The most anticipated Bathurst 1000 in years will be the pinnacle in a ground-breaking first six-day feast of motorsport on the mountain. With the penultimate event deciding the Championship winners in virtually every top category in Australia, the competition from November 30 – December 5 is guaranteed to be intense, action-packed, entertaining and unpredictable.
Since Supercars CEO Sean Seamer announced that they’ll be joining forces with ARG to bring six days of non-stop racing together from Australia’s leading motorport categories, we’ve been obsessing over just how incredible 2021’s ultimate season finale is going to be.
Whether you’re lucky enough to get trackside or you’ll be tuning in from home, here’s the latest lowdown on everything you need to know about the Bathurst 1000 Festival culminating in the Great Race on Sunday December 5, 2021.
RACE combining Supercars with ARG delivers a full suite of categories
After the disappointment of Bathurst being rescheduled for a second time, and ongoing uncertainty around the COVID pandemic, Supercars announced a joint venture with the Australian Racing Group (ARG) and Bathurst Council that would see a world-class six-day event featuring 10 action-packed categories. With a Covid-disrupted Championship, a wash-out of the last round at Sydney Motorsport Park and a forecast for more rain to come, it’s been a testing time for event organisers and teams alike.
An updated track schedule has been confirmed for the upcoming Repco Bathurst 1000. Supercars Australia has now confirmed the new six-day running sheet via its official website.
Minimal changes have been made to the Supercars Championship element of the event, with the drawcard Top 10 Shootout still starting at 17:05 (local time/AEDT) on the Saturday, and the latest ever race start retained for 12:15 the following day.
In case you’ve missed it, the Mount Panorama line-up is filled with fan favourites:
- Repco Supercars Championship
- TCR Australia
- Touring Car Masters
- V8 SuperUtes
- Dunlop Super2 series
- Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 series
- S5000
- GT World Challenge Australia
- Trans Am
- Porsche Carrera Cup
If you’ve been following the Supercars bidding war, the announcement on October 28 confirmed that RACE (Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises Ltd) would be the new owners of Supercars, there has been widespread optimism about how this first ‘combined’ event and what’s to come in 2022 could bring exciting developments in Australian motorsport key categories. With ARG playing a leading role in the consortium, there’s the belief that we could see both a rejuvenated Supercars future and ongoing support for the broad range of other forms of racing.
Bathurst 2021 Schedule
Updated schedule: Repco Bathurst 1000 (Local time/AEDT)
| Start | Finish | Category | Session |
| Tuesday, November 30 | |||
| 8:40 | 9:00 | V8 SuperUtes | Practice |
| 9:10 | 9:40 | Touring Car Masters | Practice |
| 9:50 | 10:30 | Australian GT | Practice 1 |
| 10:40 | 11:10 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Practice 1 |
| 11:20 | 12:10 | Trans Am | Practice 1 |
| 12:30 | 13:00 | S5000 | Practice 1 |
| 13:10 | 13:30 | V8 SuperUtes | Qualifying |
| 13:40 | 14:00 | Touring Car Masters | Qualifying |
| 14:15 | 14:55 | Australian GT | Practice 2 |
| 15:10 | 15:40 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Practice 2 |
| 15:50 | 16:10 | Trans Am | Qualifying |
| 16:20 | 16:50 | S5000 | Practice 2 |
| Wednesday, December 1 | |||
| 8:25 | 8:45 | TGRA86 | Practice 1 |
| 8:55 | 9:20 | Touring Car Masters | Trophy Race |
