Bathurst 12 Hour regulations expand vehicle eligibility
With the V8 Supercars resembling their road-going counterparts in silhouette alone - although even that is arguable - the Bathurst 12 Hour Showroom Enduro is quickly earning a reputation as one of the highlights of the Australian motorsport calendar.
Now organisers have tweaked the rules in order to increase the range of eligible vehicles which will compete in the 50 strong grid at Mt Panorama over the weekend of February 12 – 14.
These new supplementary regulations have already been provided to all potential competitors with a number of new cars already under construction.
“There are no major changes to the overall philosophy of the Race. The class structure has been tweaked to reflect that of the Australian Production Car Championship with some additional models eligible for the Race. An Invitational Class has also been added for vehicles that do not strictly meet Group 3E Production Car Regulations however are within the broad philosophy of the Event. They will add some flavour to the Event without making any of the existing front running cars uncompetitive.”
Among the list of new eligible cars are the 2010 SS Camaro, Ford Mustang GT, Audi S4, S5, Lexus IS-F and the Nissan 370Z.
“Both the Camaro and Mustang are now sold new under licence in Australia, and can be road registered with full new car warranty. When you consider much of the design work of the new Camaro was actually done by Holden, it’s a perfect fit to take up the challenge to the race winning BMW 335i and Mitsubishi Evos.”
With last year's competition largely dominated by a fleet of Mitsubishi Evolution X's, these new entries are sure to upset the balance and create an even more exciting racing experience.
Holden and Ford fans are still catered for with the newly released HSV E2 GTS likely to be a popular entry thanks to its significantly larger brake upgrade, ready to compete alongside the FG series from FPV.
Nine classes will make up the field with the outright honours expected to be fought out between the BMW 335 and 135, Mitsubishi’s evergreen Evolution, the Nissan 370Z, Subaru WRX STI, Ford, Holden and now the new Camaro.
Organisers are also hoping to turn the event into a much more family-oriented affair by offering all school students, primary and secondary, free entry.
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