2018 Bathurst 12 Hour entry list - 53 crews are attacking the mountain
Fifty-three crews are ready to start the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour race at the Mount Panorama Circuit, the opening event of the Australian racing season and the first round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. It would be the 16th edition of the 12-hour race at Bathurst since its inauguration in 1991 and the eighth edition in which GT cars lead the field.
Many former winners are returning to the Mount Panorama, including two last year’s laureates Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. They won a race together in Maranello Motorsport’s Ferrari but this year they will fight against each other. Craig Lowndes joined YNA Autosport to drive the #58 McLaren 650S GT3 alongside another former winner Shane van Gisbergen. Jamie Whincup will race in the #75 Team SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
2018 Bathurst 12 Hour race machinery
Other former winners, both from GT era and pre-GT era, who will appear on the grid on February 4 are Alvaro Parente (#56 Strakka Racing Mercedes), John Bowe (#6 Safe-T-Stop Lamborghini), Christopher Mies (#74 Audi Customer Racing R8 LMS), Paul Morris and Rod Salmon (MARC Cars Australia), Tony Longhurst (#30 Boat Works BMW) and Craig Baird (#8 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes).
Thirty-three GT3 cars are on the list, divided into four categories (12 Pro crews, 13 Pro-Am crews, three Am crews and five B class crews). The grid would be completed with ten GT4/C class cars and ten cars in Invitational class.
No Ferraris on the grid this year
Maranello Motorsport and Ferrari will not defend last year crown. The manufacturers on the GT3 grid are Audi, Bentley, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Lamborghini and McLaren.
Bentley is the only brand which is coming to Bathurst with a factory team, running two Continental GT3 cars for six drivers, while other marques would be represented by the customer teams.
2018 Bathurst 12 Hour entry list
| Class | Car number | Team | Car | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A/GT3 Pro | 17 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley Continental GT3 | Steven Kane, Guy Smith, Jules Gounon |
| 18 | Bentley Team M-Sport | Bentley Continental GT3 | Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet, Vincent Abril | |
| 22 | Audi Sport Customer Racing | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Garth Tander, Kelvin van der Linde, Frederic Vervisch | |
| 37 | Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Robin Frijns, Stuart Leonard, Dries Vanthoor | |
| 43 | BMW Team Schnitzer | BMW M6 GT3 | Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, Marco Wittmann | |
| 56 | Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Maxi Buhk, Maximilian Gotz, Alvaro Parente | |
| 58 | YNA Autosport | McLaren 650S GT3 | Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Come Ledogar | |
| 74 | Audi Sport Customer Racing | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Christopher Mies, Christopher Haase, Markus Winkelhock | |
| 75 | Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy 1 Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Kenny Habul, Tristan Vautier, Jamie Whincup, Raffaele Marciello | |
| 100 | BMW Team SRM | BMW M6 GT3 | Steven Richards, Timo Glock, Philipp Eng | |
| 911 | Manthey Racing | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Romain Dumas, Frederic Makowiecki, Dirk Werner | |
| 991 | Craft Bamboo Racing | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Earl Bamber, Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor | |
| A/GT3 Pro-Am | 8 | Scott Taylor Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Max Twigg, Craig Baird, Tony D'Alberto |
| 9 | Audi Sport Customer Racing | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Marc Cini, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore | |
| 11 | Objective Racing | McLaren 650S GT3 | Tony Walls, Warren Luff, Tim Slade, Jaxon Evans | |
| 12 | Competition Motorsports | Porsche 991 GT3 R | David Calvert-Jones, Patrick Long, Matt Campbell, Alex Davison | |
