The 2022 edition of the 12 Hours of Bathurst, postponed from February to May, will exceptionally feature the Pro-Am class as the top class
When the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) teams tackle the corona-postponed 2022 Bathurst 12 Hours on the weekend of May 13-15, it will be with a changed class structure in the field.
The Pro class reserved for professionals, which would have been the top class, has been unceremoniously dropped, or rather adapted, for the 2022 IGTC season opener. Because teams like Triple Eight Race Engineering and others now have to have at least one bronze-ranked driver in their line-up. This means that the Pro-Am class – a combination of professionals and so-called gentlemen drivers – will be the top class at Mount Panorama.
The reason for the adjustment are still existing restrictions on travel to Australia. These restrictions in turn are a result of the coronavirus pandemic. For the same reason, some well-known teams had even completely renounced participation in the postponed 2021 IGTC season finale, the 9 Hours of Kyalami in South Africa, which was made up at the beginning of February.
SRO Chief Executive Stephane Ratel explains the adjustment to the class structure for the Bathurst 12h: “I was determined that Bathurst would return to the IGTC calendar in 2022, provided the [Corona] situation did not get out of hand. The new class structure will ensure that there is no interference with the championship or the event. “
“Normally it is the factory teams and riders who make the headlines. But the fact is that amateurs and the Pro-Am class are the bedrock of global GT racing. There are few, if any, international format races like Bathurst where Pro-Am crews are the stars of the show,” notes Ratel.
“In May, we will see some of the world’s best amateurs have the chance to win one of motorsport’s greatest endurance races,” says the SRO chief, speaking of a “throwback to previous 12-hour races and GT racing in general”.
In addition to the announcement that the Pro-Am class will be the top class in May, there is a second piece of news surrounding the Bathurst 12 Hours. Ratel is pleased “that the race in 2023 will again be held in early February”. The concrete date is 3 to 5 February 2023.