THE term ‘motor sport family’ is one which is frequently used in pit lane, but when it comes to this year’s Bathurst 1000 it will have a more literal meaning in three garages.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For the first time since 1984, this year’s Great Race will feature three sets of brothers.
Will and Alex Davison will once again share a seat in the #9 Erebus Mercedes and be looking to go one better than their fourth placing in the 2014 Bathurst 1000.
Todd and Rick Kelly will be the lead drivers in the two Jack Daniel’s Racing Nissan Altimas, the pair having already made a combined 31 starts in the Great Race.
The third set of brothers who will tackle the 161-lap race this year is Newcastle siblings Aaren and Drew Russell. They will steer the #62 wild card Holden.
Will Davison is delighted the Russells will be on the grid, the brothers having proven themselves to be capable drivers in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series.
“It is cool and it is great to see these two pairing up and adding that wild card element to the grid at the 1000. It is part of the history of the sport and we should have more of it,” Davison told Inside Supercars.
“Particularly guys who are fast in the Development Series, they’re a team so they are going to have some good equipment.
“[But] You know big bro gets preference in the seating position though, that’s how it works in my car.
“Driving with your brother is something really special.”
Aaren Russell is currently in his fifth consecutive season racing in the Dunlop Series and sits 11th in the championship.
The 24-year-old has three podiums to his credit and at the most recent round at Sandown, managed a ninth placing in race one.
While not a member of this year’s Dunlop Series, older brother Drew is the fourth most experienced driver in the history of that category.
He showed at test day in the build up to Bathurst he will bring plenty to the team.
“He hadn’t raced a V8 for 12 months before the test day [held at Winton on August 31], but it didn’t take him long to get back into it at all,” Aaren said.
“We grew up together around motor sport and while we might be very hard rivals on and off the track, I’d do anything to get him through this race and he’d do the same for me.”
The Russell brothers will drive together at Bathurst in the 41-lap Dunlop Series race tomorrow in Aaren’s Ford Falcon FG before swapping to an ex-Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) Holden for the Great Race on Sunday.
“It’s quite funny as the Dunlop Series car is a Ford, so on Saturday I will be racing a Ford and on Sunday I will be racing a Holden,” Aaren said.
“We are going to do a lot of racing, but that is what we want to do
“It’s [the Holden] one of the cars that GRM ran back in 2013. It’s not going to be a slow car, but we are just going out there to do miles, get experience and finish the race.”
In 1984, two of the three entries featuring brothers managed to finish.
Graham and John Lusty placed 14th in a Holden VH Commodore, while Graha-m and Ian Stones ran 19th in a Mazda RX-7. Greville and Lyndon Arnel lasted 95 laps in their Mitsubishi Starion.
