The drivers on double Bathurst duty in 2023

Nine drivers will be complementing their Great Race duties with drives in support categories at this weekend’s Repco Bathurst 1000.

The Repco Bathurst 1000 will be supported by the Dunlop Series, Porsche Carrera Cup, Toyota 86, V8 SuperUtes and Toyota 86.

Four drivers will race in the Dunlop Series, and five in Porsche Carrera Cup, with the latter category on track on Sunday morning before the 161-lap Great Race.

Of the four drivers in the Dunlop Series, two — Kai Allen and Aaron Love — will make their Great Race debuts in wildcard entries. Allen will steer a Shell V-Power wildcard Ford with Simona De Silvestro, and Love a Petronas-backed Blanchard Racing Team Mustang with Jake Kostecki.

Zak Best and Jack Perkins will make their third and 17th Bathurst starts respectively with Tickford Racing and Erebus Motorsport. Best will race with James Courtney, and Perkins with Will Brown.

The quartet will be on track on the first three days of the event, with the Dunlop Series to complete 100km races on Friday and Saturday.

The Porsche Carrera Cup field will feature five Great Race co-drivers — Fabian Coulthard, David Russell, Dylan O’Keeffe, Dale Wood and Alex Davison.

Davison, who will again race with younger brother Will at the Shell V-Power Racing Team, returns to the Porsche fold after skipping Sandown. The five drivers will jump between Gen3 Supercars and Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.

The popular one-make series will compete on all four days of the event, ending with a final race on Sunday morning.

Outside the double duty group of nine, several other drivers have competed in a number of different categories leading up to the 2023 enduros.

Notably, Jamie Whincup, Richie Stanaway (both Triple Eight), Jayden Ojeda (Matt Stone Racing) and Garth Tander (Penrite Racing) have all turned laps in GT World Challenge Australia. Ojeda has also competed in Toyota 86, and won the Bathurst 6 Hour in April. Tander, meanwhile, made a Carrera Cup cameo at The Bend Motorsport Park.

MSR co-driver Jaylyn Robotham, who will make his second Great Race start, made a Super2 cameo in Newcastle in March and has been competing in the Thailand Super Series.

The likes of Tony D’Alberto (TCR Australia), James Moffat, Tyler Everingham (both Trans Am) and Jordan Boys (S5000) have been racing on SpeedSeries cards throughout the year.

Then, there’s international star Kevin Estre, who is a factory driver for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the World Endurance Championship. A week before making his Supercars debut at Sandown, Estre finished on a Fuji 6 Hour podium.

All categories will hit the track for the first time on Thursday October 5 at Mount Panorama.