{"id":582986,"date":"2026-04-03T13:54:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582986\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T13:54:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:54:32","slug":"the-legends-of-longevity-in-2026-bathurst-6-hour-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582986\/","title":{"rendered":"The legends of longevity in 2026 Bathurst 6 Hour field"},"content":{"rendered":"

AT first glance you would be hard pressed to find much connection between the grid for the 1981 James Hardie 1000 and Mount Panorama\u2019s next endurance classic, this weekend\u2019s Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour.<\/p>\n

After all, the former belongs to a truly bygone era of the sport \u2013 an era so long ago that Kevin Bartlett lined up on pole position in the famous Channel Nine Camaro, joined on the front row by the Tru-Blu XD Falcon of Dick Johnson<\/a>, who was still a few hours away from becoming a Bathurst winner.<\/p>\n

Yet remarkably, there was one driver competing in that race who is not only still actively working and competing in motorsport but set to race in this Easter\u2019s Bathurst enduro \u2013 45 years on from the 1000km classic of \u201981. More on that shortly\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bathurst enduro for everyone<\/p>\n

Each year the profile of drivers competing in the Bathurst 6 Hour is undoubtedly the most diverse of any single circuit race held in Australia.<\/p>\n

The 6 Hour\u2019s stable adherence to the production car formula and competitor base for which it was introduced in 2016 \u2013 and with it, the attainable cost and pace level required to compete proficiently in the race \u2013 is the bedrock of its accessibility to a broad spectrum of drivers.<\/p>\n

It is the only Bathurst endurance race where the track is shared by club level racers ticking off their bucket lists through to Supercars Championship drivers, and wide-eyed teenagers clocking maiden Bathurst laps through to ever-passionate veterans who drove there when the races were still sponsored by James Hardie or Tooheys.<\/p>\n

Compared with Supercars\u2019 1000 which has been contested almost exclusively by elite level drivers since the early 2000s, or the intense domain of professional GT racing that is the 12 Hour, the lower competitive pressure of the 6 Hour has enticed drivers with several decades of experience.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

That includes some well into their 70s who keep racing for enjoyment but, in some cases, return to Mount Panorama years or decades on from their last start.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a group of drivers whose sustained competition in major Bathurst races over three decades or more, or remarkable longevity between their first start at Mount Panorama and their next, that deserve recognition and respect ahead of this weekend\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

The 6 Hour\u2019s endurance men<\/p>\n

\"\"The Tokico Mazda that Phil Alexander drove at Bathurst in 1983. Photo: an1images.com \/ Dale Rodgers.<\/p>\n

Phil Alexander
Driving the #53 Mazda 3 MP25 with Paul Hewitt in Class E<\/p>\n

Phil Alexander is the 6 Hour entrant who was in the field for the \u20181000 of 1981.<\/p>\n

Alexander made his Mount Panorama debut in that race driving the Tokico-sponsored Mazda RX7 with Ron Gillard.<\/p>\n

A long-time specialist Mazda mechanic and racer who to this day remains loyal to the brand by racing a Mazda 3 SP25, Alexander recorded top 10 finishes with Gillard in the 1000km classics of \u201982 (10th) and \u201983 (ninth).<\/p>\n

A later move into front-wheel-drive production cars saw Alexander contest the inaugural Bathurst 12 Hour of 1991 in a Suzuki Swift GTi, placing 16th.<\/p>\n

These days, the youthful 72-year-old runs RaceAway Track Time, a driver training and track day business which has enabled numerous grassroots competitors to progress to the 6 Hour with Alexander\u2019s team, which returns with two cars in this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

John Bowe<\/a>
Driving the #89 Ford Mustang with Braydan Willmington and Brianna Wilson in Class A2<\/p>\n

\u2018JB\u2019 won the 1000 alongside Dick Johnson in 1989 and 1994 and is the only driver to win the 12 Hour in both its production car (2010) and GT3 (2014) eras, but trophies tell only part of the evergreen Tasmanian\u2019s Bathurst story.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, we delved into the numbers that will see Bowe reach an unprecedented milestone<\/a> at this weekend\u2019s 6 Hour \u2013 his 50th appearance in a Bathurst endurance race.<\/p>\n

Continuing an awesome body of work which began in the 1000 of \u201985 aboard a Volvo 240 Turbo with Robbie Francevic, Bowe is showing no signs of slowing down just yet.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bowe returns to drive the Willmington Mustang for the second year in a row. Photo: an1images.com \/ Mark Walker.<\/p>\n

Richard Mork
Driving the #76 Mazda 3 SP23 with Matthew Southwell and Zach Dunn in Class E<\/p>\n

If Bathurst races were won on commitment and enthusiasm, Richard Mork would be among the all-time greats.<\/p>\n

The oldest driver in the 6 Hour field at 78, Mork started racing in 1964 and claims that this year\u2019s 6 Hour is his 95th motorsport event at Mount Panorama.<\/p>\n

Mork is best remembered for his time competing in the \u20181000 between 1998 and 2000, where his efforts running a colourful but severely underfunded Commodore epitomised Bathurst\u2019s battler spirit.<\/p>\n

In recent years Mork has been a regular in the V8 SuperUtes Series, the Challenge Bathurst supersprint and state level competition in New South Wales.<\/p>\n

\"\"Richard Mork aboard his V8 Racing Commodore at the Mountain in 2000. Photo: an1images.com \/ Graeme Neander.<\/p>\n

Paul Morris
Driving the #91 Mercedes-Benz AMG A45 with Mitchell Randall and Christopher Gunther in Class A1<\/p>\n

There is little that Paul Morris has not seen \u2013 or done \u2013 at Mount Panorama since he drove his first laps there in a Formula Ford in 1989.<\/p>\n

Only Shane van Gisbergen has been able to join Morris in winning all three of the current Bathurst majors, which Morris achieved in 2010 (12 Hour), 2014 (1000) and 2017 (6 Hour) \u2013 in addition to a 1600cc class win on debut in the \u201991 1000, a solo victory in the one-off shortened Super Touring 500 in 1999 and a podium in the 24 Hour of 2003.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Morris has felt heartbreak on the Mountain too \u2013 what should have been a convincing victory in the 1997 Super Touring 1000 was lost through exclusion for a team driving time infringement, while at just 24, he was co-driver to the late Denny Hulme when the 1967 World Champion suffered a fatal heart attack during the 1992 Tooheys 1000.<\/p>\n

In recent years, a revitalised Morris has returned to regular competition in a variety of cars and categories, and this weekend adds a Class A1 Mercedes-AMG A45 to the seemingly countless list of machines he has raced.<\/p>\n

\"\"Paul Morris and Chaz Mostert<\/a> in 2014. Photo: an1images.com \/ Dirk Klynsmith.<\/p>\n

Calvin Gardiner
Driving the #161 Mazda 3 SP25 with Ruben Dan and Ashton Sieders in Class E<\/p>\n

The line-up in this year\u2019s Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour which best represents the fantastic diversity of drivers in the race is undoubtedly that of the 161 Racing Mazda 3.<\/p>\n

It is with some understatement that 76-year-old Bathurst veteran Gardiner brings the lion\u2019s share of experience in that entry, for he teams up with 16-year-olds Ruben Dan and Ashton Sieders.<\/p>\n

Gardiner was a regular in Bathurst enduros of the 1990s, appearing in four 1000s (including the 1998 Super Touring 1000 where he won the Production Car class), all four 12 Hour races from 1991 to 1994 and every GTP 3-Hour between 1997 and 2000.<\/p>\n

He returned to Bathurst in the 2024 6 Hour, 24 years on from his last Bathurst start, and completed the race with son Tony, and Wil Longmore.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gardiner and Tom Watkinson\u2019s Mazda 626 from the 1998 AMP 1000. Photo: an1images.com \/ Dirk Klynsmith.<\/p>\n

Ric Shaw
Driving the #115 BMW M4 F82 with Zaki Wazir and Tom Shaw in Class X<\/p>\n

Ric Shaw has competed in every category to have contested a long-distance race at Bathurst since 1994.<\/p>\n

Since debuting in the 1994 12 Hour at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla, he has also started the 1000km races in both Super Tourers and V8 Supercars, most GT-P races held from the late 1990s to early 2000s, both 24 Hour races, 12 Hour races in the revived production car and GT3 eras, and every 6 Hour bar one since its inception in 2016.<\/p>\n

One of the country\u2019s best rotary tuning experts, Shaw has usually run the 6 Hour in one of the trusty Mazda RX-8s he knows inside out \u2013 and founded the RX8 Cup series for.<\/p>\n

This year is a change of pace for the 60-year-old Sydneysider, as he teams up with son Tom and Zaki Wazir in the latter\u2019s outright class BMW M4.<\/p>\n

\"\"Shaw competed in the 1994 Bathurst 12 Hour in this Toyota Corolla, pictured here with co-driver Tony Regan at the wheel. Pic: AN1images.com \/ Rod Eime<\/p>\n

Get your Bathurst 6 Hour tickets here<\/a><\/p>\n

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