Bathurst celebrated the start of the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour today with the traditional parade into town. Ahead of the opening practice session on Friday morning, the full field of 30 cars and its drivers made their way downtown to meet the fans.
Reigning champion Kenny Habul spearheaded the parade, driving his #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 which is the very same machine he drove to victory last year. Shipped from his museum in the USA halfway around the world to New South Wales, the Australian is back with fellow champs Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz as the trio aims for a third consecutive win.
Unfortunate absentee from the parade was the HubAuto Racing team. Despite their best efforts, the crew from Taiwan was unable to get its Porsche 992 GT3R to arrive in time for the big race Down Under forcing the Morris Chen-led squad and drivers Kévin Estre, Patrick Pilet and Klaus Bachler to forgo the 12-hour endurance.
Friday sees the on-track action kick off at 8:25 local time (Thursday, 22:15 CET) with the first of six practice sessions. Qualifying takes place on Saturday followed by the start of the race early on Sunday morning at 5:45 local time (Saturday, 19:45 CET).
Photos by Brock Baldwin.
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