DETROIT — In almost 30 years of competition, Corvette Racing has taken on and won at the greatest tracks in the world: Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona, Spa, Watkins Glen… to name a few. Maybe the biggest one missing from that list gets crossed off this weekend with the program taking on iconic Mount Panorama at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs from Johor Motorsports Racing are set to race up and down the 3.86-mile, 23-turn circuit that winds its way up, over and down Mount Panorama. It’s a mix of public road and permanent racetrack that will test a field of 35 cars – the largest grid in the race since 2020.
Bathurst also serves as the opening round of this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge – SRO Motorsports’ all-GT3 global championship. For the first time, Chevrolet is a participating manufacturer in the five-race championship.
JMR’s No. 2 Corvette is one of 15 entries in a stacked Pro class. Full-time Corvette Racing factory drivers Alexander Sims – a JMR regular – and Nicky Catsburg will team with Cadillac factory ace and New Zealander Earl Bamber in his first race in a Corvette since 2024.
Bathurst will be the second Pro-class race for JMR and the No. 2 Corvette. The team finished third overall last fall in the Suzuka 1000K with Sims and Catsburg teaming with Scott McLaughlin in a thrilling race.
Bamber is a two-time class winner in the Bathurst 12 Hour as a driver and won the 2019 race as a team owner, but he’s seeking his first overall win in the event behind the wheel. Catsburg has made three starts in the race, and Sims is making his debut at Mount Panorama.
In addition to the No. 2 Pro entry, JMR is fielding its No. 99 Corvette in the Pro-Am class for the lineup of Ben Green, Australian Jordan Love, Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim. The pair of Malaysian princes were part of a third-place effort in Pro-Am at Suzuka, and all four will arrive at Bathurst after contesting the six-round Asian Le Mans Series with JMR.
“I’ve been fortunate to race at some of the best tracks in the world in my career, and I’m thrilled to finally be able to add Bathurst to that list,” said Sims. “This is something that I’ve been looking forward to for quite awhile and have spent a good deal of time preparing for in the DiL (Driver-in-the-Loop simulator) and in talking with some of the Corvette Racing engineering team, as well as JMR.
“It’s really exciting to be part of finally taking Corvette to The Mountain in the Pro class and to kick off the IGTC. The team has the experience of last year at Suzuka to fall back on, so that plus the pre-event work should hopefully have us in a decent spot to start this week. It’s been a very busy and positive start to my season but I can’t think of a better way to close out this run by tackling Bathurst.”
