It’s here. 161 laps around Mount Panorama, 1000 kilometres in all. The Great Race – the 2022 Bathurst 1000 – begins at 11.15am AEDT.
It’s already been an epic edition of Australian motorsport’s biggest weekend. From the returning veterans lighting up the track, to the stunning crashes, to the wild weather causing absolute chaos and the first cancellation of the Top 10 Shootout in its 44-year history. This weekend has had it all.
Sunday is set to ratchet things up one more notch, as 28 driver duos – 56 drivers in all, including a whopping seven rookies – vie to become King of the Mountain.
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RACE CENTRE: LIVE TIMES AND FULL SESSION RESULTS
What now for Bathurst? | 02:22
The grid is set, based on Friday qualifying order after the Shootout was cancelled.
Cameron Waters, twice runner-up, starts from pole (with James Moffat), but is only second-favourite with the bookies behind 2020 winner Shane van Gisbergen. The reigning Supercars champion and runaway series leader will start seventh after a three-place grid penalty for causing a qualifying crash.
The weather is set to play a crucial role, as it has all weekend. The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts a 60 per cent chance of any rain, with just 0 to 2mm likely.
It is a great result after the Top 10 Shootout was cancelled. The rain should ease through the day, and may even dry up before the race begins.
‘BETTER BE BLOODY CAREFUL’: STAR’S SPECIAL WARNING
There are wonderful stories all up and down the grid. But for James Courtney, this weekend is like no other. After tying the knot in an elopement just last week at the Brisbane Registry, his new wife Tegan is expecting their first child together in two weeks.
Tegan, a make-up artist, is remaining on the Gold Coast – and is desperately hoping her husband won’t miss the birth of their child.
“It sucks that I am not down there this time, I’m spewing,” Tegan said, per The Daily Telegraph.
“But it’s OK. I would rather give birth on the Gold Coast than in Bathurst, so I have just got to choose that over going to Bathurst.”
“But I will be pretty upset if he does come when James is in Bathurst,” she added.
“I joke with him and say: ‘Don’t bother coming home’ if I’ve had the baby while he’s in Bathurst.”
Her biggest concern is staying calm watching the race.
“I’m like: ‘You better be bloody careful’,” Tegan said.
“I keep telling him to drive safely and don’t do anything stupid. It doesn’t help with all the rain that is predicted either.”
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