NINETEEN years after Ricky Kelly first pulled on his helmet to contest the Bathurst 1000, another endurance race at Mount Panorama has helped spark a new passion.
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Kelly was one of the seven former Bathurst 1000 winners who formed part of the field for this year's Bathurst 12 Hour, an event which sees the world's finest GT3 machinery and drivers do battle at the iconic circuit.
For Kelly it was a chance to race the R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage - something very different to his regular ride in the Supercars series.
His car ended up in 16th outright and though Kelly had been aiming higher, it is an experience he still enjoyed. Enjoyed so much he wants to do more of it.
"I really enjoy how the car feels, it's good platform I guess you could say," he said.
"For us, we have a lot of horsepower but no ABS, no traction control in a Supercar, a tyre with pretty little grip in comparison to these and not much areo. So when you have all of those things reversed, it creates a really fun car to drive.
"You can jump in one of these and get close to the pace reasonably easy with those driver aids which are in there.
"It really has sparked a desire for me to do a couple more races in a couple of other countries."
While Kelly has been a regular on the Supercars' grid since 2002 and boasts more than 250 round starts, GT3 racing brings with it the potential to drive at different circuits and provide the 37-year-old with new challenges.
"There are a few tracks I'd love to drive at, I'd love to do some racing in America. There's nothing in particular, it's moreso the chance to drive that car that gives me a big buzz," he said.
Another Supercars regular, Anton de Pasquale, has also had his interest in GT racing further ignited by competing in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
His regular Supercars seat is for Erebus Motosport, yet at the Mount last week he formed part of the Triple Eight Race Engineering #777 Mercedes entry.
He was second fastest in practice on Friday and while he did not get the chance to race on Sunday after co-driver Sam Shahin was involved in a crash during qualifying, de Pasquale still enjoyed the experience.
"Obviously this is a signature event for Australia and for Bathurst, so it's good to be a part of it," he said.
"I quite enjoy driving this sort of car, it reminds my of back when I drove open wheelers, they're similarish, but I' a fan of just driving any car. I'll be back in Bathurst for the 6 Hour - I'm driving a GTS Commodore - and the 1000."
De Pasquale said the 12 Hour event itself had a different atmosphere to the Supercars' marquee Bathurst 1000, but the differences were part of the attraction.
"It's a lot more chill than what the 1000 is for us, with all the media stuff we do for that, but you do still get a lot of fans for this, they are motor sport nuts, they'd come to any race and especially Bathurst," he said.
"We end up sharing with other drivers in this and we are used to being selfish and having our own car. so it's always good to do something different.
"I'd love to do the key GT events around the world, obviously it would be a hard thing to get into, but something I'd like do."
