Bathurst winners confirmed amidst strong Audi 12-Hour teams

THE TWO most recent winners of the Repco Bathurst 1000 will join the LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour grid this year.  

Rather than pairing up in the same car, 2021 Bathurst winners Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth will compete against each other this May 13-15 within a strong attack entered by Audi Sport Customer Racing Australia.

The Melbourne-based team has confirmed the driving squads for three of their six contenders entered in Australia’s International Enduro, with each car in the team expected to be an outright contender.

The first three combinations confirmed include the #9 Hallmarc Property Group Audi, the #47 Supabarn Supermarkets car and the #65 CoinSpot Audi.

The #9 car will be driven by experienced GT and Porsche racer Marc Cini, Lee Holdsworth and Dean Fiore.

Cini is a veteran of nine 12-Hour starts at Mount Panorama – with a best finish of fifth outright - while Fiore and Holdsworth are also hugely experienced: having made five and seven starts, respectively.

Holdsworth claimed his first Bathurst victory last December driving for Walkinshaw Andretti United and has since returned to full-time Supercars competition with Grove Racing.

Canberra brothers James and Theo Koundouris will draw on the Bathurst experience of David Russell aboard their #47 Audi R8, the latter having finished on the podium of the 2021 Bathurst 1000 with Erebus Motorsport.

Triple Australian Drivers’ Champion Paul Stokell will also drive the Supabarn entry.

2022 will mark the seventh time that the Koundouris brothers will have raced together in the 12-Hour – their campaigns including a win in the GT3 AM class in 2018, and a Class B victory in 2015 while driving a Porsche.

Russell also has a wealth of 12-Hour experience – this year will be his 10th start - including spectacularly qualifying a Lamborghini on the front row in 2015.

Finally, the CoinSpot Audi driven by Liam Talbot and Fraser Ross will draw on the experience of Chaz Mostert as their ‘Pro’ driver.

Talbot and Mostert joined forces to win the opening race of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season at Phillip Island, while Ross gained valuable laps at the Australian Grand Prix aboard their car as a high-speed chauffer for corporate guests.

All three have made their mark at the 12-Hour in previous years: Talbot won the AM class in 2017 driving a Porsche 911 GT3R, finishing fourth outright in the process.

Ross won the Silver category in 2020 aboard a McLaren 720s, while Mostert is a former Allan Simonsen Pole Position award winner, claiming the top spot for BMW in 2018.

Mostert’s full-time Supercars engineer, Adam de Borre, will run the Coinspot entry at Bathurst as well.

All three Audi R8’s have been upgraded to 2022 ‘evo’ specification.

The Supabarn Supermarkets car will compete for ‘Am’ class honours, while the others will be in the outright ‘Pro-Am’ class this year.

FRASER ROSS:  

“It’s exciting and I feel like it’s our best shot at winning the event this year.

“Chaz and Liam had a great round at Phillip Island in the new-specification car, and I got some laps at Albert Park so we’re very confident with the package.

“It’s the best possible team to go to the Mountain with.. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to get to the track given we have a real opportunity to challenge for a Bathurst 12 Hour victory.

“The Audi team are the best around and drawing Chaz and Adam to the team is proof of that. Massive thanks to Coinspot, Dutton Garage, Dutton One and the rest of our partners for making it happen.”

TROY RUSSELL 

“The first half of our 2022 Bathurst 12 Hour squad is fantastic.

“The shift to the Pro-Am regulations this year gives opportunities to people who might not have the chance in ‘usual’ years and they have all grabbed it.

“Each car has a really strong group of drivers, both from the ‘Am’ component and to the Professional drivers who have joined in. These are three strong, very balanced cars all of whom can compete for a strong result.”