Endurance racing, arguably made most famous by the Le Mans 24hr event in France, is well known to be a strain on both drivers and machines. For these extended events, both mechanical and organic elements need to operate at optimal levels for extended periods of time. It’s hard on tyres, eyes, drivetrains and minds.
While Australia has held its fair share of endurance motorsport races over the years, the premier event on the 2026 calendar is the Bathurst 12 Hour, held at the iconic Mount Panorama circuit in regional New South Wales each February.
The event, in its current format, has operated since 2011 and is open to GT3, GT4, and select invitational-class race cars from around the world. This means that exotic machinery from the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW all share the 6.2-kilometre Bathurst circuit for a gruelling 12 hours.
Endurance racing teams all use multiple drivers, each of whom must not exceed 340 minutes (a bit over 5.5 hours) of time in the car. Even then, drivers cannot spend longer than 150 minutes in a single uninterrupted stint, with a minimum hour-long rest between periods behind the wheel.
In summary, there are plenty of rules to follow in endurance racing, but what about endurance driving?
Australia is a big place, and it’s not difficult to spend six, eight, 10 or even 12 hours behind the wheel on a single drive. Sure, the speeds are lower, and the driving isn’t competitive, but it can still take a toll on both the driver and the car.
You don’t get a full pit crew. There are no driver change rules. And you still have to concentrate on the changing environment around you, not to mention other traffic, which in both cases can be dynamic and unpredictable.
The 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour event marks the first time a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R race car will contest the endurance title. A pair of cars, fielded by the Malaysian-based JMR (Johor Motorsport Racing) team, will compete in the PRO (Professional) and PRO-AM (Professional / Amateur) classes.
Car 99, the Pro-Am entry, will be driven by Malaysian Prince Jefri Ibrahim, his brother Abu Bakar Ibrahim, UK driver Ben Green, and Australian Jordan Love. The Corvette Z06 GT3.R features a dry-sump, 5.5-litre flat-plane V8 engine, just like its road-going equivalent, the $336,000 Corvette Z06.
So, to get a feel for 12 hours of endurance racing, we set out on a road trip from Melbourne to Bathurst, for 12 hours of endurance driving, in a ‘little’ red Corvette Z06.
Cue the Prince playlist.
Now, to be fair, the journey from Melbourne to Bathurst can be completed in about eight-and-a-half hours if you drive up the Hume Highway, but where’s the fun in that? We decided to take a far more scenic route along the Goulburn Valley Highway through Shepparton, then north and east along the Newell and Mid-Western Highways through central New South Wales, and finally along the Olympic Highway into Bathurst.
The route, totalling 840 kilometres, is equivalent to 135 laps of the Mount Panorama circuit, which a bit less than half the distance covered by the endurance race cars in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
It’s also worth noting that timing didn’t allow us to complete the drive in one single run, as the Corvette was required in Bathurst by midday on Wednesday ahead of the event, and we couldn’t leave Melbourne until Tuesday afternoon. However, an overnight break in many ways fits into the ‘driver change’ ethos of having a rest period between driving stints, and more importantly, doing this allowed us to have a pre-dawn start, just like the racers do.
While I’m dishing out honesty, I’ll also confirm that the Prince songs on my playlist start and end with Purple Rain, but we’ll just hum along to the Little Red Corvette chorus and call it done.
Melbourne to Shepparton – hours one and two
We left the office in South Melbourne about 4pm, which, in hindsight, was possibly the most foolish decision possible. The run out of Melbourne on the freeway in very heavy traffic was not exactly a joyous experience. Sure, the low-slung, bright-red Corvette turns heads, but with the digital rear-view mirror and thick buttress B-pillars, side and rearward vision isn’t brilliant. Best to stay ahead of traffic then.
The Z06 may be the performance highlight in the Corvette range, with its 5.5-litre V8 offering a hefty 475kW and 595Nm output, paired with just a 1705kg (kerb) mass, but that doesn’t mean it can’t handle a tour. The car’s cruise control is easy to operate, and even on a 35-degree day, the air-conditioning and ventilated seats keep things cool and comfortable inside.
