‘Kill the creativity’: GT stars’ Bathurst 12 Hour gripe

Last year’s Bathurst 12 Hour saw the return of a minimum 85-second pit stop for full services and a maximum fuel stint of 32 laps.

There were criticisms after last year’s race and those remain going into the 2025 edition, despite tweaks to the rules.

This year’s race features a minimum timed pit stop of 80 seconds. That is measured from the pit entry timing loop to the pit exit timing loop.

Any stop involving a driver change and/or refuelling is subject to the minimum pit stop time. Stops for repairs or just tyre changes is not subject to the minimum pit stop time.

Per the Bathurst 12 Hour regulations: “A limit on the number of laps of green flag running that a car may complete between two pit stops may be imposed as part of the Balance of Performance. The figure will be given in the Balance of Performance document for the Event.”

A day out from the race, that measure hasn’t been notified but could still be announced.

Augusto Farfus, who has won 24-hour races at the Nurburgring and Daytona, called the rules into question.

“I am a big fan of freedom when people can save fuel because you always mix the cards,” he said in a Team WRT roundtable media call ahead of Sunday’s race.

“In the way the rules have been made, it’s very nice because you limit the difference between the cars because you pit everyone on a similar window. But on the other side, you also kill the creativity of a team to just be creative and try save fuel, go short, or whatever.

“There are pros and cons on the rules, but at the end it’s the same for everybody so you have to push, you have to try to get track position in front, because at least you know the guys behind will do a very similar strategy to yours.

“It’s a race that invites you to push from the beginning.”

How to watch the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour

Notwithstanding the likelihood of GT3 traffic along the way, this year’s race is expected to be a fast-paced affair with only a handful of GT4 cars and one GT2 in the mix.

For van der Linde, the rules do little to incentivise teams to chance their arm. However, he conceded they have merit in some aspects related to parity and cost.

“Like Augusto said, it’s got pros and cons. The tendency in most championships has been to reduce the strategic nature of endurance racing – whether you look at GT World Challenge or other championships,” he said.

“It’s becoming more and more like a one-hour stint per driver. You do your one-hour stint and then you [pit]. I’m not a fan of that, personally. I like being creative. Also, as a driver, you cannot overtake if you try and save fuel and then jump them in the pit stop.

“I think we are in a luxury position with WRT, we have a team that is always on top of the rules and can make amazing decisions. It’s also like a BOP for the teams.

“There are some teams with less budget with less people on board who maybe don’t have the possibility to be that creative. It probably helps the team with less budget and possibilities to lead the race.”

SPOTTER’S GUIDE: 2025 Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour