The 2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour is expected to be bigger and better than ever before with an initial 40-car field for this year’s meeting confirmed, including an impressive 11 different GT3 brands.
Less than a month remains until one of Australia’s premier endurance events takes place at Mount Panorama with the race to also double up as the season opener for the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.
Adding to the hype for this year’s running is the number of records already broken, with the current 34-strong GT3 field eclipsing the previous record of 33 entries.
A record number of world-class brands will also feature this year with Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche all confirmed to compete – improving on the current record of 10 marques set in 2015.
Motorsport fans will enjoy a number of a new cars on the Bathurst grid with the latest Aston Martin Vantage GT3, McLaren 720s GT3, Honda NSX GT3, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO and the Generation II 991 Porsche GT3 R all getting maiden runs on the iconic circuit.
There will also be a few teams making their Bathurst debuts this year with Orange 1 FFF Racing Team, Shanghai-based Absolute Racing, Honda-supported JAS Motorsport and Victorian Aston Martin customer racing outfit Garage 59 all confirmed for the first major event of 2020.
While the current batch of entries will see 34 GT3 cars do battle across three categories, a thrilled event manager Kurt Sakzewski was also expecting further entries to join the record-breaking field.
“This is a field as competitive and deep as any GT race in the world and represents the truly global nature of the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour,” Sakzewski said.
“As we saw in 2019, we think this field represents a great balance between having a strong field and depth to have a clean and highly competitive race.
“Teams from Asia, Europe, North America and of course Australia will participate and will represent 11 different GT3 manufacturers for the first time in the history of the Event.
“The addition of the Honda NSX, in particular, has attracted enormous attention while the addition of the latest-generation cars we’ve yet to see at Bathurst will make for a very different looking grid this year.
“We are still fielding enquiries from teams putting programs together so there is every chance that this list will grow further prior to the event.”
Adding to the 34 GT3 cars will be two Class C GT4 entries, while four MARC II cars will feature as part of an invitational class.
The 2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour will take place at the Mount Panorama on 30 January until 2 February.
The 2020 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour field
Pro-AM
#1 Earl Bamber Motorsport - Porsche GT3 R
#2 Audi Sport Team Valvoline - Audi R8 LMS GT3
#7 Bentley Team M-Sport- Bentley Continental GT3
#8 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3
#18 KCMG- Nissan GTR Nismo GT3
#22 Audi Sport Team Valvoline - Audi R8 LMS GT3
#27 Hub Auto Racing - Ferrari 488 GT3
#30 J.A.S Motorsport s.r.l (Honda Racing)- Honda NSX GT3
#32 Walkenhorst Motorsport - BMW M6 GT3
#34 Walkenhorst Motorsport - BMW M6 GT3
#35 KCMG Nissan - GTR Nismo GT3
#60 59Racing/EMA Racing - McLaren 720S GT3
#62 R – Motorsport - Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
#63 Orange 1 FFF Racing Team - Lamborghini Huracan GT3
#76 R – Motorsport - Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
#77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3
#222 Audi Sport Team Valvoline - Audi R8 LMS GT3
#888 Triple Eight Race Engineering - Mercedes AMG GT3
#911 Absolute Racing - Porsche GT3 R
#912 Absolute Racing - Porsche GT3 R
#999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3
Pro-Am
#4 Grove Motorsport Pty Ltd Porsche GT3 R
#9 Marc Cini Audi R8 – LMS GT3
#12 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche GT3 R
#29 Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3
#75 Kenny Habul Mercedes AMG GT3 Pro Am
#188 Garage 59 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
#777 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes AMG GT3
Silver
#6 Wall Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3
#24 Tony Bates Racing Pty Ltd Audi R8 – LMS GT3
#59 59Racing McLaren 720S GT3
#96 Brett Hobson Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3
#159 Garage 59 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
#TBA TBA Mercedes AMG GT3
GT4
#13 Daren Jorgensen BMW M4 GT4
#TBA TBA TBA TBA
#20 Adam Hargraves MARC II
#91 Ryan McLeod MARC II
#92 Ryan McLeod MARC II
#95 Geoffrey Taunton MARC II