| 9:30 | 9:50 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Qualifying 1 |
| 9:55 | 10:05 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Qualifying 2 |
| 10:15 | 10:55 | Super2/Super3 Series | Practice 1 |
| 11:10 | 11:30 | Australian GT | Qualifying 1 |
| 11:35 | 11:55 | Australian GT | Qualifying 2 |
| 12:15 | 12:35 | S5000 | Qualifying |
| 12:45 | 13:05 | TGRA86 | Practice 2 |
| 13:15 | 13:55 | Trans Am | Race 1 |
| 14:05 | 14:25 | V8 SuperUtes | Race 1 |
| 14:35 | 15:15 | Porsche Carrera Cup | Practice |
| 15:30 | 16:10 | Super2/Super3 Series | Practice 2 |
| 16:25 | 17:15 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Race 1 |
| 17:25 | 17:50 | Touring Car Masters | Race 1 |
| Thursday, December 2 | |||
| 8:25 | 8:45 | V8 SuperUtes | Race 2 |
| 8:55 | 9:20 | Touring Car Masters | Race 2 |
| 9:30 | 9:50 | Super2/Super3 Series | Qualifying Race 1 |
| 10:00 | 11:00 | Supercars | Practice 1 |
| 11:20 | 11:40 | Porsche Carrera Cup | Qualifying |
| 11:50 | 12:50 | Australian GT | Race 1 |
| 13:00 | 13:25 | Trans Am | Race 2 |
| 13:35 | 14:00 | S5000 | Race 1 |
| 14:10 | 14:30 | V8 SuperUtes | Race 3 |
| 14:40 | 15:00 | TGRA86 | Qualifying |
| 15:10 | 15:30 | Super2/Super3 Series | Qualifying Race 2 |
| 15:45 | 16:15 | Porsche Carrera Cup | Race 1 |
| 16:25 | 17:25 | Supercars | Practice 2 (Additional Drivers) |
| Friday, December 3 | |||
| 8:20 | 8:45 | Touring Car Masters | Race 3 |
| 8:55 | 9:55 | Australian GT | Race 2 |
| 10:05 | 10:30 | S5000 | Race 2 |
| 10:40 | 11:40 | Supercars | Practice 3 (Additional Drivers) |
| 12:00 | 12:20 | TGRA86 | Race 1 |
| 12:30 | 13:20 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Race 2 |
| 13:30 | 14:30 | Supercars | Practice 4 |
| 14:45 | 15:15 | Porsche Carrera Cup | Race 2 |
| 15:30 | 16:15 | Super2/Super3 Series | Race 1 |
| 16:35 | 17:15 | Supercars | Qualifying |
| Saturday, December 4 | |||
| 9:05 | 9:30 | Trans Am | Race 3 |
| 9:40 | 10:00 | V8 SuperUtes | Race 4 |
| 10:15 | 11:15 | Supercars | Practice 5 (Additional Drivers) |
| 11:35 | 12:00 | S5000 | Race 3 |
| 12:15 | 13:15 | Supercars | Practice 6 |
| 13:30 | 13:50 | TGRA86 | Race 2 |
| 14:00 | 14:50 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia | Race 3 |
| 15:00 | 15:40 | Porsche Carrera Cup | Race 3 |
| 15:55 | 16:40 | Super2/Super3 Series | Race 2 |
| 17:05 | Supercars | Top Ten Shootout | |
| Sunday, December 5 | |||
| 8:35 | 8:55 | TGRA86 | Race 3 |
| 9:10 | 9:30 | Supercars | Warm Up |
| 10:15 | 10:40 | S5000 | Race 4 |
| 10:50 | 11:15 | Porsche Carrera Cup | Race 3 |
| 12:15 | Supercars | Race 31 (161 laps) | |
Bathurst 2021 camping
As anyone who’s made the pilgrimage to Mt Panorama knows, there’s nothing that quite like the atmosphere of camping on The Mountain. We’re happy to see that camping is back on the bill in 2021, with ARG Chairman John McMellan summing up our sentiments perfectly:
“This event will be a great opportunity to grab the family, go camping in the fresh rural air of Bathurst whilst being entertained by a truly dynamic range of motorsport.”
Supercars have confirmed that all campsites including The Paddock, McPhillamy Park, Reid and Sulman, Max Cameron, The Chase, The Orchard, Enduro and The Motorhome will be in operation for this year’s event.
If you’ve already purchased campsites for the 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 they will automatically be transferred to the new dates. If you’re yet to purchase, Supercars are running a “camper’s special” that’s available now, where you can grab yourself a six-day ticket for the price of four days. Jump online to claim yours here.
