On the Repco Bathurst 1000 weekend, TekworkX Motorsport’s drivers tackle round six of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship and wrap up their season in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series.

Thomas Maxwell is looking to continue moving up the championship table in Carrera Cup, after a tricky run of rounds. The Spitwater supported driver is excited to take on the ‘holy grail’ of Australian Motorsport.

“Bathurst is a sick place, and Mount Panorama really is the holy grail. It’s a pretty special event for everyone and it’s always an honour to drive around there,” said Maxwell.

“That said, it’s full focus to getting ourselves up the front. I think we should get a good idea of car setup in the 50 minutes we have for practice, but we need to ensure we roll out with a solid plan and just stick with that. Control what we can, and it should hopefully fall into place.

“It’s always more chaotic and open-ended than other places, racing at Bathurst, so just keeping your nose clean goes a long way towards making some moves. There’s lots of areas to make mistakes, so you can definitely overtake around there. Following across the top will be tricky, but depending on the wind direction there will be a big tow on the straights.

“Hopefully we don’t need to pass anyone though,” concluded Maxwell.

Max Vidau’s stunning Sandown recovery exemplified the season he has had so far, with strong speed often overshadowed by a run of bad luck. The Tyrepower ambassador was fast again at Bathurst last year, finishing second for the round amidst torrential downpours.

“It’s going to be a really busy practice session that will set up the whole weekend,” said Vidau.

“The international guys coming over to race is pretty cool, and it’ll be interesting to see how we stand compared to the top talent of Europe. We’ve got some good confidence going to a track that we’ve got past results at, so if all the wheels stay on it this time we should be in a good position.

“Obviously it rained for the majority of last year’s event, so we can’t plug the exact same setup in to it, but I feel like the team have got a great base for us to build from. I enjoy the Mountain, there’s no real resting on a lap there. Even in a straight line you’re wrestling the car up and down the Mountain.

“We’ll roll out and get ready for some full commitment stuff across the top,” concluded Vidau.

Danny Stutterd will be able to pick up on prior experience, after starting the year with a flurry of first time tracks. TekworkX’s Pro-Am driver picked up two podium finishes in last year’s visit to Mount Panorama in Sprint Challenge.

Ryan Hadden competed in the Toyota 86 Series in 2022 at Bathurst, where he picked up top 20 results. The Alientech backed driver comes off a Sandown weekend where he consistently moved forward.

“We didn’t quite nail the run in qualifying, but we made some good changes prior to race one which made things better,” said Hadden.

“I fought through the field and made a fair few overtakes, and there was still a bit more in it if I could get on to the straights a bit better as well. We focused on that for most of the weekend, and when I got that right it made a big difference.

“We’ll look at continuing to develop that area for Bathurst, and press forward,” concluded Hadden.

Zoe Woods will take on the Mount Panorama Circuit for the first time in Toyota 86 machinery but is able to draw upon her experience from a round in Bathurst with the Australian Production Cars in 2022.

“Continuing to learn with each round, and again at Sandown which was good,” said Woods.

“I set myself a benchmark after our test day of where we wanted to be for that round, and we were able to get there which was really pleasing. I’m enjoying getting amongst the action now and improving each meeting.

“Just getting in the car as much as I can is fantastic, and we’ll keep improving for Bathurst,” concluded Woods.

A rare four day format sees track action get underway on Thursday, with practice for both series and qualifying for Carrera Cup.