After narrowly finishing second in Class D of the 2021 race, Cousins Ben, 20, and Jude, 16, will step up into outright contention in 2022 driving an Audi TTRS.

They are among the first of more than two dozen teams to have confirmed their early entry in Australia's largest Production Car race, set for April 15-17 next year.

Purchased from noted Production Car racer Tony Alford, the five-cylinder Audi will run in class A1 for Extreme Performance All-wheel-drive cars, where it will be amidst the ever-popular Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Mercedes-AMG A45 entries.

The car purchased by the Bargwanna family team finished seventh in the 2017 race and remains a competitive proposition in the intensely competitive turbocharged category.

Former Bathurst 1000 champion Jason Bargwanna said the team was looking forward to the challenge of stepping up to an outright category next year.

"The boys did a great job last year and would have been on for the class win if they hadn't have copped the Safety Car at the wrong time - but that's Bathurst for you.

"It was still pretty cool to see them up on the podium at that place and have the whole family there to celebrate.

"It was a bit of a no brainer to have a look around and see what we could do to step up."

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