Dixon confirms he will race at Bathurst
New Zealand IndyCar star Scott Dixon will finally get to drive Australia’s famous Bathurst track.
Dixon, a five-time IndyCar champion, will team with Australian Rick Kelly and Britain’s Jake Dennis for the Bathurst 12-Hour race with the meeting being run on the mountain track from January 31 to February 2 next year.
The Kiwi has been in Portugal testing the Aston Martin GT3 the Swissbased R-Motorsport team will use in Australia’s international endurance race.
‘‘I have never raced at Bathurst before, but I’ve watched races at the Mount Panorama Circuit back when I was a teenager,’’ Dixon said as he confirmed his participation.
‘‘What I like most about the circuit is the high commitment, especially across the top, the high speed passages and then down the chase and all the way to the last corner.
‘‘It’s much like a street course with the concrete walls and the very confined spots. You need an extremely good flow. I’ve done GT racing as such with the four Le Mans 24 hours races and other endurance events, but never GT3.
‘‘I love doing the long distance races. It complements quite well with the IndyCar series at the moment to do Daytona 24h and Sebring 12h, but also Petit Le Mans, which was the first endurance race I did back in 1999.’’
Dixon will be in the ear of 2006 Supercars champion and twotime Bathurst 1000 winner Kelly, who returns to the 12 Hour for the first time since 2016.
Dixon drove alongside Kelly’s older brother and 2005 Bathurst 1000 winner Todd at the 2010 Gold Coast Supercars event.
Dixon doesn’t start his next IndyCar campaign until midMarch in Florida.