Photo: TeamVodafone

Bathurst 1000km endurance event promises spectacle

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This weekend the Bathurst 1000km endurance race takes place with new rule changes for this season designed to shake-up the event.

This weekend the Bathurst 1000km endurance race takes place with new rule changes for this season designed to shake-up the event.

The main change from previous years sees drivers no longer allowed to pair up their regular drivers in the same car, which has led to a very interesting grid.

The main result is to see retired regulars returning, already seen at the ‘warm-up’ event at Phillip Island. Former champion Mark Skaife returns with TeamVodafone along with Craig Lowndes, and after the pair took a victory at that event, will be looking to repeat that performance again at The Mountain.

TeamVodafone have shown they have the pace straight out of the box, topping three of the five practice sessions leading up to qualifying.

The event also makes up part of the V8 Supercars ‘Mother Grand Slam’ quartet of races, starting with the Clipsal 500, and includes the Gold Coast 600 and the Sydney Telstra 500 race in December. A special $2 million prize is available to the driver who can win all four events, which means the prize is only open to HRT’s Garth Tander as he won the Clipsal 500 race back in March.

“It’s a lot of cash that’s for sure” said Garth

“The Mother Grand Slam initiative is fantastic and it’s something that is unbelievably hard to win, no different to the tennis or golf grand slam with the likes of Roger Federer and Tiger Woods – in that it happens very rarely”.

Driver Pairings for the Bathurst 1000km
1 – Jamie Whincup/Steve Owen – TeamVodafone – Commodore VE
2 – Garth Tander/Cameron McConville – Toll Holden Racing Team – Commodore VE
3 – Tony D’Alberto/Shane Price – Centaur Racing – Commodore VE
4 – Alex Davison/David Brabham – Irwin Racing – Falcon FG
5 – Mark Winterbottom/Luke Youlden – Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon – Falcon FG
6 – Steve Richards/James Moffat – Dunlop Super Dealer FPR – Falcon Falcon FG
7 – Todd Kelly/Dale Wood – Jack Daniel’s Racing – Commodore VE
8 – Jason Richards/Andrew Jones – Team BOC – Commodore VE
9 – Shane Van Gisbergen/John McIntyre – SP Tools Racing – Falcon FG
10 – Andrew Thompson/Ryan Briscoe – Bundaberg Red Racing – Commodore VE
11 – Jason Bargwanna/Glenn Seton – Rock Racing – Commodore VE
12 – Dean Fiore/Michael Patrizi – Triple F Racing – Falcon FG
14 – Jason Bright/Matt Halliday – Trading Post Racing – Commodore VE
15 – Rick Kelly/Owen Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing – Commodore VE
16 – Tony Ricciardello/Taz Douglas – Stratco Racing – Commodore VE
17 – Steven Johnson/Marcus Marshall – Jim Beam Racing – Falcon FG
18 – James Courtney/Warren Luff – Jim Beam Racing – Falcon FG
19 – Jonathon Webb/Sebastien Bourdais – Dick Johnson Racing – Falcon FG
21 – Karl Reindler/David Wall – Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing – Commodore VE
22 – Will Davison/David Reynolds – Toll Holden Racing Team – Commodore VE
24 – Fabian Coulthard/Craig Baird – Bundaberg Red Racing – Commodore VE
27 – Damian Assaillit/Ant Petersen – Fujitsu Racing – Ford Falcon BF
30 – Mark Noske/Nathan Pretty – Gulf Western Oil Racing – Commodore VE
33 – Lee Holdsworth/David Besnard – Fujitsu Racing/GRM – Commodore VE
34 – Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter – Fujitsu Racing/GRM – Commodore VE
39 – Russell Ingall /Paul Morris – Supercheap Auto Racing – Commodore VE
44 – Geoff Emery/Rod Salmon – National Directory Distribution – Holden Commodore VE
47 – Tim Slade/Jack Perkins – Wilson Security Racing – Falcon FG
51 – Greg Murphy/Allan Simonsen – Castrol Edge Racing – Commodore VE
55 – Paul Dumbrell/Dean Canto – The Bottle-O Racing Team – Falcon FG
888 – Craig Lowndes/Mark Skaife – TeamVodafone – Commodore VE