Skill, concentration, stamina … and a bit of luck.
That’s what it takes to win the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Known as Australia’s international endurance race, the event sees GT and production cars pushed to the max on the Mount Panorama Circuit.
The Sporting News takes a look at the key details for this year’s race.
When is the Bathurst 12 Hour? Schedule and race start
The 2023 edition of the Bathurst 12 Hour will take place on February 3-5.Â
It will signal the start of the Australian motorsport season, with a new Supercars campaign and the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix to come later in the year.
Practice sessions will take place on Friday before qualifying is held on Saturday.
The main race will run on Sunday, beginning at 5:45 am AEDT and concluding at approximately 5:45 pm AEDT.
A full, detailed weekend schedule can be accessed here.
What is the Bathurst 12 Hour?
The Bathurst 12 Hour is a motorsport endurance race held at the famous Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales.
As the name suggests, the event takes 12 hours to complete and sees GT and production cars typically cover over 1,800 kilometres and clock roughly 290 laps.Â
The race commences in the early morning via a rolling start, with drivers allowed a maximum of two-and-a-half hours in the car at a time.
A winner is determined when the leader crosses the finish line for a second time after the ‘race finish’ is announced at 11 hours and 58 minutes.
How to watch the Bathurst 12 Hour: TV, telecast, coverage, streaming
Fox Sports and the Seven Network will broadcast the 2023 Bathurst 12 Hour live for Australian audiences.
Coverage of qualifying will begin on both networks at 12:30 pm AEDT on Saturday, February 4, with coverage to begin on Sunday, February 5 at 5:30 am AEDT for the race start.
The race can also be live-streamed through Kayo Sports and 7plus.Â
For fans based in New Zealand, the race will be broadcast via Sky Sports NZ.
International viewers, meanwhile, can catch the action on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.
Bathurst 12 Hour entry list, categories, drivers, teams
A total of 26 cars and 18 teams from six countries –Â Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Belgium, Germany and the United States – will compete in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
Eight different brands will be represented with 84 drivers set to take to the track.
All the drivers and teams are shown below, broken into their respective racing categories.
Class A Pro
| Car # | Brand | Drivers |
| 32 | BMW | Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts |
| 46 | BMW | Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi |
| 74 | Audi | Christopher Haase, Patrick Niederhauser, Mattia Drudi |
| 75 | Mercedes | Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon, Luca Stolz |
| 77 | Mercedes | Daniel Juncadella, Lucas Auer, Nicky Catsburg |
| 888 | Mercedes | Shane van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney, Maxi Gotz |
| 912 | Porsche | Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet, Thomas Preining |
| 999 | Mercedes | Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier, Raffaele Marciello |
Class A Pro-Am
| Car # | Brand | Drivers |
| 4 | Porsche | Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Anton De Pasquale |
| 9 | Audi | Marc Cini, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore |
| 24 | Mercedes | Tony Bates, David Reynolds, Jordan Love |
| 55 | Audi | Brad Schumacher, James Golding, Frederic Vervisch |
| 99 | Mercedes | Jamie Whincup, Richie Stanaway, Prince Jefri Ibrahim |
| 222 | Mercedes | Â Craig Lowndes, Alex Davison, Scott Taylor, Geoff Emery |
| 777 | Audi | Chris Mies, Ricardo Feller, Yasser Shahin |
Class A Silver
| Car # | Brand | Drivers |
| 6 | Lamborghini | Tony D’Alberto, David Wall, Adrian Deitz, Grant Denyer |
| 10 | Audi | Daniel Gaunt, Dylan O’Keeffe, Andrew Fawcett |
| 44 | Mercedes | Marcel Zalloua, Sergio Pires, Duvashen Padayachee |
| 47 | Audi | David Russell, Jonathon Webb, Theo Koundouris |
| 65 | Audi | Chaz Mostert, Liam Talbot, Fraser Ross |
| 101 | Mercedes | Ross Poulakis, Josh Hunt, Kevin Tse, Jonathon Hui |
Invitational
| Car # | Brand | Drivers |
| 19 | Mercedes | Mark Griffith, TBA, TBA |
| 50 | KTM | Glen Wood, David Crampton, Jayden Ojeda, Trent Harrison |
| 52 | MARC | Keith Kassulke, Hadrian Morrall, Cameron McLeod |
| 66 | SIN | Ben Schoots, Dylan Thomas, Shane Woodman |
| 111 | MARC | Darren Currie, Grant Donaldson, Geoff Taunton |
Bathurst 12 Hour tickets: Cost and camping options
Reserved grandstand seating ($121) is fully sold out for this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour.
However, there are still ticketing options available for fans across the weekend.
Three-day general admission tickets ($79) and mountain access passes ($20) are both accessible.
Any available tickets can be purchased via Ticketek.
Limited camping sites are also still available, and can be booked here.
Why is MotoGP star Valentino Rossi competing at the Bathurst 12 Hour?
A motorsport icon will be on the grid for this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, with organisers announcing Valentino Rossi will make his Mount Panorama debut.
The seven-time MotoGP world champion may have retired on two wheels but is returning to Australia to compete on four wheels.Â
He has been confirmed as a starter for Team WRT and will race in a BMW M4 GT3.Â
The 43-year-old is joining forces with endurance specialists Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus for the event.
After retiring from MotoGP in 2021Â after 26 years of Grand Prix racing, Rossi has remained active on the motorsport scene.
Last year, he drove in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint and Endurance Championships.
Red Bull F1 car to feature at Bathurst 12 Hour
Fans at Mount Panorama will also be able to see a Formula 1 car in action during the Bathurst 12 Hour weekend.
Red Bull Racing will run some demonstration laps of their RB7 car, which was used for the 2011 F1 season.
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson will be behind the wheel for a demo session, scheduled to take place between the two segments of qualifying on Saturday.
It is just the second time an F1 car has raced a Bathurst following Jenson Button’s appearance in a McLaren in 2011.
Bathurst 12 Hour results
Check back after the race for the full results.
Credit: sportingnews.com