The run to Shepparton is on a mostly well-maintained freeway, and the 'Vette was very happy and comfortable cruising in its default ‘Tour’ drive mode. When road blemishes were unavoidable, the car’s adjustable Magnetic Ride Control suspension was very adept at maintaining a compliant and controllable ride, an impressive feat for what is an unashamedly track-focused car.
My only real concern was damaging the fancy (and low) carbon-fibre aero kit, but with no teeth-suckingly expensive scraping noises coming my way, things were good.
So good, in fact, I took the chance to stop for a coffee and remove the Z06’s single-piece targa roof panel (which conveniently stows away in the boot) for a bit of an open-air, sunset experience.
Hot tip: a large Stetson cowboy hat might be great at keeping the sun off your face, but the wide brim hits the headrest, making it an impractical – albeit very stylish – choice for Corvette drivers. The more you know...
Shepparton to Jerilderie – hours three to five
The weather was perfect to run with the top off, with crystal clear skies and temperatures settling in the mid 20s. It’s yet another way the Corvette is an incredibly flexible car, and although the regular 6.2-litre Corvette Stingray can be had with a powered convertible hard-top, the targa roof is honestly all you need.
While taking in the beauty of the flat, wide grazing land of northern Victoria, we took the opportunity to capture some photos, further adding to our endurance time. It was worth it, though: the contrasts of the red car against the dry, yellow farmland and infinite blue universe above are just perfect.
As the sun started to sink, we were blessed with stunning colours in every direction. The burning orange to the west, with reflected pink to the east, and endless skies. It’s almost tragically poetic that this most stunning time of the day is also the most dangerous to be on the road.
You can’t take in the full beauty of the sunset, as you simply need to concentrate and scan for wildlife with eyes that are just not naturally tuned to the depleting light.
At 100km/h, everything looks like a kangaroo. A bush. Some scrub. A tree. Those logs. Then a fully-lit road train comes the other way, your pupils dilate from the bright headlights, and you’re back to square one, all while gobbling up 28 metres each and every second.
Even with the risk, though, a big Australian sunset really is beautiful, no matter how many times you've seen it.
The land here is still being worked, but not just with crops and cattle; there’s now remote-driven circular irrigation machinery and large arrays of solar farming installations. All of this highlights that while travelling through regional Australia may seem like a step back in time, the modern world is certainly at work here, too.
Wind in your hair, high-performance V8 motoring doesn’t generally top the list of fuel-efficient things to do. While not outrageous, due to cruising at the speed limit, the Corvette’s fuel use settled at about 12.5L/100km, giving a theoretical range of 560-odd kilometres.
In my experience, when driving long distances in regional Australia, particularly in the lessening light, you’re better off stopping and topping up when you can, rather than trying to hypermile to the next town, where things close early and premium unleaded petrol may not be available.
With this in mind, we had a quick ‘splash and dash’ pit-stop in Finley, to ensure there was ample juice to finish the evening run, and get us away for our pre-dawn start.
We arrived in Jerilderie a shade after 9pm. Five hours down, seven more to go. True to endurance event form, it would be a fast rest, with the alarm set for a 4.30am rise, ready to race the dawn.
Jerilderie to West Wyalong – hours six to eight
Each year, the Bathurst 12 Hour race starts at 5.15am, about 90 minutes before the sun fully cracks the horizon. That’s 90 minutes of reliance on the car’s forward lighting for vision, 90 minutes of having your eyes adjust to shadows formed by undulations and emerging shadows, and 90 minutes of intense, unyielding concentration.
Driving on the road under similar conditions is no different.
Ruts and divots, bumps and holes, they aren’t there, but then they are … or are they? Your eyes play tricks. The car, now wiggling within the natural grooves in the tarmac, a trail eroded under the wheels of countless heavy trucks, keeping you focused on everything.
Nothing has changed, yet everything has. This is challenging driving that requires intense concentration, made more difficult without coffee, as nothing is open at this time of the day. The Corvette’s LED headlights, with adaptive high beams, are bright enough, but the light dances around shadows on and off the road, making your mind focus even more.
