Despite it taking two editions to take shape, the Bathurst 12 Hour’s GT3 era has welcomed an influx of international prestige during the last decade and emerged as one of the world’s premier sportscar races.
Following the 2010 event organisers of the Bathurst 12 Hour elected to transition to GT3 regulations due in part to manufacturers not being enticed by the previous production car ruleset. Early on, it appeared the organisers had taken a misstep due to just 20 or so entries taking the start in the first two GT3 races, but Audi Sport was an early supporter and as the more manufacturers elected to join the party, Bathurst became a must-do event.
Mercedes through Erebus Motorsport was next to arrive and won in 2013 in what was a breakthrough event as 53 entries were submitted as international squads such as Clearwater Racing, Audi’s factory Phoenix Racing operation, AF Corse, Dragonspeed, Aston Martin St Gallen, United Autosports, Competition Motorsports and Team Engstler all took up the challenge.
In future years entries from NISMO, M Sport (Bentley), Craft-Bamboo (Aston Martin) joined a stronger local entry and the previous international operations to further push the importance of the Bathurst 12 Hour.
This was further aided by the SRO acknowledging this by making it the opening round of its global series the Intercontinental GT Challenge joining the likes of Spa, Suzuka, Indianapolis and Kyalami as a host circuit.
Another major change followed when the regulations allowed fully-professional driver line-ups to participate in the race further emphasising the increased prestige of a Bathurst 12 Hour victory, with Supercars ownership coming later.
Last year, ‘Rossimania’ took over as the record setting motorcycle ace formed part of BMW’s line-up.
Through this rise, LIQUI MOLY took on the sponsorship leading to more than a decade of support as naming rights supporter until this year where Repco will take on this role alongside the one it holds in October.
Although the global pandemic proved a challenge, the Bathurst 12 Hour has emerged and will continue to gain strength.
Bentley, Porsche, Ferrari, Nissan, Mercedes-AMG, Audi, Aston Martin, Porsche, Lamborghini, Honda, BMW and McLaren have all fought for line honours with various degrees of success, but the future will welcome new manufacturers. These include Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota providing a new element to one of the most important GT races in the world.
The 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour will be held on February 16-18.