The Bathurst 24 Hours is the last major endurance race in the annual motorsport calendar and takes place over the weekend of November 21st-23rd 2003. Run over the spectacular 6.2 kilometer Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst in New South Wales, the race is in only its second year yet has already achieved a remarkably high profile. 66 cars are entered for this season’s event, with Graham Nash Motorsport of Mallory Park one of several British squads making the trip down under.

GNM was at Silverstone last Friday (October 24th) to give its Porsche 911-GT3 RS a final run before being air freighted to Australia. Two of the squad’s four drivers were on hand to put the Porsche through its paces: Brazilian Thomas Erdos and the car’s owner Mike Newton. Both are more regularly seen co-driving a Saleen S7-R in the FIA GT Championship, and will be joined at Bathurst by Austrian Manfred Jurasz and a fourth driver, unlikely to be named until later this month.

Friday’s test was held on Silverstone’s National Circuit. The conditions were cold and, initially, damp, with the track exceptionally busy. “This is just a shakedown,” insisted team manager Graham Nash. “The car has been fully rebuilt and repainted since Spa in August. We’ve also upgraded the aerodynamic package, fitting the 2002 spec wings, bumper and splitter arrangement. Tommy has never driven the car before, so this is also an opportunity for him to get a few laps under his belt and gain a feel for the car. That, and to give the new stickers a run!”