Get to know the Bathurst co-drivers: Part 2

Bathurst winners, podium finishers and former champions headline this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 co-driver line-up.

Among them, a raft of new blood also has their sights set on Mount Panorama.

Six drivers from the next generation of Supercars stars will join the Great Race grid across October 6-9. 

Cars will hit the track at Mount Panorama for Practice 1 on Thursday October 6.

Tickets for the Repco Bathurst 1000 are available on Supercars.com and Ticketek.

The 28-car grid is the biggest for a Bathurst 1000 in nearly a decade and features three wildcard entries.

Supercars.com takes a look at the first half of the co-driver line-up for this year's Repco Bathurst 1000.

Jamie Whincup (driving with Broc Feeney)

Bathurst will look very different for retired seven-time champion Whincup this year. Whincup handed over his #88 Commodore to rookie \ Feeney in 2022, and this weekend's Great Race will be Whincup’s first as a co-driver since 2004. The duo completed their pre-Bathurst test day last Wednesday, with a focus on pit stops and driver changes. The Supercars Hall of Famer is a four-time Bathurst winner; his last win came in 2012 alongside Paul Dumbrell. The 124-time race winner finished fourth in his final full-time Bathurst hit out last year with co-driver Craig Lowndes.

Garth Tander (driving with Shane van Gisbergen)

Tander and van Gisbergen are in their fourth consecutive year tackling the Mountain together. Tander was the sole driver of the #97 Commodore at last Wednesday’s pre-Bathurst test day, with van Gisbergen in New Zealand making his World Rally Championship debut. The pair won the Great Race in 2020 but back-to-back victories went begging last year due to a late tyre failure. Tander is a four-time Bathurst winner, all of his Great Race wins coming in Commodores. Another victory at Mount Panorama could also help van Gisbergen wrap up his second consecutive championship title.

Tony D’Alberto (driving with Anton De Pasquale)

D'Alberto teams up with De Pasquale for a second time, and will make his seventh start with the Shell V-Power Racing Team. The Melbourne-based driver finished third at Bathurst in 2017 with Fabian Coulthard. D'Alberto has now been racing Supercars for nearly 20 years, having made his debut in the Dunlop Super2 Series in 2003 at the age of 17. After clinching the Super2 crown in 2007, D'Alberto stepped up to the main game full-time, before moving to a co-driving role in 2014.

Alex Davison (driving with Will Davison)

The Davison brothers are back for another shot at Bathurst glory, with older brother Alex to partner Will in the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang. It will be their sixth Bathurst together, and second in the famous #17. Will has Great Race form as a two-time winner and is on a hot streak, having won at Sandown and Pukekohe. The Davisons raced to 10th last December, but Will's 2022 form has the #17 a firm contender for this year's win.

Warren Luff (driving with Nick Percat)

Warren Luff returns with WAU for a ninth straight season and has stood on the Bathurst podium six times. The long-time WAU co-driver will race with 2011 Bathurst winner Percat. Luff is a two-time winner of the Enduro Cup, first winning 2013 with Craig Lowndes at Triple Eight before doubling up with Garth Tander the following year at the Holden Racing Team. The Gold Coast-based driver is also a dual winner of the Sandown 500, taking victories in 2012 and 2016 with Lowndes and Tander respectively. When he isn’t in a Supercar, Luff works as a stunt driver at Movie World on the Gold Coast.

Fabian Coulthard (driving with Chaz Mostert)

After several years in the full-time game, Coulthard moves into co-driving with Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2022. The Kiwi links up with none other than two-time and defending winner Chaz Mostert. The veteran Coulthard, who turned 40 earlier this year, finished third in the 2017 Bathurst 1000 with DJR Team Penske. Mostert and 471-start veteran Coulthard are arguably the race favourites, given last year’s form and Coulthard’s experience.

Kurt Kostecki (driving with Jake Kostecki)

Kurt will combine with younger brother Jake in Bathurst for a second straight year. Kurt and Jake first paired up in 2021 while the latter raced for Matt Stone Racing. The Western Australian first appeared in the Super2 Series in the final round of 2014 in an MW Motorsport Falcon. In doing so, he became the-then youngest driver to ever compete in the series at the tender age of just 16. Kostecki completed a wildcard campaign with Walkinshaw Andretti United in 2021. He notably scored his best career finish of sixth in Race 12 in Darwin. The brothers finished 13th in last year's Great Race.

Zane Goddard (driving with James Courtney)

Zane Goddard will make his third Bathurst start and first for Tickford alongside 2010 champion Courtney. The 22-year-old departed Matt Stone Racing in the off-season, and was picked up by Tickford. Goddard has been a feature at a number of events, both in Tickford garages and testing the Gen3 prototypes. The Queenslander heads to Tickford after making 45 Supercars race starts over the 2020 and 2021 seasons including a best of seventh in Tasmania last year.

Zak Best (driving with Thomas Randle)

Best will make his second Bathurst start alongside 2020 Super2 champion Randle. Best shocked the Supercars world with a surprise ARMOR ALL Pole Position as a wildcard at The Bend earlier this year. Benalla driver Best is also in the fight for Super2 honours in 2022. The Victorian won the Sandown round and closed to within a race of points leader Fraser. Best is one of seven drivers in the Super2 field who will also compete in the Great Race.

James Moffat (driving with Cam Waters)

Moffat will return for his fifth campaign with Tickford Racing and his second year with Waters. The duo finished second in 2021. Moffat stepped back to enduro duties with Tickford Racing in 2018 after seven full-time Supercars seasons. The son of touring car legend Allan, James has two Bathurst podiums to his name, the first coming with Taz Douglas in the epic 2014 race.

Matt Payne (driving with Lee Holdsworth)

Grove Racing junior Payne will co-drive with Lee Holdsworth in the Great Race, after jumping out of his Super2 Nissan Altima. The 19-year-old has claimed two Super2 wins and two podiums this season and will rise to the main game with Penrite Racing in 2023. Payne is 20cm taller than Holdsworth; it will be interesting to see how the team tackles driver changes on Sunday.

Matt Campbell (driving with David Reynolds)

Campbell returns for his second straight Bathurst campaign with the Grove team. Porsche factory ace Campbell will combine with newly re-signed David Reynolds in 2022. Campbell was recently named in Porsche Penske Motorsport’s prototype sportscar programme. The Queenslander raced for the Ford team with Andre Heimgartner last year. Campbell, 27, won the 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour, and is the 2016 Porsche Carrera Cup champion.

David Russell (driving with Brodie Kostecki)

Last year’s Bathurst podium finishers will again combine in 2022. Russell's previous best result was eighth alongside Rick Kelly in 2014. Russell became a Supercars enduro regular after teaming up with Jonathon Webb in a Dick Johnson Racing Falcon in 2010.

Jack Perkins (driving with Will Brown)

Perkins continues his relationship with Erebus Motorsport and Brown for a second season. A veteran of 16 Bathurst starts, Jack is the son of six-time Bathurst 1000 winner and Supercars Hall of Famer Larry Perkins. In 2015, he earned his first Supercars race win alongside James Courtney at the Gold Coast 600. Perkins and Courtney finished third in 2019. A result went begging for Brown and Perkins last year due to a power steering failure. It came after Brown scored provisional pole.