A 28-car field will tackle Mount Panorama over the next four days with the 25 regulars joined by wildcard efforts from Triple Eight, Dick Johnson Racing and the Blanchard Racing Team.
The form suggests that the title contenders will be tough to beat, with the Triple Eight and Erebus Camaros the class of the field last time out at Sandown.
The Sandown 500 was won by Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup, which leaves the Triple Eight duo as the favourites heading to Bathurst.
Series leader Brodie Kostecki and co-driver David Russell are very likely to be in the mix, while Shane van Gisberhen, paired with fellow Kiwi Richie Stanaway, will be looking for a third Bathurst win before he jets off to the States to race in NASCAR next year.
The competitiveness of the Ford teams is tough to read due to the ongoing battle over parity. Lobbying for changes to the Mustang is continuing up to the eve of the Great Race weekend after Camaros locked out the top five positions at Sandown.
With rear tyre life and top speed both big talking points, it's difficult to predict how the top Ford line-ups, such as Cam Waters/James Moffat (Tickford), Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth (Walkinshaw Andretti United) and David Reynolds/Garth Tander (Grove Racing) will stack up on race day.
Practice is split across six hour-long sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, two of which are dedicated to the co-drivers.
Qualifying is, as usual, split across a traditional session and the famous Top 10 Shootout.
When is the Supercars Bathurst 1000?
Track action for the Bathurst 1000 kicks off on Thursday with two hour-long practice sessions at 1:20pm AEDT and 4:50pm AEDT, the second being limited to co-drivers.
On Friday there are two more practice sessions at 10am AEDT and 1:05pm AEDT before grid spots 11-28 are determined by a 40-minute qualifying session, starting at 4:15pm AEDT.
Practice continues on Saturday with two more hour-long session at 10am AEDT (co-drivers only) and then 1pm AEDT.
The first five rows will then be set by the Top 10 Shootout at 5:05pm AEDT.
The final bit of pre-race running is the brief warm-up at 8am AEDT on Sunday before the Bathurst 1000 starts at 11:15am AEDT.
Thursday October 5
- 13:20-14:20 Supercars – Practice 1
- 16:50-17:50 Supercars – Practice 2 (co-drivers only)
Friday October 6
- 10:00-11:00 Supercars – Practice 3
- 13:05-14:05 Supercars – Practice 4
- 16:15-16:55 Supercars – Qualifying
Saturday October 7
- 10:00-11:00 Supercars – Practice 5 (co-drivers only)
- 13:00-14:00 Supercars – Practice 6
- 17:05-17:50 Supercars – Top 10 Shootout
Sunday October 8
- 8:00-8:20 Supercars – Warm up
- 11:15 Supercars – Bathurst 1000
How can I watch the Supercars Bathurst 1000?
- Channel: Fox Sports 506, Seven Network
Both primary broadcaster Fox Sports and free-to-air partner the Seven Network will carry live coverage TV coverage of the Bathurst 1000.
On Thursday the live coverage will only be shown on Fox Sports starting at 7:25am AEDT.
The Fox Sports coverage will start at 7:25am AEDT on Friday too, before Seven's live coverage starts on its primary channel at 10am AEDT. The Seven coverage then switches to 7mate at 5pm AEDT.
On Saturday Fox Sports will have live coverage from 8:15am AEDT with Seven's coverage starting at 10am.
On Sunday the Fox Sports coverage starts at 7:15am with Seven following at 7:30am.
Can I stream the Supercars Bathurst 1000?
The Bathurst 1000 will be broadcast live on subscription streaming services Foxtel Go and Kayo, as well as on the free 7Plus platform.
Viewers outside of Australia and New Zealand can watch via Supercars' own SuperView service.
