Fast Facts: Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000

1. Prodrive Racing Australia is aiming for its third straight Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 win after success in 2013 and 2014 under the Ford Performance Racing banner.

2. Craig Lowndes is a five-time winner with 12 podium finishes - he sits tied for the record with the late Peter Brock, Jim Richards and Larry Perkins - so one more podium will give him the record.

3. The 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is the 55th running of Australia's greatest motor race with Holden aiming for its 30th victory and first since 2012.

4. Holden and archrival Ford are tied for most pole positions in Bathurst history with 21 apiece.

5. Should Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters will this year, they will become the youngest-ever combination to claim victory in the history of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Mostert, 23, and Waters, 21, would undercut the previous record set in 1996 when Craig Lowndes (then 22) and Greg Murphy (then 24), won for the Holden Racing Team.

6. There are seven rookies in the field: four-time Champ Car World Series winner Sebastien Bourdais, 2012 Australian Formula Ford Champion Jack Le Brocq, second-generation driver Macauley Jones, Newcastle brothers Aaren and Drew Russell and female drivers Renee Gracie and Simona De Silvestro.

7. For the first time since 1984, three sets of brothers line up at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in Will and Alex Davison (Erebus Motorsport V8), Rick and Todd Kelly (Nissan Motorsport) and wildcards Aaren and Drew Russell (Novocastrian Motorsport).

8. DJR Team Penske's Marcos Ambrose is making his first Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 start in a decade. Ambrose is one of only two drivers to take pole position on debut (2001) but has never finished better than fourth. This year is the first since 1975 a member of the Johnson family has not started the Great Race.

9. It is the first time since 1998 an all-female driving team has entered the 1000. International driver Simona De Silvestro and local Dunlop Series racer Renee Gracie make their debuts at Mount Panorama in a V8 Supercar as the Harvey Norman Supergirls. The last time a female raced in the 1000 was 2009, with Leanne Tander behind the wheel.

10. Five sons of previous Bathurst champions line-up this weekend across the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. One as a primary V8 Supercar driver in James Moffat (son of four-time winner Allan) and two as co-drivers in Steven Richards and Jack Perkins (son of seven-time winner Jim Richards and four-time winner Larry Perkins) in the 1000.

The other two compete in the V8 Utes, with Ryan Hansford (son of late Gregg Hansford, 1993 winner) and Gerard McLeod (son of 1987 winner Peter McLeod) hitting Mount Panorama.

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 kicks off on Thursday, with the 1000km race staged on Sunday. Click here for full event information.