Final Drivers Confirmed For Bathurst 12 Hour
The final pieces of the Bathurst 12 Hour grid have been set, with all 84 drivers being confirmed ahead of track action starting on Friday.
The Nineteen Corporation #19 Mercedes AMG GT4 was the last to announce drivers, with Mark Griffith being joined by German driver Fabian Schiller and Victorian rising star Christian Pancione.
25-year-old Schiller flew into Australia today, after competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona last weekend. His inclusion increases the tally of drivers doing the 36-hour Enduro Double to 14, which includes GTD Pro class winners Daniel Juncadella, Maro Engel, and reigning Bathurst 12 Hour champion Jules Gounon.
Schiller has been competing in Mercedes machinery in the Nurburgring Endurance Series (Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie, NLS) as well as the ADAC GT Masters, where he finished third in the championship. Schiller also competed in the 2022 FIA Motorsports Games in the GT Cup category, taking the silver medal.
Christian Pancione has been racing in the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship, driving the VCM Performance sponsored entry, taking 9th place in 2022, and third in the Junior Driver category.
Both drivers will be making their first Bathurst 12 Hour start, while Mark Griffith will be making his eighth. The #19 Nineteen Corporation Mercedes AMG GT4 will be competing in the Invitational class, alongside MARC Cars Australia entries, the KTM X-Bow GT2, and a SIN R1 run by Daytona Sports Cars.
#65 Audi Sport Customer Racing bumped up to Pro-Am
With the addition of former Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert to the #65 Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia line-up, that car has now been pushed into the Bausele Pro-Am category.
Originally slated for the Silver Cup class, Liam Talbot, Fraser Ross, and Mostert will be up against hot competition in the Pro-Am class that is filled with both local and international talent, including Audi factory drivers Christopher Mies and Ricardo Feller driving with reigning GTWC Australia Champion Yasser Shahin, and Richie Stanaway’s debut for Triple Eight in the Boost Mobile Mercedes he will share with Jamie Whincup and Prince Jefri Ibrahim.
Last year, Talbot, Ross and Mostert combined in the #65 CoinSpot Racing Audi to lead running on day 1, before Mostert took the Alan Simonsen Pole Award on Saturday evening. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for them in the race, with lengthy repairs to the air compressor before an accident put them out of the race entirely.
The #65 car and sponsor will be unveiled tomorrow at Mount Panorama.
Philip Ellis meanwhile has replaced his injured Rolex 24 Winward racing team-mate Lucas Auer in the Craft Bamboo AMG for the Bathurst race.
The finalised entry list sees 26 cars; 8 in Pro, 8 in Bausele Pro-Am, and 5 in Silver for a 21 car GT3 field, as well as 5 invitational entries.
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