Supercars Championship endurance co-driver David Russell will spearhead the Speedcafe.com entry at the 2023 Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour.
The Erebus Motorsport co-driver will team up with Speedcafe.com co-owners Karl Begg and Robert Gooley in a Class X BMW M4 as part of the 66-strong final field for the Easter production car endurance event at Mount Panorama.
Russell and Begg have a shared history, finishing second in the 2020 Willowbank 300 at Queensland Raceway, before leading the early stages of last year’s Bathurst 6 Hour.
This year’s race represents an opportunity for redemption for the duo in the endurance race, after qualifying on pole position last year and leading the opening laps, before a mechanical issue brought their race to an end on Lap 5.
For the 2023 edition of the race they will be joined by Gooley, who will be making his second start in the Bathurst 6 Hour.
The trio are confident of a reliable run in this year’s fixture, with the BMW M4 having a rebuild over the off-season.
Russell said he is eager to get behind the wheel of the Speedcafe.com entry.
“It is a great opportunity, it’s going to be cool teaming up with Karl Begg and Rob Gooley for Speedcafe.com,” Russell said.
“I love teaming up with Karl, obviously last year we were a little bit unlucky, but certainly we can turn it all around for this year.
“I’ve actually known Rob personally for a number of years, so it should be good to team up with him.
“It’s going to be a really fun event but not to take away from the seriousness, we want to go there, get the result we’re after and go for the win.”
Begg expects the trio to be competitive at the event.
“Rob is a quick driver, partner of Speedcafe.com and we get along really well while Dave is one of the fastest production car racers around, so I thought we would team up, it just makes sense,” Begg said.
Begg added that it presents a prime opportunity for Speedcafe.com to increase the brand’s awareness at a national level.
“This is the start of a campaign for Speedcafe.com to try and broaden the reach to national and state levels of circuit racing,” Begg added.
“We’ll also be looking to increase our brand awareness with other forms of motorsport in the near future.”
Gooley said he is looking forward to taking part in the event.
“It’s going to be great, the three of us are going to be competitive, that’s without a doubt,” Gooley said.
“We’ve been racing for a long time, and now we have the car there to go for the win, we’re pretty pumped.”
Gooley added that the drive is representative of the passion for motorsport at Speedcafe.com.
“While Karl and I are owners and business partners at Speedcafe.com, first and foremost we are motorsport enthusiasts,” Gooley said.
“We are heavily involved in motorsport, we compete ourselves and we love the sport.”
Doubling as the second round of the 2023 Shannons SpeedSeries, the Bathurst 6 Hour will be streamed live and ad-free on Stan Sport on the Saturday and Sunday of the event.
Stan Sport’s live, ad-free, and on-demand coverage of the Bathurst 6 Hour event commences on Saturday, April 8 at 12:00 local time/AEST, before continuing on Sunday, April 9 at 09:00 local time/AEST.
STAN SPORT IS THE ONLY WAY TO WATCH EVERY ROUND OF THE SPEEDSERIES. CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE ACTION STREAMING AD-FREE, LIVE AND ON DEMAND.