| 19 | Nineteen Corp | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | David Reynolds, John Martin, Liam Talbot, Mark Griffith | |
| 29 | Trofeo Motorsport | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | Jim Manolios, Ryan Millier, Ivan Capelli, Dean Canto | |
| 32 | Lago Racing | Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX | Roger Lago, David Russell, Steve Owen | |
| 39 | Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Pedro Lamy, Paul dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda, Will Davison | |
| 47 | YNA Autosport | McLaren 650S GT3 | Scott McLaughlin, Fraser Ross, Andrew Watson, Alexander West | |
| 55 | Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Nick Leventis, Lewis Williamson, Cameron Waters, David Fumanelli | |
| 82 | International Motorsport | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Andrew Bagnall, Matthew Halliday, Johnny Reid | |
| 540 | Black Swan Racing | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Tim Pappas, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Luca Stolz, Marc Lieb | |
| 777 | Buik Motorworks | Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX | Yasser Shahin, Luke Youlden, Tomas Enge | |
| A/GT3 Am | 3 | Audi Sport Customer Racing | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Ash Samadi, Daniel Gaunt, Dylan O'Keefe |
| 6 | Safe-T-Stop | Lamborghini Gallardo | Richard Gartner, Hadrian Morall, David Wall, John Bowe | |
| 69 | Audi Sport Customer Racing | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | James Koundoris, Theo Koundoris, Ash Walsh, Duvashen Padayachee | |
| B/GT3 | 4 | Grove Motorsport | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Ben Barker |
| 21 | JFC - Carter Grange | Porsche 911 | Daniel Stutterd, Sam Fillmore | |
| 23 | Team Carrera Cup Asia | Porsche 991 | Paul Tresidder, Chris van der Drift, Andrew Tang, Chen Yi-Fan | |
| 42 | On Track Motorsport | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Garry Mennell, Kean Booker, Aaron Zerefos, Mark Caine | |
| 85 | Wall Racing | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup | Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub, Joe Foster | |
| C/GT4 | 13 | RHC-Lawrence/Strom | BMW M4 GT4 | Daren Eric Jorgensen, Cameron Lawrence, Brett Strom, Kuno Wittmer |
| 15 | Baigent Motorsport | BMW M4 GT4 | Kent Baigent, Neil Allport, Matt Wilring-Spratt, Ash Blewett | |
| 30 | Boat Works Racing | BMW M4 GT4 | Aaron Seton, Matt Brabham, Anthony Longhurst | |
| 44 | BMW Team SRM | BMW M4 GT4 | Dean Grant, Xavier West, Cameron Hill | |
| 46 | Prosport Performance | Porsche Cayman Pro4 | Jorg Viebahn, Max Braams, Marco Schelp, Nico Verdonck | |
| 48 | M Motorsport | KTM X-Bow GT4 | Justin McMillan, David Crampton, Timothy Macrow, Caitlin Wood | |
| 49 | KTM/M Motorsport | KTM X-Bow GT4 | Glen Wood, Tent Harrison, Cody Hill | |
| 77 | Ginetta Australia | Ginetta G55 | Coleby Cowham, Lindsay Kearns, Charlie Robinson | |
| 88 | Ginetta Australia | Ginetta G55 | Jaie Robson, Mike Simpson, Ben Walsh | |
| 111 | Ginetta Australia | Ginetta G50 | TBA | |
| INV | 33 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC Mazda V8 | TBA |
| 54 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC II V8 | Tony Alford, Kyle Alford, Chad Parish | |
| 65 | Daytona Sportscars | Daytona Coupe | Jamie Augustine, Dylan Thomas, Rhys Howell | |
| 66 | Daytona Sportscars | Dodge Viper | Ben Schoots, Adam Macrow, Michael Caine | |
| 67 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC II V8 | Jake Camilleri, Morgan Haber, Aaron Cameron | |
| 91 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC II V8 | Keith Kassulke, Rod Salmon, Will Brown | |
| 93 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC Mazda V8 | Zane Goddard, Rob Thomson, Drew Ridge | |
| 94 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC Mazda V8 | Nick Rowe, Tyler Everingham, James Kaye | |
| 95 | Eastgate Engineering | MARC Focus V8 | Geoff Taunton, Jason Busk, Bryce Fullwood | |
| 96 | MARC Cars Australia | MARC Focus V8 | John Goodacre, Peter Major, Jordan Love |
Photos: bathurst12hour.com.au,
