Supercars stars ready to fight for GT Endurance title at The Mountain

The fight for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS Endurance title will go on the line at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International this weekend, where many Supercars stars will join forces with the regular faces.

A total of six former and current Supercars steerers will be racing a GT car around The Mountain as Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Bathurst local Brad Schumacher fight for the Endurance championship win.

The 13-car grid is now complete following the latest arrival, Jack Smith.

The Brad Jones Racing pilot will team up with leading Porsche driver Tim Miles in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Despite having conducted two test sessions in the Audi, it will be Smith’s GT debut and he hopes to use his three seasons and 104 races of Supercars experience to adapt to the new machinery.

Main game Supercars driver Jack Smith will be swapping his BJR Holden for a Audi R8 at this weekend’s Bathurst International. image: Supplied

“It’s definitely unlike anything that I’ve ever driven before,” said Smith.

“I knew they have a lot of grip and are aero dependant, but I was surprised by the performance. The cars also have ABS and traction control which was new to me, but I found them pretty easy to come to grip with and certainly a lot of fun to drive.

“GT racing is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. A lot of options have been presented, but for different reasons didn’t work. This opportunity with Tim had came up and I grabbed it. 

“We tested together really well at Phillip Island, he is a great guy and I’m looking forward to working with him.

“You can never have enough laps around Bathurst. You get better every time you go there. But I’m not putting any expectation on results. 

“I’ll need to adapt to the car as quickly as you can and find the best way to make time, which will be different to a Supercar.”

Although the likes of Jamie Whincup, Broc Feeney, Tim Slade, Michael Caruso, David Wall and now Smith bring some Supercars spice to the grid, all eyes will be on who will lift the Endurance crown.

After scoring a dramatic sprint race win on the final lap in the previous round at the Bend Motorsport Park, Ibrahim holds the upper hand and will be sharing the Triple Eight Race Engineering Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Feeney.

The Triple Eight backed Mercedes of Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Broc Feeney will be pushing for more success after victory at The Bend. Image: Jack Martin Photography.

Feeney will race in place of Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen, who was originally announced to drive at Bathurst.

But the Supercars rookie will stay in the #888 Mercedes and aim to give Ibrahim the Endurance crown, but they will face some stiff competition, especially from the Schumacher #55 Audi.

Schumacher will be steering his recently upgraded Audi Evo II with the experienced Slade in the fight for outright honours.

Another one of the top contenders is Ibrahim’s brother Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim, who shares the sister Triple Eight Mercedes with a driver that knows how to win at Mount Panorama, Jamie Whincup.

With strong machinery and a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner, Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim will be a tough force to stop.

Another car in the Pro-Am fight will be the #9 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Marc Cini and Caruso after the former made his return to the category at Sandown.

There will also be an Australian international ace on the grid in the form of Jordan Love.

Brad Schumacher and Tim Slade hope to fight for Endurance Cup glory at Bathurst this weekend. Image: Daniel Kaliez

Love has been racing a Haupt Racing Mercedes at tracks such as the Nordschleife and Spa-Fracorchamps this year in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe series.

But now he will be in the Australian variety of the championship alongside Harrolds Rosso Volante Racing’s Ross Poulakis.

Lamborghini regular Adrian Deitz will be back in the Huracan GT3 alongside Wall, who steps in for regular co-driver Tony D’Alberto as he focuses on his Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Championship tilt.

Spearheading the Am class is the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Michael Sheargold and Garth Walden.

The pair will face off with the Koundouris brothers of James and Theo, who share an Audi R8 together.

The only GT Trophy entrant is Marcel Zalloua and Sergio Peris in a Mercedes and they hope to build after a strong debut at The Bend.

A tight battle looms in GT4 where Trans Am frontrunner Nash Morris resumes his partnership with Mark Griffith.

They hope to edge out Mercedes rivals Christos Batzios and Sam Brabham, while also making a comeback after racing at Sandown is the recognisable KTM X-Bow GT2 shared by David Crampton and Trent Harrison.

The GT World Challenge Australia action begins on Friday with practice ahead of qualifying on Saturday and the three-hour race on Sunday.

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