Motorcycle stars who took on Bathurst

Valentino Rossi will be the latest motorcycle racing star to tackle Mount Panorama on four wheels — but others have also taken on the challenge.

Rossi was confirmed in Team WRT’s blockbuster BMW line-up for the LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour.

The MotoGP legend will race a car complete with his famous #46 and fluoro yellow.

Several racers have taken on Bathurst — and some have even won.

American Kevin Schwantz, the 1993 500cc world champion, turned exhibition laps aboard a NASCAR in Bathurst in 1996.

Gregg Hansford holds the unique distinction of winning at Bathurst on two and four wheels.

The late Hansford raced and won at Mount Panorama at the traditional Easter bike meetings.

Hansford en route to victory in 1993 Pic: AN1 Images

Between 1978 and 1979, Hansford won 10 Grands Prix wins for Kawasaki in the 250cc and 350cc classes.

He shifted to cars and was picked up by Allan Moffat, and they won the 1988 Sandown 500 together aboard a Sierra.

Hansford also nearly won the 1988 Bathurst 1000 — but in 1993, he famously broke through in a Commodore with Larry Perkins.

Michael Dowson also won at the Easter events in the 1980s, and scored a class win in the 1989 Great Race.

In Supercars land, just one racer — 1987 world champion Wayne Gardner — has won a championship race.

Gardner won at Mallala (1996) and Calder Park (1997) but had mixed results at Mount Panorama.

He first shared a Holden with Graham Moore in 1992 before joining the Holden Racing Team in 1993.

Gardner finished third in ’93 with Brad Jones and HRT, and third again for his own team alongside Neil Crompton in ’95.

Gardner scored a shock pole in 2000 Pic: AN1 Images

He took a shook Bathurst pole in dismal conditions in 2000, but engine dramas ended his run before the halfway mark.

Graeme Crosby, who raced for Suzuki and Yamaha, also turned to cars and qualified for the 1986 Top Ten Shootout at Mount Panorama.

A year earlier, 1975 350cc champion Johnny Cecotto notably raced a BMW to second overall.

Cecotto scored a class podium in 1987, and finished fourth with Tony Longhurst in 1992.

Casey Stoner — the 2007 and 2011 MotoGP champion — was one of Rossi's highly-documented rivals.

After his MotoGP retirement in 2012, Stoner turned to the Dunlop Super2 Series.

He raced at Mount Panorama and it started well, Stoner finishing ninth in the opening race.

With a maiden podium in his sights in the second race, Stoner scraped the wall under the tree at Reid Park.

With a damaged car, Stoner’s last Bathurst start went down as a DNF.

Multiple World Superbike champion and MotoGP race winner Troy Bayliss was the most recent two-wheel ace to take on the Great Race.

The Fiore/Bayliss car crashed out

Bayliss joined Dean Fiore to tackle the 2009 Bathurst 1000.

However, Bayliss spun at the Dipper and crashed out, ending his Bathurst dream prematurely.

Daryl Beattie — later a feature of Supercars broadcasts on Network 10 — first cut laps aboard a Paul Morris car in 2000.

Two years later, Beattie signed up for the 2002 enduros for Imrie Motor Sport.

He partnered Christian D'Agostin and came home 25th in the Queensland 500 — but failed to finish the Bathurst 1000 with Tyler Mecklem.

The likes of Mick Doohan, Kevin Magee and Chris Vermeulen have all driven cars, but never raced at Mount Panorama.

Tickets for the 2023 LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour are on sale now on Ticketek.com.

Camping for the 2023 event is also on sale.