Photo: TeamVodafone

Gearing up for Bathurst’s 50th year

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This weekend the V8 Supercars return to Mount Panorama for Australia’s great race, the Bathurst 1000. The event celebrates its 50th year in 2012.

The first race of the season of endurance, the Sandown 500, saw Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Craig Lowndes take the victory with co-driver Warren Luff. This win allowed Lowndes to move into third in the 2012 drivers’ championship. His team mate Jamie Whincup’s championship lead over second placed Ford Performance Racing driver Mark Winterbottom stands at 32 points after Sandown where the pair finished third and second respectively.

It was the Holden Racing Team pairing of Garth Tander and Nick Percat who claimed the victory at last year’s Bathurst 1000. At the end of the 161 laps their margin of victory over Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife was a mere 0.2197s. Percat was the first driver since Jacky Ickx in 1977 to win the Bathurst 1000 on debut. It was Tander’s third win, equating his total Bathurst wins to that of Jamie Whincup. Lowndes is the most successful Bathurst winner on the 2012 grid, with five wins to his name.

29 cars will be competing in this year’s event, with 45 Australians, 10 New Zealanders, one Dane, one Austrian and one Frenchman in the field. Included in this count is the wildcard entry run by Kelly Racing, which will be driven by 2011 Bathurst debutante Cameron Waters and Jesse Dixon, the youngest-ever pairing in the history of the race.

The Bathurst 1000, round 21 of the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship, will be held on Sunday at 10:30 AEST and will consist of 161 laps.

Weekend Schedule

Thursday 6th October
Free Practice 1 – 00:40 BST
Free Practice 2 – 02:55 BST
Free Practice 3 – 05:05 BST
Free Practice 4 – 23:25 BST

Friday 7th October
Free Practice 5 – 01:00 BST
Qualifying – 04:45 BST

Saturday 8th October
Free Practice 6 – 00:25 BST
Top 10 Shootout – 6:30 BST
Warm-up – 21:25 BST

Sunday 9th October
Race – 00:30 BST

Past Winners

2011 – Garth Tander/Nick Percat – Holden Racing Team – Holden
2010 – Craig Lownes/Mark Skaife – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Holden
2009 – Will Davison/Garth Tander – Holden Racing Team – Holden
2008 – Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Ford
2007 – Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Ford
2006 – Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Ford
2005 – Mark Skaife/Todd Kelly – Holden Racing Team – Holden
2004 – Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly – Walkinshaw Performance – Holden
2003 – Greg Murphy/Rick Kelly – Walkinshaw Performance – Holden
2002 – Mark Skaife/Jim Richards – Holden Racing Team – Holden

Entry List

No – Driver 1/Driver 2 – Team – Car
1 – Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Holden
2 – Garth Tander/Nick Percat – Holden Racing Team – Holden
3 – Tony D’Alberto/Dale Wood – Tony D’Alberto Racing – Ford
4 – Lee Holdsworth/Craig Baird – Stone Brothers Racing – Ford
5 – Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards – Ford Performance Racing – Ford
6 – Will Davison/John McIntyre – Ford Performance Racing – Ford
7 – Todd Kelly/Tim Blanchard – Kelly Racing – Holden
8 – Jason Bright/Andrew Jones – Brad Jones Racing – Holden
9 – Shane van Gisbergen/Luke Youlden – Stone Brothers Racing – Ford
11 – Karl Reindler/Daniel Gaunt – Kelly Racing – Holden
12 – Dean Fiore/Matthew Halliday – Triple F Racing – Ford
14 – Fabian Coulthard/David Besnard- Brad Jones Racing – Holden
15 – Rick Kelly/David Russell – Kelly Racing – Holden
17 – Steven Johnson/Allan Simonsen – Dick Johnson Racing – Ford
18 – James Moffat/Alex Davison – Dick Johnson Racing – Ford
19 – Jonathon Webb/Scott McLaughlin – Tekno Autosports – Holden
21 – David Wall/Chris Pither – Brad Jones Racing – Holden
22 – James Courtney/Cameron McConville – Holden Racing Team – Holden
23 – Cameron Waters/Jesse Dixon – Kelly Racing – Holden
30 – Taz Douglas/Scott Pye – Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport – Holden
33 – Alexandre Premat/Jack Perkins – Garry Rogers Motorsport – Holden
34 – Michael Caruso/Greg Ritter – Garry Rogers Motorsport – Holden
47 – Tim Slade/Andrew Thompson – Stone Brothers Racing – Ford
49 – Steve Owen/Paul Morris – Paul Morris Motorsport – Ford
51 – Greg Murphy/Owen Kelly – Kelly Racing – Holden
55 – David Reynolds/Dean Canto – Ford Performance Racing – Ford
66 – Russell Ingall/Christian Klien – Walkinshaw Racing- Holden
91 – Michael Patrizi/Jonny Reid – Tekno Autosports – Holden
888 – Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Holden

All Holdens are Holden Commodore VE IIs.
All Fords are Ford Falcon FGs.