It’s been nigh on 60 years since the first ‘Great Race’ in Bathurst’s Mount Panorama. On October 4, a new generation of drivers will test their mettle on the one of Australia’s toughest Supercar circuits: the Bathurst 1000. Here’s how to watch the race live, free and online in Australia.
Where Is The Bathurst 1000?
The Bathurst 1000 is held in Bathurst, New South Wales on the Mount Panorama Circuit.
When Is The Bathurst 1000?
The 161 lap race that is the marquee event of the weekend occurs on Sunday, October 8 at 11:10am Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). The race will conclude at approximately 6pm on the same day.
Here’s the times in all Australian capital cities:
- Perth, WA: 8:10am
- Darwin, NT: 9:40am
- Brisbane, QLD: 10:10am
- Adelaide, SA: 10:40am
- Sydney, NSW: 11:10am
- Canberra, ACT: 11:10am
- Melbourne, VIC: 11:10am
- Hobart, TAS: 11:10am
If you’re keen to watch the preceding Supercar races – of which there are more than 30 – the action starts on Thursday, October 4. Qualifying races take place at 4:15pm AEST.
On Saturday, October 6, there is a practice session at 10am AEST before the Top Ten Shootout, which takes place at 5:10pm AEST. (You can check out the full schedule below.)
How To Watch The Bathurst 1000 On TV
If you’re in Australia, you’ve got a couple of options – the most obvious would be to catch it on free to air TV, with Channel Ten broadcasting all the action from Friday to Sunday. Unfortunately, if you were looking to stream it online, via the tenplay app, this will not be possible for any of the Bathurst coverage.
Fox Sports channel 506, on Foxtel, will be covering all the days events from October 4 to October 7, starting as early as 7:15am AEDT each day.
How To Stream The Bathurst 1000 In Australia
If you’re without a TV and want to stream the race, your next best bet is to use Foxtel Now.
If you haven’t signed up for Foxtel Now, you can activate a two week trial for free. To get access to the Bathurst 1000, you will need to purchase the $29 sports package on top of a base $15 plan – if you’re planning to cancel after the trial, just select everything.
How To Watch The Bathurst 1000 Overseas
New Zealanders can use the Sky Go platform to stream the race, but you will need to sign up for Sky and download the Sky Go app or go to the live desktop site.
If you live outside of Australia and New Zealand, you may need to invest in Superview, which is the streaming subscription offered by the Supercar championship. This gives you livestreaming access to every race of the Supercar season, not just Bathurst, but it will set you back approximately $39.95AUD.
Alternatively, shop around for a VPN provider with access to Australian servers and then sign up to the aforementioned Foxtel Now free trial. Here are some recommended VPNs to consider.
You can also sign up for Motor Trend On Demand, a live streaming and on demand content service specifically for automotive events. Currently, they offer a 14 day free trial period just like with Foxtel Now. (If you’re in Australia, you can still use this service, but you will have to access it through a VPN.)
Bathurst 1000 on Reddit
It’s always a good idea to keep one eye firmly planted on the Reddit group for the V8 Supercars. In addition to having fun discussions with like-minded auto fans via IRC, the group will direct you to broadcast feeds of race control and potentially other streams that become available on free streaming sites.
A second Reddit community, r/motorsportsstreams, provides links to motor sports events around the world, including Bathurst. (To use the streams provided here, you will need VLC Media Player.)
To load the stream link into VLC, open VLC, click on ‘Media’ in the toolbar, then ‘Open Network Stream’ and paste the link in the dialog box. Be wary, these streams may buffer frequently, depending on their origin.
