Nathan Herne to make long-awaited Supercars debut at Bathurst
Herne to drive ex-Triple Eight Camaro wildcard with James Moffat
Current Trans Am leader a late scratching from proposed 2020 debut
It was meant to be a dream Bathurst debut for Nathan Herne, who at just 18 years old was bound to become the latest addition to the illustrious Garry Rogers Motorsport production line of drivers.
However, his 2020 Bathurst 1000 was over before it began, a licensing dispute ultimately seeing Herne make way, and Jayden Ojeda score a Bathurst 1000 debut alongside Tyler Everingham.
That was the last time we saw GRM in Supercars competition.
Now, Herne is finally in line to get his long-awaited chance, with GRM set to line up on the grid at Bathurst some 2184 days later, and the 23-year-old their primary driver.
The Lismore product has been on the verge of breaking into Supercars on several occasions, notably running several tests with PremiAir Racing between 2022 and 2025.
"It means a lot in a heap of different ways," Herne said upon Wednesday's announcement.
"We tried back in 2020 and weren't successful at getting everything across the line, we ended up getting very close to the event back then, and that certainly hurt to come up short at the finish line.
"Coming back all these years later with GRM and with all the new experiences I've had in my career since that time, I’m absolutely a better driver and person for it and feel head and shoulders above where I was as a driver back then."
After back-to-back Trans Am title wins in 2021 and 2022, and a successful dalliance with S5000 open wheelers, he went off to the highly competitive American Trans Am scene. Herne impressed, but returned to Australia in the back end of 2024, and picked up where he left off, this time running his own team.
Now running three cars in Trans Am, Herne leads the standings heading into their third round in Perth, and has benefitted from the mentorship of 2005 Supercars champion Russell Ingall this season.
Despite the experience of James Moffat being a valuable asset to the team, Herne knows Supercars represents the next step up, especially in a single car team. It's a challenge he will tackle head-on.
"We know that being a single car team and a one-off event, that's going to be pretty tough job to go there and do a good job of the event," Herne said.
"But Bathurst does Bathurst things, it’s a track I’ve had a lot of success at in the past, so you never know. We’ll just put our best foot forward and see what it brings.
"In my experience between driving both cars there's not a lot of differences between a Trans Am and a Gen3 Supercar. Although I guess I’ll probably find out if I’m wrong or not on that front come October.
"It’s going to be an interesting time."
Herne will compete in Trans Am events supporting Supercars events in Perth, Ipswich, and The Bend before making his Repco Bathurst 1000 debut from October 8-11.
