Brad Schumacher steps up to Amateur class in the GT World Challenge Australia

Come this Easter long weekend at Mount Panorama, Schumacher will begin his bid to be crowned the best amateur driver in the 2023 GT World Challenge Australia series.

It's a step up from the trophy class which Schumacher won in 2021 and placed second overall in last year, but the Bathurst driver is someone who is constantly pushing himself.

You only have to look at his record at Mount Panorama.

When he first tackled its slopes in a Lotus at the 2107 Challenge Bathurst, he was delighted with his quickest lap being a 2:28.892.

Last year when Schumacher raced at the inaugural Bathurst International, he did a 2:05.3016 in his Audi R8 LMS Evo II.

While there have been some scary moments along the way - including hitting the wall at 243 kilometres per hour as he raced up Mountain Straight - the thrill Schumacher gets from pushing the limits at the iconic circuit hasn't changed.

"Every time I race at Bathurst I still pinch myself," Schumacher said.

"I always go back to the very first time that I got to drive around Bathurst in anger, that was way back when we had our first Lotus. It wasn't under race conditions, it was at Challenge Bathurst.

"I just remember thinking how great it was at that stage and to be honest, that feeling has never changed. The day that it changes is probably the day to hang up the helmet and call it a day.

"At the moment I still get that same feeling going up Mountain Straight. I'm excited to go there and race each time.

"It's really difficult to explain the feeling you get, particularly in a GT3 car that is just so fast around that circuit and particularly across the top.

"It's hard to explain that feeling when you put it together perfectly. It's almost impossible to get it right every time and that's why Bathurst is so special."

The season-opening round of the GT World Challenge Australia will feature a pair of one-hour races at Mount Panorama.

They will run as part of the Bathurst 6 Hour program.

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The Schumacher Motorsport Audi will race with an engine which has been rebuilt since its failure in February's Bathurst 12 Hour.

"It turned out to be something as simple as a pesky exhaust valve spring which had cracked," Schumacher said.

"So we decided since the engine was out, we'd send it away and get it entirely rebuilt, top to bottom end, so that it's fresh for the new season."

It's a season in which he is hoping for big things, but Schumacher knows his opposition both at Mount Panorama this weekend and the five rounds which follow will be stiff.

"Being I'm the team owner and driver I've decided to enter now in the outright Am class, we're stepping it up from the trophy class that we've previously run in, and of course we have no other goal than to win," he said.

"There's some pretty tough opposition that we're up against, and in particular some really professional teams, but we've been doing this now for a number of years and at quite a high level, so feel we're up to the task."

Such is the team's focus on doing well in the Am class, they decided against running a car in the Bathurst 6 Hour this weekend as well.

It would have required two different crews working out of two different garages as well as packed scheduled.

"Look the 6 Hour is a fantastic race and I'm really sad we're not going to compete in that again, but the GT World Challenge Australia series is our ultimate goal as a championship," Schumacher said.

"The two cars are so different, even down to the fact you're sitting in the left hand side in one and the right in another. I just didn't want to take my concentration away from driving the GT car well.

"If the 6 Hour and the GT World Challenge don't fall on the same date next year then I'll definitely have another crack at the 6 Hour."

Schumacher will hit the track for the first time on Friday morning at 8.05am for a one-hour practice session.

Qualifying is from 10.25am Saturday, with race one to follow at 2.55pm. Race two will commence at 9.20am Sunday.

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