Andre Heimgartner and co-driver Matt Campbell will take on Australia’s toughest, most prestigious motor race when the flag drops for this Sunday’s Repco Bathurst 1000. The #7 Ned Racing Mustang tackles The Great Race in a unique Ned’s ‘Sounds of Bathurst’ livery, with Heimgartner coming to Mount Panorama as a Supercars race winner for the first time having taken his maiden victory at The Bend in May.
“It’s a whole new game, so how we’ve gone so far doesn’t really factor in at all,” Andre said. “Here at Bathurst, it doesn’t matter if your car’s not quite as fast; you can still win it given the right strategy and with things going your way. So it opens up the possibilities and with that comes a different attitude.”
The 1000km event sees 161 laps of the longest racetrack on the Supercars calendar, the 6.213km Mount Panorama circuit. The longest and most difficult race of the year sees fuel and pit-stop strategy of even greater importance, with a compulsory brake change mandated for each car. It’s also the only event of 2021 with co-drivers, with Australian Matt Campbell partnering with Andre for this year’s race.
“Having a fast teammate as I’ve got this year relieves a bit of pressure off me, and then it’s a mindset of just doing what you can,” Heimgartner said. “We just need to be there at the end, and having a really fast co-driver at really helps, so we’re one step ahead of where we were last year.”
The 26-year-old Campbell has been a factory Porsche driver since 2017 and comes to Bathurst after claiming victory in the GTLM class at Road Atlanta in a Porsche 911 RSR-19 last month. Campbell is also a GTE-Am class winner at the Le Mans 24 hour and won the 2019 Bathurst 12 hour.
Importantly, Campbell shares the same driving position and setup as Andre, helping swift driver changes during pit-stops. It’s his third start in The Great Race.
“He’s obviously very experienced, knows what he has to do and how to drive this track,” said Andre. “The difficulty here is very high; if you have a good car you’re good, but if you’re not confident in your car it’s a bit of a challenge. It’s a very technical place, there’s not a lot of room for error, and that definitely adds to the challenge.”
That begins in qualifying, with Friday’s session leading into a Top Ten Shootout on Saturday afternoon. “It’s amazing when you manage to nail a lap in qualifying – there’s nothing quite like a lap of Bathurst when it all goes your way,” Andre explained.
The Ned Racing Driver doesn’t expect things to simmer after qualifying either, with a rapid pace expected for Sunday’s race. “It’s almost like a sprint now. You can’t really afford to back it off and conserve and try and get to the end, it’s basically flat-out the whole way.”
“The biggest challenge is having a fast car. If you have a fast car, you’ll do well in the race, you’ll do well in qualifying and everything will work,” Andre said. “We have lots of practice here, so the main challenge is getting the car in a comfortable window where we’ll be good on heavy fuel, good on light fuel, and getting you and your co-driver comfortable. If your car’s no quite right Sunday, you’ll be in a bit of trouble.”
This Sunday’s race will also be Andre’s final for Kelly Grove Racing, who he has raced with since 2018 and where he achieved his maiden Supercars pole position and victory with.
“It’s obviously sad to move on, but exciting at the same time. Of course you want to leave with a bang and get a really good result. We’re not going out there thinking we’re going to win this race – if that happens it happens – but for sure we’d like to get a solid result for the year and for the team.”
Qualifying for the 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 takes place at 4:35pm AEDT on Friday December 3, with the Top Ten Shootout at 5:05pm Saturday December 4. Race start is 12:15pm, Sunday December 5. Tickets are available via Supercars.com.au with coverage on Fox Sports, Network Seven and live streaming via Kayo.
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