It’s time for the big one, the one we’ve all been waiting for, the Bathurst 1000.
It’s been a heck of a ride to get to this point. 102 days on the road for the crew, but we’ve got one last job to do, and everyone is fully focussed.
As the season finale, nothing will be left on the table. Chaz knows what it takes to win around here, and Bryce will be looking to finish his rookie campaign in perfect fashion.
161 laps around The Mountain. Bring it on.
The Track
What more can you say about Bathurst? 6.2 kilometres of the most amazing piece of road in Australia (and the world if you ask us…)
From Conrod to McPhillamy, The Grate to Forrest Elbow, it’s a hold your breath operation for most of the lap, which is just over 2 minutes long.
Drivers
We finally get to see Warren Luff and Kurt Kostecki in action with their counterparts, Chaz Mostert and Bryce Fullwood, for the first time this year.
Luffy’s resume speaks for itself, while Kurt will contest his first Bathurst 1000, but is no stranger to the place, finishing on the podium in the 250km Super2 race in 2019.
Tyres
The hard tyre is back for the first time since Darwin, and we’re going to need a few of them.
In fact, we’ve been allocated 13 new sets per car…. Yep, per car! Add in another two sets of previously used tyres we will run, and that’s a grand total of 120 tyres across the weekend.
Format
We kick start the event on Thursday with practice. Across the weekend there is seven practice sessions, plus a Sunday morning warm-up.
The greatest qualifying session of the year takes place on Friday afternoon, with a 40-minute session that determines 11th-25th on the grid, but more importantly, who gets a lap of The Mountain to themselves on Saturday afternoon in the Top 10 Shootout!
On Sunday, 11:30am is when the engines will roar, and 161 laps later, a champion will be crowned.
How to Watch
Get ready for a big weekend on the couch!
Fox Sports will cover every session live from Thursday to Sunday, while Channel 10 have you sorted on Friday to Sunday.
For the full TV guide, please CLICK HERE.
Pitstops
At some stage during the race, cars will have to complete a front brake rotor change. This involves, for us, taking the entire brake caliper and rotor off, and replacing them with brand new ones, fresh out of the oven to warm up.
These changes should take under 30-seconds, and it’s a sight to behold as it’s happening!
Weather
It could be an interesting weekend on the weather front.
There is a 50% chance of rain across Friday and Saturday, but Sunday, when it counts, there is currently a 90% chance of between 10-20mm of rain! The wets are on standby.
Chaz Mostert
“Pumped to be back at one of the best tracks in the world, and I can’t wait to get underway.
“It’s going to be a really weird feeling here without most of the fans and all the campers up the top of the mountain, so first of all I just wanted to say to those people we miss you, but the race is always something special here, the way the story pans out during the day can be so unique.
“I’m excited for my first year here with WAU, I can see the passion and the heritage at Bathurst, so it’s incredible to be a part of it, and I cant wait to see how we go.
“Everyone has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get to this point, so a big thank you to them, and it would be awesome to finish this all off on a high.”
Warren Luff
“It’s so awesome to be back here at Bathurst. It’s definitely a different feeling as you look up on the hill, and it’s going to be really sad not having all those passionate supporters of our sport up there, but we are really lucky to be able to race this weekend, so we are all pretty thankful the event is going ahead.
“Working alongside Chaz so far has been great, and I’m really looking forward to sharing the car with him this weekend… feels like we’ve been waiting a life-time to say that.
“Our team has done an incredible job to get to this point, so I can’t thank them enough for all that they have done for us and the sport. Can’t wait to get behind the wheel of the Mobil 1 Appliances Online No. 25 and get underway!”
Bryce Fullwood
“So excited to just be here for a start, it’s pretty incredible that the sport has been able to pull this off. It’s sad that the mountain won’t be full of fans like usual, but its great that we can at least get 4000 people here.
“It’s the first 1000 for me as a main series driver, and first for Kurt as a co-driver, but I’m really excited because I think we’ve got the potential to have a good run.
“It’s been an absolute journey to get here, thank you to everyone who has played a part, but there is no better place to finish! Can’t wait to jump in the Mobil 1 Middy’s Racing No. 2 and get underway.”
Kurt Kostecki
“Really looking forward to getting into Bathurst with Walkinshaw Andretti United, obviously it’s my first 1000, and after seeing all the work the guys have been putting in since the start of this journey, it’s been unbelievable.
“Looking forward working with Bryce and the rest of the team to have a strong weekend and see what we can do, and repay everyone for their hard work.
“It’s cool that we’ve made it here, at times it looked doubtful, but now that we are here we will give it everything.”