Bathurst 1000 Race Schedule
Here’s the full schedule for the die-hard rev heads out there:
THURSDAY OCTOBER 04
|
Start / End |
Series |
Session |
Duration |
|
07:15 – 07:35 |
Toyota 86 Racing Series |
Practice 1 |
20 mins |
|
07:45 – 08:05 |
Touring Car Masters |
Practice |
20 mins |
|
08:15 – 08:35 |
ECB SuperUtes Series |
Practice 1 |
20 mins |
|
08:45 – 09:25 |
Dunlop Super2 Series |
Practice 1 |
40 mins |
|
09:35 – 10:35 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Practice 1 |
60 mins |
|
10:45 – 11:35 |
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia |
Practice |
50 mins |
|
12:55 – 13:55 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Practice 2 – Co-Drivers Only |
60 mins |
|
14:05 – 14:25 |
Toyota 86 Racing Series |
Practice 2 |
20 mins |
|
14:35 – 14:55 |
ECB SuperUtes Series |
Practice 2 |
20 mins |
|
15:05 – 16:05 |
|||
|
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Practice 3 |
60 mins |
|
|
16:15 – 16:35 |
Touring Car Masters |
Qualifying |
20 mins |
|
16:45 – 17:15 |
|||
|
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia |
Qualifying |
30 mins |
FRIDAY OCTOBER 05
|
Start / End |
Series |
Session |
Duration |
|
07:25 – 07:45 |
ECB SuperUtes Series |
ARMOR ALL Qualifying |
20 mins |
|
07:55 – 08:15 |
Toyota 86 Racing Series |
Qualifying |
20 mins |
|
08:30 – 09:30 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Practice 4 – Co-Drivers Only |
60 mins |
|
10:20 – 11:00 |
Dunlop Super2 Series |
Practice 2 |
40 mins |
|
11:15 – 12:15 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Practice 5 |
60 mins |
|
13:35 – 13:55 |
ECB SuperUtes Series |
Race 1 |
6 laps |
|
14:05 – 14:50 |
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia |
Race 1 |
16 laps |
|
15:05 – 15:35 |
Dunlop Super2 Series |
ARMOR ALL Qualifying |
30 mins |
|
15:50 – 16:30 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
ARMOR ALL Qualifying – Race 25 |
40 mins |
|
16:45 – 17:05 |
Touring Car Masters |
Race 1 |
6 laps |
SATURDAY OCTOBER 06
|
Start / End |
Series |
Session |
Duration |
|
07:55 – 08:10 |
Touring Car Masters |
Trophy Race |
4 laps |
|
08:20 – 08:40 |
Toyota 86 Racing Series |
Race 1 |
6 laps |
|
08:55 – 09:15 |
ECB SuperUtes Series |
Race 2 |
6 laps |
|
09:30 – 09:45 |
Dunlop Super2 Series |
Warm Up |
15 mins |
|
10:00 – 11:00 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Practice 6 |
60 mins |
|
11:10 – 11:30 |
Toyota 86 Racing Series |
Race 2 |
6 laps |
|
12:50 – 13:10 |
ECB SuperUtes Series |
Race 3 |
6 laps |
|
13:20 – 13:40 |
Touring Car Masters |
Race 2 |
6 laps |
|
13:50 – 14:15 |
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia |
Race 2 |
9 laps |
|
14:55 – 16:35 |
Dunlop Super2 Series |
Race 1 |
41 laps |
|
17:10 – 17:55 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout – Race 25 |
45 mins |
SUNDAY OCTOBER 07
|
Start / End |
Series |
Session |
Duration |
|
07:30 – 07:50 |
Toyota 86 Racing Series |
Race 3 |
6 laps |
|
08:05 – 08:25 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Warm Up |
20 mins |
|
08:35 – 08:55 |
Touring Car Masters |
Race 3 |
6 laps |
|
09:05 – 09:20 |
On Track Entertainment |
Kenworth Driver’s Parade |
15 mins |
|
09:30 – 09:55 |
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia |
Race 3 |
9 laps |
|
10:05 – 10:20 |
On Track Entertainment |
Heroes and Legends Parade |
15 mins |
|
11:10 – 18:00 |
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship |
Race 25 |
161 laps |
The results will be available on the official Supercars website.
Where Can I Get Tickets To The Bathurst 1000?
Ticketek is the official provider of tickets to the Bathurst 1000. If you are looking to go to the event and trek up the mountain, then you will need to click here to purchase.