A wild, French-built sportscar powered by a big Chevrolet V8 engine has been entered in the Invitational class of the 2024 Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.
In a first for the race, a ‘Vortex’ will be part of the field at Mount Panorama next February and is set to shake up a class which is typically dominated by MARC Cars.
Vortex, based in Pezenas in the south of France, has entered its first-generation racer into the event, the car based on a tubular steel chassis and boasting a 6.2-litre Chevrolet V8 producing 550hp.
The marque was created in 2015 by Olivier and Arnaud Gomez, the former being an engineer/driver and the latter having six French championships and multiple Le Mans starts to his name.
Like the MARC Cars which the Vortex is set to race against, examples of the vehicle compete domestically and in long-distance races around the world.
Its driving crew at the Bathurst 12 Hour will consist of Lionel Amrouche, Julien Boilot, and Philippe Bonnel, who will all be on debut at Mount Panorama.
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By then, however, they will have under their belt the 12 Hours of Kuwait in December, followed in January by the 24 Hours of Dubai and 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi.
Event Director Shane Rudzis said, “I think the Vortex is going to be one of the most interesting additions to the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour grid we’ve seen in a long time.
“It draws on the heritage of the race where we have always seen interesting machinery in the Invitational Class alongside the GT3 cars that battle for the outright win.
“We have been in touch with the guys from Vortex for some time and they are very keen to get to Bathurst and show their car to Aussie fans and tackle the Mountain for the first time.
“They are a professional team, the cars are well engineered and their drivers will have lots of endurance racing experience, so we are looking forward to what is shaping up to be a really good fight for the Invited class next February.”
The Invitational class is home to vehicles which do not fit GT3 or GT4 regulations, or those of other classes, with those entries accepted on a case-by-case basis.
They are subject to a minimum lap time of 2:06s, preventing more outlandish creations from upstaging Class A competitors which adhere to strict BoP regulations.
Beyond Bathurst, Vortex is planning to contest the full 24H Series, the Ultimate Cup Series, and Spanish GT.
It has also recently announced the ‘2.0’ racer, powered by the same Chevrolet V8 but built as a carbon chassis and bodywork.
In previous editions, the Bathurst 12 Hour’s Invitational class has also featured cars such as the Daytona Coupe, Dodge Viper, and KTM X-Bow GT2.
The 2024 event, which kicks off the Bathurst SuperFest, takes place from February 16-18.
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