In 2025 the Bathurst 12h will return to take place on the first weekend in February, as has been the tradition for a long time.
The season-opening race of the Intercontinental GT Challenge will take place from January 31st to February 2nd, with organizers taking care to avoid concurrent events.
First of all, it had to not coincide with the 24h of Daytona, which will be held the previous week, and then with the stages of the Asian Le Mans Series revisited in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the days following the Australian event.
A problem that usually afflicts drivers, teams and manufacturers in the GT and Endurance world, every year faced with logistical and political difficulties in understanding where to go racing and who to attend, depending on the usefulness of the race in terms of preparation, as well as prestige and competitive ambitions.
#32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3: Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts
Photo credit: BMW AG
“It’s fantastic to have set the dates for 2025 and to know that the world of GT will return to Mount Panorama on the weekend of 31 January to 2 February next year – declared with satisfaction the Director of the event, Shane Rudzis – We have to be flexible and dynamic in planning the race to ensure it fits into the international calendar every year, which is why the date has been brought forward by two weeks to 2025.”
“The level of interest and excitement for the event is already high and we have had fantastic discussions with current participants as well as new teams and brands looking to race next February.”
“At the same time, we continue to review all elements of the event to continue the improvements already introduced in 2023 and 2024, not only to grow the event but also to improve the experience for all participants.”
“We are very proud of the growth of the Bathurst 12 Hour. Over the last two years we have seen huge crowds, camping records broken, incredible demonstrations of world class cars on track setting mind-blowing lap times, legends of global motorsport come back every year, incredible initiatives and car shows, and so much more.”
#32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3: Sheldon van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts, #46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3: Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi
Photo credit: BMW AG
Stéphane Ratel, head of SRO Motorsports Group, added: “2025 has the potential to be the biggest Bathurst 12 Hour ever, thanks to the entry of several new manufacturers into GT3 and the growing number of GT World Challenge entries Australia”.
“This is a must-see event for international teams and drivers, also highly appreciated by manufacturers, but a high-level national environment is vital to the success of any Intercontinental GT Challenge event.”
“Moving the date to its traditional location also avoids clashing with the Asian Le Mans Series, which is important for our local and regional base.”
“It is indeed a cornerstone of the series’ philosophy and moving the date to its traditional location also avoids clashing with the Asian Le Mans Series, which is important for our local and regional base.”
#IGTC #Bathurst #12h #returns #early #February