Bathurst 2021 drivers
The Bathurst 1000 will be the only endurance race on the Supercars calendar for 2021, with fans eagerly awaiting the list of co-drivers for the year. This year is set to be especially interesting to watch play out as major changes in the Supercar team’s main driver line-ups has made the search for a co-driver even more competitive. Here’s the confirmed lead and co-driver list for the Bathurst 1000, 2021:
2021 Bathurst 1000 Team, Drivers and Cars
| Team | Primary Driver | Co-driver | Car |
| Dick Johnson Racing | Anton De Pasquale | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Mustang GT |
| Dick Johnson Racing | Will Davison | Alex Davison | Ford Mustang GT |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | Jamie Whincup | Craig Lowndes | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | Shane van Gisbergen | Garth Tander | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | Broc Feeney | Russell Ingall | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Tickford Racing | Jack Le Brocq | Zak Best | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | Cam Waters | James Moffat | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | James Courtney | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT |
| Blanchard Racing Team | Tim Slade | Tim Blanchard | Ford Mustang GT |
| Erebus Motorsport | Will Brown | Jack Perkins | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Erebus Motorsport | Brodie Kostecki | David Russell | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Team 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Michael Caruso | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Team 18 | Scott Pye | James Golding | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | Bryce Fullwood | Warren Luff | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | Chaz Mostert | Lee Holdsworth | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Jack Smith | David Wall | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Nick Percat | Dale Wood | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Dean Fiore | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Macauley Jones | Chris Pither | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Kelly Grove Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Matt Campbell | Ford Mustang GT |
| Kelly Grove Racing | David Reynolds | Luke Youlden | Ford Mustang GT |
| Team Sydney | Fabian Coulthard | Jonathon Webb | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Team Sydney | Garry Jacobson | Dylan O’Keeffe | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Matt Stone Racing | Jake Kostecki | Kurt Kostecki | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Matt Stone Racing | Zane Goddard | Jayden Ojeda | Holden ZB Commodore |
How to watch the Bathurst 1000 – TV schedule 2021
Traditionally, at least during the Fox Sports era, the FTA broadcaster has carried coverage of Friday-Sunday of the Bathurst weekend, while Thursday has been exclusively on Fox.
However, with this year’s event expanded to six days to accommodate a number of Australian Racing Group categories, the Seven Network is set to begin its coverage on the Thursday rather than the Friday.
The Great Race itself is also set to start later than ever, with an early afternoon start time likely to help create a prime-time finish.
How many laps is the Bathurst 1000?
There will be no changes to the Bathurst 1000 in 2021, with “The Great Race” still clocking in at 161 hair-raising laps. We’ve put together a great article filled with Bathurst 1000 facts and a history of Australia’s favourite motor race that you can read here.
What do the drivers think?
The response of driver’s to the new six-day Bathurst bonanza have been overwhelmingly positive, with some of our faves saying they’re “thrilled” with the outcome and the seamless way Supercars and ARG have worked together to provide the best possible outcome for fans and teams alike. TCR driver James Moffat spoke recently about what a “challenging time it is for everyone, not just in the motorsport industry” saying it will be a “spectacular way to finish off the year at Australia’s most prestigious event, at the country’s best circuit”.
Many driver’s from smaller categories recognise the potential for growing their class as they show off their skills to a new audience. S5000 driver Nathan Herne spoke of the enormous interest he expects to see in Trans Am as a result of the festival.
“It’s an awesome category, the way the cars move around and they’re such basic, simple things it just relates to the general public. They want to see underdogs come through and Trans Am is definitely not short of those. It will be a big moment for the category”, he says.
You can drive a purpose built V8 race car on Bathurst’s Mt Panorama
Did you know that a very select few can experience the ultimate V8 Supercar experience for themselves? With Fastrack V8, you can drive a purpose built V8 race car on Bathurst’s Mt Panorama. Because the track is usually a public road, experiencing the power of ‘The Mountain’ is usually limited to V8 Supercar professionals.
By purchasing a gift card for a V8 driving or hot lap experience, or booking your spot at one of our exclusive Mt Panorama drive days, you’ll join an elite club of Fastrack V8 Supercar Experience drivers. Our V8 drive and hot lap experiences put you behind the wheel or in the passenger seat of some of the most beautiful high performance V8 race cars in Australia.
We can’t wait to see you trackside at the 2021 Bathurst 1000!