{"id":478635,"date":"2026-02-14T03:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T03:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/478635\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T03:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T03:12:15","slug":"bathurst-12-hour-plotting-expansion-to-four-days-gt4-sprint-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/478635\/","title":{"rendered":"Bathurst 12 Hour plotting expansion to four days, GT4 sprint round"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bathurst
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFerrari GT3 versus Aston Martin GT4. Image: InSyde Media <\/p>\n

Interest in Australia\u2019s international endurance race has boomed this year, with the entry rocketing from 22 to 35 cars.<\/p>\n

The increase has come entirely among the GT3 contenders, with just two GT4 cars in the race despite that category\u2019s local sprint series attracting over 30 cars to its rounds.<\/p>\n

GT4 car owners are reluctant to run in the 12 Hour due to the dramatic closing speeds of the GT3 cars and the high cost of contesting an endurance event.<\/p>\n

Bathurst 12 Hour director Shane Rudzis revealed to Speedcafe that talks are taking place with GT4 Australia promoter SRO Australia for the event to host a sprint round of the series.<\/p>\n

That would in part be facilitated by a plan to add Thursday track running in the form of a GT3 testing day, aimed at getting amateur drivers up to speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBronze drivers in GT3 right now need more practice on this circuit,\u201d Rudzis told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n

Limited edition Full Credit Papaya Rules & Race Day Sunday merch drops now live! Click here to shop.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s becoming such a pressure cooker now right from the moment they get in the car on the Friday, it\u2019s tough out there for those Bronze drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Thursday would become a testing day, where we can have paid testing by the GT3 teams and Bronze drivers, and make sure Friday they are hitting the ground running.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat then opens up the opportunity for more track time for us to have more categories. A GT4 sprint round would be ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Awkward clash ends Bathurst 12 Hour practice early<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Previous discussions about separating GT4 from the 12 Hour itself have centred on an endurance race of around three hours, which is still costly for teams due to refuelling requirements.<\/p>\n

SRO Australia has meanwhile pushed to take over the fifth event date at Bathurst vacated by the Bathurst International \u2013 a slot the local council appears to have cooled on filling.<\/p>\n

The majority of GT3 manufacturers also have GT4 homologations, making a GT4 sprint round at the 12 Hour a perfect fit from a marketing and driver progression perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of investment from OEMs (manufacturers) in the event, the track signage is everywhere now, they\u2019re big believers in programs for corporate customers and branding,\u201d said Rudzis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt works really well for them all now, but to have cars in GT3 and GT4 racing at the event would be a good thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be a time when [the 12 Hour] will be GT3 only. I\u2019m not saying right now that we don\u2019t want GT4 or Invitational class on the grid, because they\u2019re an integral part of the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there will be a time where there\u2019s so many GT3 cars here that it will turn into GT3, and that\u2019s probably [ideal] from a fan perspective, but also from a safety perspective too.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to have young kids in GT4 cars, not having to race in the main race, but to actually get to the track and the event itself and have a pathway would be a fantastic thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bathurst 12 Hour\u2019s packed schedule currently includes the Ferrari Challenge and Combined Sedans support categories, as well as Gen3 Supercars test sessions.<\/p>\n

Rudzis has been discussing the Thursday expansion plan with stakeholders in recent months, with further conversations taking place this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good thing about the event is we\u2019re active on the track from Friday to the following Thursday as we have private track hire days, which we sell to manufacturers or other people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got that amount of track time, so it would mean losing one of those track days post-event, but we can start a day earlier and do this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe schedule is just so tight at the moment, it\u2019s pretty hard to fit everything in. [Thursday] opens everything up for us. That\u2019ll be the solution we need for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferrari GT3 versus Aston Martin GT4. Image: InSyde Media Interest in Australia\u2019s international endurance race has boomed this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":478636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,190013,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-478635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bathurst-12-hour","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}