F1RMGP 24 Hour V8 Bathurst Enduro



The F1RMGP 24 Hour V8 Bathurst Enduro is an endurance race, inaugurated in 2014 and organised by the Formula One Rejects Microprose Grand Prix Series Management at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, NSW, Australia. The race serves as an extra season closer, with the teams from the main F1RMGP series already in Australia (albeit in Adelaide) after the last race of the Main Series' season, while also honouring Formula One Rejects' Australian roots. It is also the race in which the cream of the F1RMGP crop are pitted against drivers from other real-life series, as well as others from the Formula One Rejects Universe. Drivers and teams who have competed in the Formula One Rejects World Race Series, as well as its lower F2 and F3 formulae are invited, as well as those from the Grand Prix 2 Championship, the Rejectful Eastern European Car Computerised Series, and any others where there may (or may not) be a huge amount of driver overlap.

Cars and garages
The race is a revival of the previously-defunct Bathurst 24 Hours, run for only two years from 2002-03 before being superseded by a shorter 12 hour race. The F1RMGP Series Management decided on a 24 hour race at Bathurst, having initially considered a mid-season 24 hour race at Circuit de la Sarthe in a variety of Le Mans GTE Pro cars, before deciding that with the Australian origins of Formula One Rejects, a V8 Supercar race would be more appropriate instead, especially with the Main Series ending in Australia, in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere spring. The evenly-matched V8 Supercars would also make for close racing, even if they were not the latest models.

The cars competing in the inaugural race are the 2012-spec Holden VE Commodore and Ford FG Falcon, both normally-aspirated V8s, plus the twin-turbo V6 Nissan GT-R, detuned slightly to even it up with the Australian saloons - and to provide a slight problem with the title of the race, which Sir Bernard Shekelslike chose to ignore. 26 garages are available; 24 of these are designated H1-H8, F1-F8 and N1-N8 for eight Holdens, eight Fords and eight Nissans respectively, with the remaining two designated X9 and Y9 for "experimental" entries. Resources available to the teams decrease as the number on the garage increases, the "1" garages are occupied by the top three teams from F1RMGP who have decided to compete, while the "2" garages are reserved for the winners of the Women's European Cup and two subsidiaries or close rivals of the top teams. With the cars close in performance with each other, all is certainly not lost for the visiting teams in the "3" garages and below, as these teams are allowed to tweak the performance of their cars, and even the experimental cars in the "9" garages in with a shot at glory if they can play their cards right - these have a completely free choice of car statistics. The F1RMGP teams in the top two garage levels all run standard cars, as the championship credentials of their driver line-up should be what sees them through.

Trophy
The trophy awarded to the winning team is the Charlie Cox Cup.

This is in recognition of the Australian (very important, the nationality in this one!) racing driver who competed in the British Touring Car Championship in 1995, in an independent Ford Mondeo. His performance at a very wet Brands Hatch to score fifth set Murray Walker's pants on fire, as did his massive crash at Thruxton in the next round. When he turned his hand to BTCC and then MotoGP commentary, his style was very much Murray Walker with an Australian accent. As for his reject credibility, that lies in presenting the first series of Top Gear Australia, a particularly rejectful down-under version of the Clarkson/Wilman televisual behemoth, even acknowledging the show's rejectfulness in the final What Were They Thinking? segment in that first series.

Originally considered for the naming of the trophy was Peter Brock, until the Series Management decided that as his motorsport career had been far too successful, making him a legend of Australian motorsport instead of a reject, he could not possibly have a reject trophy that bore his name. That the Peter Brock Trophy is presented to the winner of the Bathurst 1000 is far more appropriate.