It's almost time for the 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour, guys! Yes, I'm well aware that it in no way involves motorcycles, or snowmobiles, or PWCs, or anything else we normally cover at RideApart. But as you may or may not be aware, it does involve one former MotoGP racer you may be familiar with.
He goes by the name "Valentino Rossi." I trust you can picture him in your mind, yeah?
For the fourth time, he's on site at beautiful Mount Panorama to participate in the 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race. He's part of Team WRT, and will be racing the #46 (duh) BMW M4 alongside Raffaele Marciello and Augusto Farfus.
Now, I've been watching the Bathurst 12 Hour for a while, since well before Rossi entered the picture. Why? Because it's fun, and it's a beautiful track, and endurance racing is on a completely different level. Also, I've been a racing fan for a long-ass time, on both two- and four wheels. The math is probably pretty clear, right?
While Rossi has run the Bathurst 12 Hour three times prior to 2026, it's a race he has yet to conquer. Could this be the year that he finally cracks it? Maybe, though of course with endurance racing there are a ton of variables to consider.
Still, there are at least two really strong reasons why he might. For the first reason, he finished in second place in 2025, and there's only one step above that on the podium.
For the second reason, those who watched the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour might recognize the name of one of Rossi's codrivers in the #46 BMW this year. Why? Because Augusto Farfus was part of the winning trio of drivers at the 2025 running of the B12H, resulting in an extremely impressive 1-2 finish for Team WRT last year.
That's Cool, But How Do I Watch It?
The 2026 Bathurst 12 Hour race weekend runs from February 12 through 15, ending just in time for Rossi's birthday on the 16th. While they probably didn't plan it that way on purpose, that's still a pretty cool birthday leadup to have if you're a professional racer, I'd imagine. Or maybe not; maybe it's kinda boring by that point? I have no idea; I'm no pro racer and am clearly only speculating from the sidelines.
Anyway, if you're in Australia, the entire thing will air live and ad-free on Fox Sports and Kayo. In New Zealand, your channel of choice for live viewing will be Sky Sports NZ.
If you're anywhere else in the world, you can watch it a few different ways. On YouTube, it'll be streaming in two places: the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour official YT channel, and the SRO GTWorld channel.
For US fans, the action starts at 10:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. ET on February 14. You can also actually use the notification feature on your YouTube stream of choice to remind you when it's time on Saturday.
Finally, if you want to be extra super nerdy and also have live timing and scoring open on your computer as you watch, that will be located here during the event.
Give yourself the Valentine you really want: Endurance racing!
