WHEN the chance to complete the Bathurst endurance checklist came Grant Denyer's way he was never going to say no.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Perthville driver has previous taken on the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12 Hour and in November he'll take on the Bathurst 6 Hour for the first time, partnering long-time friend Tony Quinn in a brand new Ford FN Mustang.
Laps around the famous Bathurst circuit is always a great drawcard for Denyer but so is the chance to race with a family he has a lot of time for.
"Any time you get to do bulk laps around Mount Panorama is a boy's dream come true. To line up in the 6 Hour this year in a hot new Mustang is pretty sensational," he said.
"I've got a long history with the Quinn family and they've been massive supporters of motorsport for years. They were my sponsor back in the ute days around 15 years ago, and occasionally we all get together and have great weekend of racing with plenty of laughs.
"You do plenty of laughing with the Quinns because Tony's an outrageously hilarious Scotsman, and that makes racing fun and stress-free. I owe a lot of my racing career to Tony so it's great to be able to do these events together."
Endurance racing has been a strong suit for Denyer in the past, picking up the 2016 Australian Endurance Championship crown alongside Nathan Morcom and finishing second in the previous year's Australian GT Championship.
He also won the invitational class in the 2014 12 Hour.
The 6 Hour will offer up plenty of challenges for Denyer, considering he won't have a chance to test the Mustang leading up to the event.
"I know zero about the car, other than they look hot and they go fast. That's all I need to know," he laughed.
"Tony always prepares a great car. He doesn't do things by halves so it'll turn up in good shape. It's just that we're all short on miles this year because no-one's doing any sort of racing.
"Production car racing is always interesting. You have to squeeze every once of performance out of the car that you can but you need a level of mechanical sympathy that you don't have in Supercars or GT racing."
Denyer will hope his positive experience in recent Australian Production Car Championship seasons can carry over into his home event.
Denyer's most recent outing at Mount Panorama came in a tough day at the office during the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Following a setback in qualifying Trofeo Motorsport's weekend never really recovered and they finished 14 laps off the pace.
That challenging weekend made Denyer all the more keen to make a return to the Mount.
"It was somewhat of an unsatisfying feeling at the 12 Hour - if you can call driving a Lamborghini around Mount Panorama unsatisfying," he said.
"Dean Canto had a big shunt on Saturday and it was never the same after that going into the race. You want your last taste of Bathurst to be a sweet taste and not a sour one.
"I want to come back and reset my memory of the mountain."
The Bathurst International starts on November 12.