Ready to roll: Cars on track at Mount Panorama

FOLLOWING an intense build-up, the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour bursts into life on-track today with four practice sessions spread across a busy Friday schedule. 

Scorching conditions are forecast today, with a top of 39 degrees centigrade expected in New South Wales' central west.

12-Hour cars are on track across four practice sessions and 3.5 hours of running today, commencing with a 30-minute first session which allows the 'non professional' drivers in the field - those not ranked Gold or Platinum in the FIA's driver categorization system - to have the track to themselves.

The session allows these drivers to gain valuable track time and potentially less traffic before the full field is released.

Practice two follows quickly afterwards and runs for a full hour, with all cars on track.

Practice three, also an hour, will be run in the heat of the day and at a similar time to Qualifying on Saturday, giving teams a chance to test their cars on new tyres and see how they'll behave when it comes to setting a majority of the grid in 24-hours time.

The fourth and final session commences at 15:05pm local time, also runs for an hour and completes a massive day of running.

Bathurst12hour.com.au will provide live timing coverage across all four sessions and support race activity today, while radiolemans.com has live audio commentary of all four 12-Hour sessions.

Click here for a full breakdown of how to follow Australia's International Enduro this weekend.