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FATHER AND SON TEAM READY FOR BATHURST 6 HOUR
Experienced production car racer Graeme Heath says lining up with his son Josh for a major endurance race at the hallowed Mount Panorama circuit will be the biggest moment of his career.Graeme and Josh Heath will team up in the Homegas/RaceAway Track Time Toyota 86, which will run in Class D at the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour on the Easter long weekend.”After watching Josh develop as a driver over the last few years, having the opportunity to drive with him in such a big race at Bathurst will be huge,” Graeme Heath said.”He’s always been strong in long-distance races; he’s able to maintain consistent lap times and his race-craft is very sharp.Graeme has competed in numerous endurance racing events, including the Wakefield and Winton 300s, and rounds of the Australian Production Car Series.Josh Heath also has a strong pedigree; after a number of years in go-karts, he stepped up to the popular Pulsar Racing Series where he has been a multiple race winner.It will be Josh’s first start in the Bathurst 6 Hour, while Graeme finished fourth in Class D in last year’s event, driving alongside Phil Alexander. Alexander, a production car veteran and owner of the RaceAway Track Time race car rental, driver development and licencing company, will again be involved with the team in an engineering capacity.”Last year, we missed out on a class podium by less than a second after six hours of racing, so we’ll be keen to make up for it this year,” Graeme said.”We’re very pleased that Phil is going to be involved again – he has a wealth of experience when it comes to production car racing at Bathurst, he’s raced all sorts of cars there over the years and achieved some outstanding results.”It’s great that he’s giving other people the chance to become involved in motorsport through his RaceAway Track Time business, which assesses drivers for race licences and hires out race cars.”Meanwhile, the team manager for the event will be Megan Heath – the daughter of Graeme and sister of Josh.”Megan is only 19, and will probably be the youngest team manager in pit lane,” Graeme said.”It’s going to be a real family affair, which will make it especially rewarding if we can finish on the podium.”It’s going to be tough competition – there are 14 cars just in Class D – but the Toyota 86 is reliable and very easy on tyres and fuel, so we have the equipment to give it a red-hot crack,” Heath concluded.