Saturday forecast update: Bathurst 12 Hour

The chance of showers for today continues in the latest forecast update for the Bathurst 12 Hour. Showers are expected to develop near the Blue Mountains in the late morning hours, then track toward the west through the afternoon. The time period when showers are most likely at Mount Panorama will be between noon and 5 pm. Qualifying for the race is scheduled between 11 am and 12:25 pm, so I think the chances of dry conditions for qualifying are good. The support races - Radical Australia Cup, Skye Sands Combined Sedans, and Group 5 racing - may be affected by a shower. I expect that any showers will be short-lived, and produce around a tenth of an inch of rain - not a heavy amount but perhaps enough to slow the action for a little while.

If rain falls at the track, then fog is likely to develop Saturday night and early Sunday morning. If no rain occurs, then there probably won't be fog, or at least not very dense fog.We'll just have to wait and see. The weather for race day continues to look great, with plenty of sunshine, no chance of rain, and a high temperature in the mid 20s C or near 80 F. For those of us in the United States, Bathurst is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so the race will begin at 1:15 pm EST Saturday. A live stream can be found at ​www.bathurst12hour.com.au.