Oncoming vehicles signal their presence many kilometres away. A bright light on the horizon, growing gradually larger, can take minutes to actually reach you. Out here at this time it's mostly trucks, but as the clock passes 6am, working utes join the traffic flow. It’s not busy per se, but the country is assuredly awake now.
Again, the beauty of the near-dawn, the rich colours, hinting only at first, but burning brighter each minute, each metre, tease a distraction that you have to steel yourself to ignore. There’s wildlife now, too.
One 'roo, big enough to cause concern, camouflaged grey against the roadside, just stood, taking it all in. By the time I saw him, it would have been too late to react if he moved to cross the highway, but thankfully, he remained still.
Pressing on as the light starts to warm up, glowing ever brighter like a heating element. Orange. Pink. Magenta. All in various shades and tints, changing by the second. The roof is still on the car, but the coming light somehow makes the sky taller, the countryside larger. Australia at its most stunning scale.
I can imagine the drivers at Mount Panorama simply ignoring all of this. Their focus on the car, the track, the competition. The endurance race is a very team-oriented event, and those first-stint drivers have a lot riding on their shoulders. Get out, be fast, move up the order, but stay away from those walls…
It’s not walls here, but undulations that keep my heart rate high. You see the road suddenly rise to a crest or disappear into a dip. You know it continues beyond, but you can’t see it. The mind concocts scenarios. What if it's not there? What if that dip or drop is too much for the low 'Vette? There’s no real cause for concern; it is just the light playing with your mind.
We stop for a few more photos to capture that glorious sunrise, and press on to West Wyalong for the promise of another fuel stop, a bit of breakfast and a very important coffee.
Progress is good until we hit some roadworks.
The sun, now burning right into my eyeline, creates a halo through the dust as we wait for the single-lane access. I’m worried about rocks and sharp edges here, but the Corvette has been very resilient so far, its grand-touring skillset shining as bright as the orb in the sky.
Workers give me a thumbs up as we pass – can’t be too many red supercars coming through here.
The same happens when we arrive in town. West Wyalong is about 370km due west of Sydney, right in the heart of regional New South Wales. People take photos, a couple of braver kids ask if they can have a closer look, and they grab selfies from behind the wheel. The Corvette nameplate resonates with everyone, as does the sound of that flat-plane V8. There’s no replacement for displacement out here.
West Wyalong to Cowra – hours nine to 11
Things are bedding in now. We’ve been on the road for more than four hours so far today, and it’s barely clocked 9am. The familiarity with the car is now complete and we move and drive as one, now heading east, the sun thankfully high enough in the sky to make vision near perfect.
Make no mistake, you still need to concentrate.
The road toward Cowra has more bends and elevation changes than we have seen so far since crossing the border. Overtaking needs to be more measured – although the Corvette’s 475kW and 8550rpm redline make light work of even the longest road train – as the road isn’t quite as smooth as we’d like. The car bumps and jostles, but sticks true to the road.
The countryside continues to be spectacular.
The summer light draws every colour and contrast from the land and sky together. You round a bend and take in the vista, not for seconds or even a minute, but for 20 or even 40 minutes at a time, such is the expanse of big Australia. The roads are long, the distances significant, even at a cruise just above 100km/h, it feels as though you are barely making headway on a map that needs to be viewed from orbit to counter the sheer scale of distance.
It never stops being beautiful, but it also never stops. And with the requirement to be on your game while driving big miles, you can see why people get tired. Even endurance drivers need a break now and then, it’s an important thing to recognise and remember.
Fuel use has settled to 12.4L/100km, and I’ve largely kept the car in Tour mode. Yes, I tried Sport and Track, but to be honest, on a touring drive like this, there’s no benefit in having a sharper response or a stiffer ride. This car will be hitting the circuit as part of the event on the weekend, so there’s more than enough chance for the Z06 to flex its performance credentials. I’m more than a little keen to see what the fuel use is like in full-attack mode too – as I’m sure it won't be pretty!
