Ferrari back to tame the mountain

Ferrari is coming back to the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour and spearheading the Italian icon’s assault is WA’s own Arise Racing GT.

Like most things it tackles in motorsport, Ferrari has a proud history at the nation’s “International Enduro.”

The “Prancing Horse” has two previous 12 Hour wins in 2014 and 2017 with Craig Lowndes at the wheel on both occasions.

However, the famous red cars have not been seen on the mountain on 12 Hour weekend since 2020.

But ending the five-year drought will be a recent local success story in Arise Racing GT through a pair of fast Ferrari 296 GT3s.

The 2025 Arise Racing livery. Image: Supplied

Fresh from dominating the GT World Challenge Australia at the first time of asking, the squad now has its sights set on beating the internationals in the summer classic.

To do that it kept one half of its championship winning combination in Chaz Mostert and paired him with Supercars rival Will Brown, plus Ferrari factory ace Daniel Serra in the Pro car.

Spearheading the Pro-Am assault are familiar GT combo Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte, plus GT regular Brad Schumacher and another Ferrari Factory driver in Alessio Rovera.

Arise Racing burst onto the scene with a dominant debut in the GT World Challenge Australia, winning three races, and being on the podium in all-but one event.

But Arise Racing GT Commercial Manager Jake Klarich revealed all of that was simply preparation for taking on the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Chaz Mostert steering the Ferrari 296 at Bathurst last year. Image: Race Project

“We could not have asked for a better first year, but the whole time we have had the Bathurst 12 Hour in the back of our minds. That is one of the ultimate goals for us,” he told Auto Action.

“Ferrari has done very well in the past there and our car has proven to be quite fast when we first raced there last year.

“It really took to the mountain and the Ferrari loves super high-flowing corners, so hopefully it goes well over the 12 hours.

“We essentially worked in the background all of last year getting our procedures right with these cars and the team.

“The Sydney 3 Hour was a great chance to test the equipment and get everyone familiar with the pit stops.

“It will be a big learning curve because we have not run a 12 Hour yet, but a lot of people in the team have done multiple.

“We have an awesome team together and will give it our absolute best.”

Craig Lowndes drove Ferrari to Bathurst 12 Hour glory in 2014. Image: Peter Norton

Arise Racing may be new to GT racing, but it has been a staple of the Western Australian racing scene for around a decade.

The sister team started in Radicals and grew to become a significant force, but it was the connection with Perth businessman Laurence Escalante where the Ferrari chapter began and suddenly they were on the grid and scoring a 1-2 on debut at Phillip Island.

“It all happened extremely fast,” Klarich recalled.

“We initially planned to first be on the grid in 2025, but as the car’s were ordered it became realistic that we could make the grid in 2024.

“The cars arrived into the country six weeks before the first round, we flew a whole team of guys over to Perth, that had never worked together previously, for the preparation, and worked all the way through until the truck had to leave for Melbourne.

“It was cool to see it all come together so well and it was just insane to get a 1-2 in the first race.

“It is a credit to everyone in our team and our amazing partners led by Lance East Exotics.

“It was a memorable year and we are looking forward to the future.”

Arise Racing GT will not be on its own at the Mountain, with Ferrari even sending a group of technicians and engineers from Italy in addition to Serra and Rovera.

In addition to the factory assistance, Klarich says the prestige of racing with such an iconic brand is not lost on anyone inside the garage with a strong fan base already forming.

“It was quite surreal in the lead up to our first event when we were talking to people involved in GT World Challenge Australia and many were so excited to see Ferrari back on the grid. To do that for them was cool,” he said.

“The fan base Ferrari carries is huge. There was a young kid standing at the back of the garage by himself at the Sydney round with a Ferrari F1 shirt and we invited him in for a photo with the car, it most probably made his year.

“It is cool to provide that iconic brand for local fans where they may only get to support Ferrari online.

“It is special to be a part of and our fan base has been growing all year and that has given us a great source of inspiration.”

It will be this kind of support that will be pushing Evans on at Mount Panorama.

The Kiwi Supercars driver has plenty of 12 hour experience with four previous starts, highlighted by fourth outright last year.

But all of those have been driving some of Ferrari’s biggest rivals from McLaren to Porsche, where he spent the majority of his international GT career.

Now Evans will get to experience taking on the mountain in red and he admits it will hit different.

“Being a local starting the year at the Bathurst 12 Hour is always special. It will be my fourth start and first in a Ferrari which is very exciting,” Evans told Auto Action.

“It will be a great event and super stoked to be doing it for Ferrari.”

Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte celebrate victory at Philip Island. Image: Race Project

Evans has raced for big teams at big events such as Le Mans 24 Hours and feels the impact Arise Racing has already made cannot be overstated.

“It was a massive achievement what they did last year winning the drivers and teams championship in their first season,” he said.

“That is a massive credit to everyone from top to bottom.

“They were very ambitious, putting a plan in place and setting a goal to go out a win and they made sure we had every opportunity to make that happen.

“It is not an easy sport to hit the ground running in but with the right people in the right place was great to be a part of.”

Most of his previous GT starts have been behind the wheel of a Porsche, but it did not take long for the thrill of driving the Ferrari 296 to hit him.

Whilst Arise Racing GT did not win at Bathurst last year in GT World Challenge, the car was fast with two podiums and a pole.

Almost instantly Evans felt the 296 acclimatise to the Mountain, which fuels his hopes of success and growing Ferrari’s Bathurst legacy.

“It is a big change from the Porsche being not rear engined and more mid engined. It is the most advanced GT3 car the world has seen at the moment,” he said.

“There has been a lot of research and development behind the scenes from Ferrari.

“It is quite unique to drive. It is very aero dependent so tracks like Bathurst is where it comes into its own.

“Its nice and stable and gives you confidence to push faster, especially in those high speed areas.

“When we got our first taste (at Bathurst) we loved it.

“Balance of performance is a big thing in GT racing so you never know what can happen too early.

“But we are confident if they are kind to us in that department we will have a speedy package.”

The challenge of winning the Bathurst 12 Hour only gets bigger by the year, but Arise Racing GT certainly has the ingredients of giving Ferrari a third Bathurst 12 Hour victory this year.

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