This weekend, we witnessed GT3 cars go head-to-head at Mount Panorama. Next weekend, iRacing hosts its own Bathurst 12 Hours for everyone on the service to enjoy. Here’s all you need to know about competing in, and watching, the event.
Image Credit: iRacing.com
The iRacing Special Events calendar is now in full swing. We’ve already seen two events take place at Daytona, and now the show heads down under. The iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours is taking place this weekend on the Mount Panorama circuit.
This legendary event sits firmly in the minds of real racers and simracers alike for its tricky course and unique scheduling. A very different event to the Daytona 24 hosted a few weeks ago, here’s all you need to know about the Bathurst 12-hour race in iRacing.
A Unique Event
As the racing world saw this weekend, the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hours is a gruelling race. The ridiculously fast circuit lined with barriers heading up and down a literal mountain leads to many accidents. Due to the high rate of attrition, this year’s event saw just four cars finish on the lead lap. Out of 26 entrants, 10 were classed as DNFs.
As well as being on a tough track, the Bathurst 12 Hours begins early in the morning, before the sun has had the chance to rise. The first hour or so is always under darkness, a challenging way to start a race.
Unlike the Daytona event a few weeks ago, the iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours is a GT3-only event. Traffic is certainly more scarce than a multiclass enduro. However, this does mean that when you do come across lapped cars, they are theoretically capable of the same pace as you. This makes it much harder to get past, allowing rivals behind the chance to catch up. It’s made even trickier when you catch a car at the start of the mountain section. Unless an opportunity opens up, you won’t get past before the straight towards the Chase.
How to Prepare for the Bathurst 12 Hours in iRacing?
The great thing about iRacing special events is that anyone can take part, as long as they have a valid iRacing membership. As such, everyone has the possibility of heading to the virtual mountain course this weekend. However, there are quite a few things to check off before actually taking part.
Firstly, this is a team event. As such, you’ll need to put together a team of at least two drivers in order to be eligible to enter. Races like these are often best done with your friends. However, if you are struggling to find a seat in a car, have a look through Reddit and various simracing Discord channels. There are always teams looking to fill their cars, and this is a great way to meet new people that share your passion for racing.
Once you’re set up in a team, I’d advise spending a lot of time learning the track. Make sure to follow Emily Jones’ Bathurst track guide on our channel. Focus on staying within your limits and being consistent. There’s nothing worse than flying over Skyline with a handful of opposite lock.
Picking a car to race is typically a tough decision. Balance of Performance (BoP) reigns in the GT3 class, and a special BoP has been made for this event. However, most drivers will suffer issues at some point during the iRacing Bathurst 12 hours. It’s therefore important to pick a car with which you are comfortable. The least time you spend in the pits, the better.
Finally, your strategy must be ready before the green flag. You have to carefully plan out your driver times and stints. Luckily, 12 hours is a much easier race distance to plan for than 24 as you shouldn’t need to sleep halfway through. A GT3 car should do around an hour on fuel, so plan for around 11 to 12 separate stints. After a recent update to GT3 cars, it’s almost impossible to double stint a set of tyres. So changing tyres every time you pit is the way to go.
Where can I Watch the iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours?
If, like me, you can’t hack the full iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours, you can watch the event on-stream.
As it is one of the few major endurance races held on iRacing each year, there will undoutedly be plenty of streamers showing off their point of view of the race. Names like Jardier and Basic Ollie are sure to be competing.
As ever, Racespot will ensure coverage of the top split. This is where high-level esports teams like BS+ Competition and Redline will show off their strength to potential sponsors. While the simracing community will get a great show. Many of us, even those competing will probably end up having a look at that race over the weekend.
The live stream will certainly focus on the third timeslot. This starts at 12pm GMT – or 1pm CET – and will be the most populated race. Though three other races will take place over the weekend. One starts on Friday evening, the second at early on Saturday morning and the last one kicks off mid-afternoon on Saturday.
Are you taking part in the iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours or will you watch from the sidelines? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
