Brad Schumacher is targeting class honours in the Bathurst 6 Hour

The Easter enduro is one the talented driver and his Schumacher Motorsport team have tackled in the past, but bad luck has cost them a spot on the Mount Panorama podium.

In 2018 Schumacher and fellow Bathurst driver Michael Anderson were sitting in second outright in the concluding stages of the race before a puncture dropped them back to 12^th.

The next year Schumacher did not even get a chance to cut a lap in the enduro as a crash ended the team's hopes with just over two-and-a-half hours of racing gone.

But those disappointments are now acting as a motivator. Schumacher and his team have an A1 Class victory in mind.

"Back in 2018 we were running second outright with only around 40 minutes remaining in the race but unfortunately we punctured a tyre due to some debris on the circuit," Schumacher said.

"In 2019 we had the Class D car which ran into the back of us and just hit the car in such an unfortunate manner that it broke the engine mounts from the exhaust manifold pressing through on a ricochet effect.

"We're not taking this race lightly, we have in the background actually completely rebuilt the Subaru, so it's as fresh as a daisy basically.

"We've really gone over the car top-to-toe and spent the time and resources to prepare it with a plan for it run unconditionally throughout the endurance of the six hours.

"We are looking to primarily take out a class win in A1, that's our main goal for sure."

READ MORE: Van Gisbergen will not return to Mount Panorama for Bathurst 6 Hour defence

READ MORE: De Pasquale joins the field for the Bathurst 6 Hour

While it will be the same Subaru WRX STi the team has raced in the past, there are some differences for Schumacher Motorsport this year.

This time Schumacher won't be competing in any of the support category races and his co-driver will be Sergio Pires.

"Sergio, he's very talented driver in the Porsche Cup and he's actually moved up into the GT series now," Schumacher said.

"We're good friends off the circuit and we feel like together we're going to be a consistently fast team in the Subaru.

"In the past I've always done the 6 Hour plus Production Sports or GTs, so I've been jumping between two different cars on the same weekend and probably not putting all of my time and effort into the 6 Hour. Now I am."

Schumacher's Subaru is one of 70 cars which has entered this year's Bathurst 6 Hour - a record for an enduro at Mount Panorama.

Of those cars, 18 others are in the same A1 Class as Schumacher.

"The race has really grown over the years from something which used to be an amateur entry level event to now an event which is taken very seriously and packed with quality drivers, many Supercar drivers," the Bathurst driver said.

"It's a serious event and for us at Schumacher Motorsport, that's exactly what we want and we're super happy to be part of it.

"I don't know what it is about this year's Bathurst 6 Hour, but I'm excited as I've ever been about this event. I actually haven't been able to wait.

"I feel like as a driver I'm in form at the moment and feeling very confident about my capabilities behind the wheel."

READ MORE: Record-breaking 70-car field unveiled for 2022 Bathurst 6 Hour

READ MORE: Family affair for Ryan McLeod Racing Cars at the Bathurst 6 Hour

While a class podium is the main goal for the team, Schumacher is also hopeful of finishing well in the battle for outright honours.

The chequered flag is expected to belong to one of the X Class BMW's which have the edge in raw speed around Mount Panorama.

However, the Subaru requires less pit stops to reach the end and is reliable which could bring the Bathurst outfit into calculations.

"It's not the outright fastest car in a lap at Bathurst, but it's endurance gets its way to the top of the field towards the end of the race," Schumacher said.

"Statistically in the past we've never qualified right up in the top 10 for the start of the race, but towards the end of the race due to the Subaru's endurance we're able to make less pit stops and it's easier on tyres due to its 4WD platform and we've ended up at the pointy end of the race.

"The BMW's they're hitting almost 200 kilometres before turn two which in outright speed is a little quicker than what a V8 Supercar clocks before it hits the braking zone, but across the top the Subaru is at its best.

"Both years we've run the Subaru we've been the fastest car in sector two, it just hurts us sector one and sector three, up and down the hill, in outright speed.

"But again, we can do the race in two stops less than those cars, so if we get to the end and we're in a good position and a safety car doesn't swallow us up, it's still possible to get a great result outright."

When he and his team are not busy with practice, qualifying or the race itself over the three-day program which commences on Friday, Schumacher encourages Bathurst residents to visit his team.

"If any locals or anybody is kicking around this long weekend, grab the family, grab the kids and come up and come to our pit garage number 27," he said.

"Come and say G'Day between our track sessions and we'll show you through our garage and how a race team works."

The 6 Hour entrants will hit the track for the first time at 10.05am Friday morning for practice, with qualifying Saturday afternoon and the enduro itself set for the green light at 11.15am Sunday.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: