WHEN the Kavich brothers Ben and Michael arrive at Mount Panorama this week it will be with the goal of earning a Bathurst 6 Hour podium, yet as they lap the famous circuit they will be fulfilling another mission as well.
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They will also 'Race for a Cure'.
After their grandmother Grace (2002) and mother Mary (2004) had previously been diagnosed, not long after the inaugural edition of the Bathurst 6 Hour in 2016, Ben's wife Toula discovered she had breast cancer.
Since then when the brothers have tackled the Bathurst 6 Hour they have also been on a mission to both create awareness of and raise funds for the Breast Cancer Trials (formerly Breast Cancer Australia).
They have adopted a special livery for their entries, their pink B1 Class Subaru Impreza placing 37th outright in 2017, while last year after switching to a Class A1 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, they drove their way into sixth.
This year the Kavichs will share their #15 Mitsubishi Evo with three-time World Time Attack champion Garth Walden.
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The car will have a pink and white livery, but for something different, when a donation is made to Race for a Cure, the brothers will print the supporter's name, or the name of their loved one, on it.
"It can be hard to know what to say to someone experiencing breast cancer so this is a way to show your loved one you're thinking of them," Michael Kavich said.
"With the strength of Garth Walden Racing's car preparation along with solid driving and pit strategy, we hope to achieve a podium finish this year."
This will mark the fourth tilt in the Bathurst 6 Hour for Kavich brothers, who have steadily improved since a DNF caused by an engine problem in the inaugural edition.
However, their link with Mount Panorama extends beyond that.
Ben Kavich has previously raced in V8 Utes, Holden HQs, and Formula Ford series rounds at the track, while Michael Kavich has tackled the 6.213 kilometre circuit as part of the Historic Touring Cars Bathurst round.
They competed alongside each other in the one hour Production Touring Car race staged at Bathurst in 2014, following in the tread marks of their father Tony. He contested the Great Race a number of times in the 1980s behind the wheel of the Yellow Pages Commodore.
"We have been around the track all our lives, we were also up there watching Dad race in the very first 12 Hour in 1991," Ben Kavich said.
"It's the best place in the world, we love coming up there to race."
If you would like to support Race for a Cure and see your name on the car, please visit: www.raceforacure.org.au. You will also gain access to exclusive VIP footage from the race weekend, such as interviews with the drivers and in-car snippets.
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All donations are tax deductible and will support trials research to prove the safety and effectiveness of new breast cancer treatments and prevention.
"By choosing to support Race for a Cure and breast cancer trials research, you'll be helping to save lives," Julie Callaghan from Breast Cancer Trials said.
"We're truly grateful for the support of all those involved in Race for a Cure and we know it means so much to those who will benefit from the research this initiative is helping to make possible."