Enduro season officially kicks off this week with the first round at The Bend Motorsport Park.

It’s great to have Fabian Coulthard back with the Team for the fifth year as a co-driver and we are excited to welcome Jaxon Evans to the Team for his first season with us.

There’s one 500km race this weekend, a big points race, plenty to play for, it will be an entertaining one that’s for sure.

The Track

We’ve changed the track up this year and will now run on the “West” configuration for the first time since 2020.

At 3.41kms, the West circuit removes the long right handers from last weekend, instead going straight from turn six to the final five corners.

Turn six now becomes a tight hairpin, where carnage is tipped in the early laps.

Format

Friday: On track action begins with three practice sessions on Friday, session one and three are for all drivers whilst session two is dedicated to co-drivers only.

Saturday: Things are kicked up a notch on Saturday with the final two practice sessions, session four for co-drivers only and session five for all drivers. We then head into qualifying which follows the below format:

• Qualifying: sets the grid for positions 11 – 26
• Top Ten Shootout: sets the grid for positions 1 -10

Sunday: The drivers get the opportunity in the morning to warm-up their cars for 30 minutes, before the big 500km race which will get underway at 1:45pm local time (2:15pm AEST).

Tyres

We will be running the Dunlop Soft tyre all weekend.

Pitstops

There are no minimum number of pitstops or tyre changes during pitstops for endurance races, this puts a big focus on strategy over these longer races. How many times and when you stop, all comes down to strategy.

Weather

It looks to be a sunny weekend at Tailem Bend, with a slight chance of a shower or two on Sunday.

How to Watch

Every session across the weekend will be live on Fox Sports and Kayo. For times, CLICK HERE.

Chaz Mostert

“It’s great to have Fabs back on board this year, he’s always great to have around the Team and a master behind the wheel.

“It’s a big points weekend for us as we sit on the bubble of the Top 10, we need to be banking good results to make sure we stay in the mix.”

Fabian Coulthard

“I’ve been marking off the days on my calendar to jump back in the car since Monday after Bathurst last year.

“It’s great to be back with Chaz for the enduro season this year, we definitely have a lot of unfinished business together and that makes us even hungrier this year.”

Ryan Wood

“It’s another Car 2 Kiwi enduro pairing, I’m pumped to have Jaxon on board this year. He has shown he has incredible talent across so many different categories and I know he’ll back it up in the Supercar this year.

“It’ll be my first time racing at the West circuit, so I’ll be leaning on Jaxon for his expertise around here, I’m keen to get out there.”

Jaxon Evans

“I’m really excited to get back behind the wheel of a Supercar, I’ve spent a lot of time with the Team and Woody this year and they’ve made me feel at home instantly.

“The test day at QR was really productive for us and I feel comfortable in the car. Woody has been awesome to work alongside both on and off the track, I can’t wait to get out on track.”