We all know what happens when we get to Bathurst. All this puff and bravado about the spirituality of the place. This is about the only time I ever feel a sense of a higher power.

Before we get into the rest of the article I want to take an opportunity to take a look at all the series has achieved, but focus in on the last two years. Logitech V8 Pro Series have now made Bathurst week a celebration of sim racing.

We had Wednesday night’s Co-Driver Clash. We’ve had the Paddock Podcast including the first ever Hall of Fame. We’ve had the championship finale of the Gamesmen GTPro Series, and tonight we get into the real deal in Qualifying and the Shootout, with support from the Porsche Cup series from iRacing World Challenge.

Think back across your memory of the simulated 1000’s. I’ve not been a Supercars nuffy on the sim for long enough to have ever encountered this much of a celebration of what we love as much as this. And whilst I do write for the series, this isn’t me just beating the chest of all involved, this is a thank you for everything! Heck, one day I might even get to participate in one! Until then I’ll be rambling away from a commentary box whilst I enjoy delusions of grandeur.

That illusion of grandeur is what drives so many of us to strive for the highest of peaks. 174 metres of elevation from bottom to top, then falling away that same distance just so you can go and turn another 6.2 kilometre circle. 

Some would call us mad. “It’s just turning circles” they say. “It’s the same thing 161 times over, how boring”. We know better.

The Race

Last year we were treated to an epic. 5 cars crossed the line in less than 1.5 seconds as Madison Down chased Griffin Gardiner whilst he covered for Luke Rosella. All whilst Down was being hunted by Andrew Gilliam and James Scott. Rosella would hang on for his first 1000 win of the series, but in the process secured a legacy of success in the Enduro’s.

This year the form guide is Jarrad Filsell’s dominance. Combine that with the engineering nous and speed of Brodie Kostecki and the rest of the field is hoping there’s a catastrophic error. Then again, with a championship on the line and the ability to wrap it up at the mountain there is every opportunity they elect to just finish the race smoothly. All Jarrad needs to be crowned champion is 21st or better. I’ve never known Filsell to back down from a fight and a passive Filsell is a vulnerable one, so I expect them to try winning the race.

Out of the Co-Driver clash Ryan O’Sullivan and Thomas McMillan also showed impressive speed and are worthy of note. O’Sullivan partners with Ethan Grigg-Gault for Evolution Racing Team’s #7, and McMillan with Luke Rosella’s #55 Lobs Esports cars. Rosella and McMillan will have to come from the back as their penalty for indiscretions at Sandown. Given they also drove through at Phillip Island and Sandown from the rear, they’re kind of used to it at this point.

I expect Qualifying to be shuffled up a touch, the Shootout always tends to get a few drivers out of sequence on their overall race pace. To me the most likely candidate to either nail the lap or make a mistake is Josh Anderson. He’s been overcritical of himself at times and talked about his Qualifying being a point of weakness, but I do believe he is capable of the magic lap. Putting it together with only a singular lap is the critical point.

Strategy has us on for 7 stints to put the race together. 6 pit stops with no more than 80 consecutive laps before drivers must be swapped. This means a minimum of 2 driver changes must be done within the race. Strategy is likely to be the main driver start, get the co-driver to run a triple stint and then the main driver to the end. As usual though, the closer the delta between the drivers the better your flexibility.

This strategy puts a lot of load on drivers and challenges their abilities to be consistent across long periods of time. There are more restrictions placed on drivers during the actual Bathurst 1000 to manage this and prevent drivers being in the car for excessive periods of time. Fatigue management will be a big part of this strategy and may see some teams with high workloads opt down a shorter stint path to assist. The old advertising for driver fatigue reigns true here as well, beyond two hours your focus level drops off.

My pick for Sunday? Filsell and Kostecki. They’re in a purple patch and currently you cannot go past them on form. Long run, short run, overall car speed and tire deg, fuel management, skill level. Yeah the list is hefty of what they have over the others.

But….

One
Thousand
Kilometres

One thousand reasons for it to be someone else’s.