The Hunter River Times

Denman’s Rylan Gray is set to take part in arguably one of the biggest motorsport events in Australia in a fortnight’s time when he competes at the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour.

The event attracts professional race teams and drivers from across the world to take on the internationally renowned 6.2 kilometre Mount Panorama Circuit.

“It’s pretty cool to say I will be doing the Bathurst 12 Hour this year,” Rylan told The Hunter River Times.

“The drive in the 12 Hour came about from Stephen Robinson from On The Pace Coaching, he had a connection in with Marc cars, a guy named Maxwell Donaldson, and they happened to need a driver and Rob knew one, so he put his hand up for me to jump in the seat which was pretty awesome.”

Rylan will join the MRA Motorsport / 111 Racing entry alongside Darren Currie and Axle Donaldson, driving a Marc III in the invitational class.

Test days were held at the end of last month to get the drivers seats fitted and get everyone comfortable in the car.

“They’re a fully Australian built car and they’re completely different from a road car, they are a bit of a beast but very fun to drive,” Rylan said.

The Bathurst 12 Hour will be on Sunday, February 18, starting at 5.45am with Rylan likely to be behind the wheel for the first few hours.

“Bathurst in the dark will be a lot different to what I have experienced before but I’m really excited for it,” Rylan shared.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it, it’ll be something different especially the week building up because you get to do the parade and signing sessions and it’s cool to be in the main category.”

-Jem Anshaw