Bathurst 12 Hour Predictions

The 12 Hour is almost upon us! It's the best time of year. And while we don't have all of the driver lineups yet, we still have most, and it's about that time to predict what's happening. I'll try and say what I think will happen, but as usual I'll be very wrong.

WINNER: #60 McLaren

There are a few cliche winner answers (#1, #888, #22) in the field, but I think I'll go with lineup that is just as strong but equally out of left field. You have the brand new McLaren which could be rapid, the well-known and excellent Tom Blomqvist, former winner Alvaro Parente, and McLaren's best factory driver Ben Barnicoat. It looks pretty good.

PODIUM: #1 Porsche and #7 Bentley

I think the #1 Porsche's lineup is exceptional (that's why people are melting down about it) and the mix of Porsche experience (Bam-thor) and Bathurst experience (Lowndes) should be enough to push for at least a podium. The other car I think will be on the podium is the Bentley #7, which is the car of the remaining Bentley Boys from last year. Gounon, Pepper and Soulet look pretty strong and without Andy Soucek's starter button antics, the Bentleys look set to push on. So long as they avoid Chaz.

BREAKOUT DRIVERS: Ben Barnicoat (#60 McLaren), Luca Ghiotto (#62 Aston Martin), Seb Morris (#8 Bentley)

I was only going to tip one ore two breakout drivers but I think that Barnicoat, while an established international driver, isn't well known in Australia and as such will be praised as a new driver, sorta like Jake Dennis last year. Ghiotto and Morris, I think, will be strong in their first factory GT3 races, coming from F2 and a satellite Bentley team/Bentley junior contract respectively.

PRO/AM WINNERS: #12 Porsche

EBM have strong lineups this year. They arguably have the strongest on-paper lineups both in Pro and Pro-Am. I think they will win Pro-Am though. Calvert-Jones, an excellent am driver for years, is joined by exciting Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans and veteran and Le Mans, Nurburgring 24, Spa 24 and Pikes Peak winner Romain Dumas. Very, very formidable for the likes of Dean Fiore and Chris Goodwin to take on those three.

SILVER WINNERS: #24 Audi

I was tossing up between this and the #59 but I think the third driver for the Bates car is stronger than Martin Kodric for the McLaren. This Audi has a lot of experience: three big AusGT names in Max Twigg, Geoff Emery and Tony Bates. But in addition, they have one of Austrli's most exciting young talents in Dylan O'Keeffe. Could be on for something here.

And finally, we have a quickfire run of several lesser predictions.

BEST LOCAL: Craig Lowndes

NUMBER OF SAFETY CARS: 12

LAPS: 302

FIRST RETIREMENT: #6 Lamborghini

LOWEST NUMBER OF COMPLETED LAPS (for finisher): GriffithCorp AMG GT 4

NUMBER OF CARS FINISHING ON LEAD LAP: 11

I'll do a more extensive preview next week when all cars are confirmed. See you soon for more content, and be sure to comment below your predictions!