There are long breaks of big road and no other traffic. The Hyundai Santa Fe support car behind me, carrying our luggage and camera gear, is the only other hint of humanity around, as we trek across the country, winding down the clock, edging ever closer to our destination.
I didn’t sleep well in Jerilderie, and I’m feeling the burden of now double-figure hours behind the wheel. Time for a stretch and another cup of coffee.
Cowra to Bathurst – hour 12
It's hot. The Corvette has the roof off, which does make it a bit more fun, and your body gets into the rhythm of being in the car for so long. Yes, there have been breaks, but the drive is now at the point where you sort of mould to the seat, you mould to the car, and you just lock in. And at this point in an endurance race, the stress on the drivers is heightened again.
Yes, that first part is hard, but so is this last part, because you can almost taste the end. You still need to be competitive, but you need to now make sure – for the sake of the whole team – you get that car home in one piece.
For us, too, it's now at that stage where you and the car are one. A true symbiosis is reached where you are now used to each other, you are used to the noises and the feeling, nothing is foreign, and you just bed in for that final drive.
Some of the place names we have passed have amused me, yet not filled me with confidence. Deadly Lane, Poison Creek Hole … you can see why regional Australia has a reputation for needing to be taken seriously. One wrong turn, one big pothole, and there’s not much out here coming to help you – I wildly pass a graveyard of broken Saabs. Not what I was expecting.
The closer we get to Bathurst, the heavier the traffic becomes. There are a lot of trucks still on the road; after all, regional Australia's logistics backbone is truck transport. Fair to say I haven't seen any other Corvettes.
We continue to turn heads through towns and past roadworks, but as exotic as it looks, the red 'Vette is still managing this drive as well as any. It’s very well implemented as part sports car, part supercar and part grand tourer, and there’s something good about knowing you bring smiles to faces wherever you go.
The distance to the destination drops into double figures from triple. As an endurance driver, I can taste victory. We've done our fuel stop. Our tyre pressures are okay. The roads have been largely good – aside from the roadworks – but for the most part, this has been a long but generally easy drive underscored by the stunning New South Wales landscape.
This is a truly beautiful part of the country to explore.
There are now just 10 kilometres to go, and I sense I have the same feelings that those drivers have on the final few laps of a race. You've got to get to the end, you've got to hold it together. My back is sore, my lips are dry, there's no water left, there are no snacks left, but you're committed and have to just lock in to get there.
We needed to take photos, we've been held up by road works, but we have a set time where we need to arrive, and with the clock ticking down, we're going to be very, very close to that.
The Corvette has been a somewhat thirsty beast. It has gone through two tanks of 98RON, but that's okay. I’m feeling some sunburn on my arms, but I’ve found a way to wear my hat to keep the sun off my head.
There’s an overtaking lane coming into town where I try to move past a slow, trundling Toyota HiAce, but the ute in front doesn’t give me the gap I need, so I abort and slip in behind the van. Frustrating, but like racing, at this point you need to prioritise completion over position. Getting there is what is important now.
We arrive and hand over the car with minutes to spare. It's dusty, grimey and bug-encrusted, but it still looks as impressive as when we left.
This has been a great drive, but it’s hard on the body and the mind. The race, 12 hours, is an endurance event – but in Australia – that’s barely enough time to cross just one state. A figurative run to the shops on a macro scale.
For a $336,000 (plus on-road costs) supercar to have dispatched this with relative ease and comfort is a testament to how versatile a car like the Corvette Z06 can be. Sure, getting in and out is sometimes hard – I’m not as young as I used to be – but it’s a stunning-looking car that delivers all you can ask of it, anywhere you want to go.
I’m not sure I’m built of the same calibre as those endurance race drivers, but as a bonafide endurance road driver, I know that after a good sleep, a long shower and a strong cup of coffee, I’m ready to step back into the seat and do it all over again.
With over 20 years of experience in digital publishing, James Ward has worked within the automotive landscape since 2007 and brings experience from the publishing, manufacturer and lifestyle side of the industry together to spearhead Drive's multi-media content direction.
