GWR M2 COMPETITION REVEALED

The Garth Walden Racing team has revealed its brand-new BMW M2 Competition machine which it will field in this year’s Bathurst 6 Hour.

It will be one of two M2 Competition cars in the record 70 car field with the eye-catching yellow and pink BMW to be driven by brothers Ben and Michael Kavich.

The Kavich brothers have competed in every Bathurst 6 Hour since the event’s inception in 2016. The BMW M2 replaces the Mitsubishi Evo X which they have raced since 2017. The move into the BMW sees the Kavichs entered in the top-tier Class X.

“The Evo has served us adequately, but the reality is it’s a car that is approaching 15 years old and has become outclassed by the newer machinery,” Ben Kavich said.

“When you look at the results over the last few years, BMWs have been the cars of choice for the outright contenders and we’re very excited to be racing the M2 Competition, built by Garth and his team at GWR, who have a wealth of experience with building production cars for long-distance races.

“The running gear in the M2 is fundamentally the same as the M3s and M4s that have won the race recently, but we’re expecting it to be more nimble over the top of the Mountain.”

Team owner Garth Walden is excited to see what the M2 is capable of, but is confident of a strong package when they roll out at The Mountain.

“We enjoy working with the Kavichs because of their passion for the sport and the cause they’re supporting,” Walden said.

“In standard trim, the BMW M2 is a well-developed car and it has all the ingredients to be well suited to Mount Panorama: a good power-to-weight ratio for the long straights and nimble handling for the technical sections at the top of the Mountain.”

The Yellow Pages backing is part of the family motorsport legacy as the company adorned their father Tony’s Mazda RX7 and Holden Commodore race cars in the Bathurst 1000 during the 1980s.

“Back in the 1980s, the Bathurst 1000 had different classes, and privateer racers like Dad were able to compete in the same race as legends like Peter Brock and Dick Johnson,” Kavich said.

“The 6 Hour harks back to that era – we go racing for fun, but at the 6 Hour we’ll be competing against some of the best drivers in the country like Shane Van Gisbergen and Will Davison.

“It’s an amazing experience to share the track with those sorts of drivers and you learn a lot by racing with them – it helps us improve our driving.”

The 2022 Bathurst 6 Hour will be held in its traditional Easter long weekend slot, 15-17 April.

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