‘name’ drivers set to contest the event.
The manufacturer battle
The battle between manufacturers is always of interest at the 12 Hour and BMW certainly leads the way on paper. However, strong international representation from Mercedes-AMG ensures the Munich marque won’t have it all its own way. Ferrari appears for the first time in a couple of years featuring a crack line-up. Porsche is well represented and although Audi has removed its customer racing support, there remains a sole entry in the Pro Class. Aston Martin and Lamborghini are featured in the Silver Class.
Invitational
The burgeoning GT4 Class will have three representatives in the Invitational Class as Chaz Mostert will not only be driving, but his Method Motorsport concern will be in the race with two McLaren Artura GT4s. Mark Griffith has entered his Mercedes-AMG GT4 as well to add a rivalry to the class. Rounding Invitational out is the Vantage Racing KTM X-Bow GT2, which adds further interest.
Redemption
BMW and Team WRT ran to near-perfection in the 2024 edition, but a lapped competitor caught Charlie Weerts out leading to his M4 GT3 riding the wall at The Cutting like a skateboard. Victory will deliver BMW its first at the 12 Hour during the GT era, while Team WRT took the win when partnered with Audi in 2018.
Can Matt make it three?
Matt Campbell’s efforts in previous Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hours have been nothing short of heroic. The reigning winner, who achieved his first win in 2019 has the opportunity to join Jules Gounon on three victories, which is the record for the GT era. The Porsche factory star is in a good position to do so by being part of the crack Absolute Racing squad in 2025.
The Rossi factor
Bathurst is prepared for ‘Rossi mania’ once again as former MotoGP ace and factory BMW pilot Valentino Rossi is once again part of the marque’s entry spearheaded by Team WRT. Rossi made his Bathurst debut in 2023 and the fans went crazy for him, which continues to this day. With Rossi holding aspirations to race in BMW’s World Endurance Championship Hypercar program, a good performance at the 12 Hour may provide this opportunity.