This afternoon’s Bathurst qualifying is set to be held in wild conditions with severe weather warnings issued for parts of regional New South Wales.

With two practice sessions ahead of the 16:45 AEDT qualifying session today, teams and drivers face set-up challenges as the grey clouds that saturated Mount Panorama earlier in the week continue to restrict warmer, dry weather running.

For today, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has predicted a 100 percent chance of rain for the Bathurst area, with a high risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. That timing is set to interrupt the second practice session and all-important qualifying that will determine which of the 28-car Supercars field will make Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout for pole position.

The shootout, scheduled for 17:05 AEDT Saturday, will also be held during a period of predicted rain, with as much as 45mm forecast by the BOM. The last time the race was held with full crowd access in 2019, Bathurst saw only 13.8mm for the entire month of October.

The forecast comes after Supercars issued a statement earlier in the week ensuring fans and teams that the 1000km race will go ahead regardless of significant rainfall forecast, with the BOM predicting a 90 percent chance of rain with up to 20mm for race day.

Earlier in the week, many of the 8,000 campsites were relocated to higher ground as a safety precaution, with NSW Police as well as State Emergency Services asking drivers to take care when travelling to Bathurst, especially if in areas affected by even minor flooding.

It adds yet another variable ahead of Sunday, with the lap times around the 6.213km circuit as much as a second faster than in 2021 due in part to recently laid sealant.

While there’s no severe warning for the Central Tablelands region where Bathurst is located, the BOM has issued a warning to sheep graziers in the region as well as nearby districts that cold conditions bring a high risk of lamb and sheep loss.