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Best of the best heading to Bathurst for IGTC season opener

Best of the best heading to Bathurst for IGTC season opener

+ Full entry list: 2026 Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour

The final Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour Entry List has been confirmed and it stands as one of the race’s best ever - in terms of depth, talent and world-class drivers and teams from across the globe.

The final pieces in the entry list puzzle have also been confirmed – including news that Jamec Racing Team MPC will again challenge for outright victory with their Audi R8 LMS Ultra to be driven by current GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS champion Brad Schumacher, 2024 Repco Supercars Champion Will Brown and Audi ace and former 12-Hour podium finisher, Christopher Haase.

The combination comes as Audi celebrates 15 consecutive events of representation from the marque in Australia’s International Enduro since they made their debut - and claimed victory - in 2011.

The partnership reunites Jamec Racing and Team MPC and gives Bathurst-based Schumacher a shot at outright victory alongside the two experienced aces in Brown and Haase.

It’s a strong combination that adds Audi to the outright mix in a Professional class that alone includes 15 entries and eight brands battling for outright victory – and that’s before taking in the other class who still have a shot at claiming outright success alongside class glory.

Meanwhile, Volante Rosso Motorsport has locked in Bryce Fullwood, Damien Hamilton, Andres Pato and Maxine Robin to drive their Aston Martin Vantage GT3, while Supercars rookie Rylan Gray and Porsche Carrera Cup young-guns Bayley Hall and Marcos Flack will share their Silver class McLaren GT3.

35 cars will contest the race this year spread across Pro, Pro-Am, Silver, Bronze, GT4 and Invitational categories.

The driving field – which stands at 115 drivers representing 22 nationalities - includes nine former winners for a total of 15 Bathurst 12 Hour victories, including 2025 champions Augusto Farfus and Kelvin van der Linde and at least one winner from each of the last six races.

12 brands – 10 of them competing in GT3 – are represented, with Ford and Chevrolet making their respective debuts in the outright category this year, and McLaren returning to GT3 competition for the first time since 2020.

Former Allan Simonsen Pole Award winners returning this year include Chaz Mostert, Raffaele Marciello, Matt Campbell, Lucas Auer and Maro Engel.

MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi returns for his third attempt at conquering the Mountain having finished runner-up last year.

The field includes more than a quarter of the current Repco Supercars Championship grid, including current champion Chaz Mostert and 7 of the 10 drivers that contested the inaugural Repco Supercars Championship Finals Series last year; Mostert joined by Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Kai Allen, Cameron Waters, Ryan Wood and Thomas Randle.

The best of the best of Global GT racing are also returning Down Under.

Represented this year include 2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge champion, Kelvin van der Linde, plus the top seven finishing drivers from the only global GT3 championship of which Bathurst is the opening round.

2025 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps winner Jordan Pepper makes his return, having last raced in 2020 when he was part of the winning Bentley combination, while 2025 24 Hours of Nürburgring winners; Augusto Farfus, Raffaele Marciello and Kelvin van der Linde are also locked in.

Two-time 12-Hour champion and 2025 IMSA Sports Car Championship GTP Champion, Matt Campbell is back in his quest for a third win, while fellow 2025 IMSA title winners Alex Sims (GTD Pro) and Philip Ellis (GTD) fly the flag for the US-based Sports Car series.

Local champion Brad Schumacher will also seek outright victory at Bathurst to go with his GT World Challenge Australia title claimed in dramatic fashion last year.