Bathurst 1000 grid locked in ahead of 2021 Great Race
The 2021 Bathurst 1000 field is now set with confirmation that Kurt Kostecki will join brother Jake at Matt Stone Racing.
That means the 26-car, 52-driver field is locked and loaded ahead of the 2021 running of the Great Race.
There is little in the way of consistency in the driver pairings this year, with the Triple Eight cars the only two bringing the exact same line-up into the race.
Reigning winners Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander will share the #97 while legend Craig Lowndes will partner Jamie Whincup in his final race as a full-time driver.
Other staying at the same team, but shifting into different entries, are James Golding at Team 18 (sharing with Scott Pye), Jono Webb at Team Sydney (sharing with Fabian Coulthard), Warren Luff at Walkinshaw Andretti United (sharing with Bryce Fullwood), James Moffat at Tickford (sharing with Cam Waters) and Tony D'Alberto at Dick Johnson Racing (sharing with Anton De Pasquale).
Technically Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki fall into that camp, however they were promoted from co-driver roles to full-time seats for the 2021 season.
There have been some late re-shuffling among the co-drivers, with Australia's international border situation complicating matters for some teams.
DJR was set to welcome Scott McLaughlin back for Bathurst, the three-time series champion expected to partner De Pasquale while D'Alberto shared with Will Davison.
However McLaughlin pulled the pin so he could focus on his IndyCar off-season, DJR moving D'Alberto in the #11 and recruiting Alex Davison to partner brother Will.
Tickford had a similar problem with US-based Alex Premat, the Ford team's Super2 driver Zak Best getting a call-up as a replacement. Best, who will partner Jack Le Brocq, will be the only Bathurst 1000 rookie in the field.
Kelly Grove Racing needed a late change of plans too due to a scheduling conflict with Earl Bamber, who was signed to partner Andre Heimgartner. Matt Campbell was drafted in as a replacement and may well get more pre-Bathurst laps than expected, the Porsche ace touted as a potential David Reynolds sub for the final Sydney Motorsport Park event.
The field features two wildcard entries, one from Triple Eight (Russell Ingall/Broc Feeney) and one from Erebus Motorsport (Greg Murphy/Richie Stanaway).
However there is still a question mark over the latter due to ongoing travel restrictions with New Zealand, where both drivers are based.
2021 Bathurst 1000 entry list
| Team | Primary Driver | Co-driver | Car |
| Dick Johnson Racing | Anton De Pasquale | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Mustang GT |
| Dick Johnson Racing | Will Davison | Alex Davison | Ford Mustang GT |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | Jamie Whincup | Craig Lowndes | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | Shane van Gisbergen | Garth Tander | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | Broc Feeney | Russell Ingall | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Tickford Racing | Jack Le Brocq | Zak Best | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | Cam Waters | James Moffat | Ford Mustang GT |
| Tickford Racing | James Courtney | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT |
| Blanchard Racing Team | Tim Slade | Tim Blanchard | Ford Mustang GT |
| Erebus Motorsport | Will Brown | Jack Perkins | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Erebus Motorsport | Brodie Kostecki | David Russell | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Erebus Motorsport | Richie Stanaway | Greg Murphy | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Team 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Michael Caruso | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Team 18 | Scott Pye | James Golding | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | Bryce Fullwood | Warren Luff | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Walkinshaw Andretti United | Chaz Mostert | Lee Holdsworth | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Jack Smith | Ash Walsh | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Nick Percat | Dale Wood | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Dean Fiore | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Brad Jones Racing | Macauley Jones | Chris Pither | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Kelly Grove Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Matt Campbell | Ford Mustang GT |
| Kelly Grove Racing | David Reynolds | Luke Youlden | Ford Mustang GT |
| Team Sydney | Fabian Coulthard | Jonathon Webb | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Team Sydney | Garry Jacobson | Dylan O’Keeffe | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Matt Stone Racing | Jake Kostecki | Kurt Kostecki | Holden ZB Commodore |
| Matt Stone Racing | Zane Goddard | Jayden Ojeda | Holden ZB Commodore |
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