Brock hunts tenth Bathurst win.

Touring car legend Peter Brock will take one more shot at winning a tenth Bathurst enduro when he joins a two-car Holden Monaro assault on the Bathurst 24-Hour international motor race in November.

However, Brock is likely to face one of the toughest challenges of his 31 years on Mount Panorama from a field of crack overseas and Australian teams announced at the event's official launch in Sydney today.

Brock and Nathan Pretty, who currently race the 7.0 litre Monaros in the Donut King Australian Nations Cup Championship, formally handed in their entry nominations on behalf of Garry Rogers Motorsport and announced the names of their co-drivers.

The winning combination in car 427# from last year's inaugural race, Pretty, Steven Richards, Garth Tander and Cameron McConville, will return unchanged for the second event on 21-23 November.

Brock, 58, will share car 05# with Greg Murphy, Jason Bright and Todd Kelly.

"The chance to drive that thumping 7.0 litre Monaro around a track like Mount Panorama is one of life's great opportunities and I knew that I just had to be part of this year's race," said Brock, who drove a Monaro in his first Bathurst enduro in 1968 and won the 1000 in 1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987.

"Our driver line-up is a tremendous combination of speed and experience and a great mix of personalities. There are no clashes there and that is what you need when trying to win a race like this - it's vital everyone works toward the same goal."

Organiser PROCAR Australia has received 50 nominations for a starting grid restricted to 55 sports and touring cars, with applications not due to close until 1 October.

Last year 36 cars started the race, with the winners covering 532 laps or almost 3400 kilometres.

The 2003 event promises a bigger and faster battle at the front of the field, with the Australian-built Monaros challenging a world-class field representing makes such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mosler, Porsche, Maserati, TVR and Mustang.

Melbourne team PHR Scuderia, led by John Bowe, has entered four cars including a Porsche GT3 RS and two Ferrari 360GT coupes all to international FIA N-GT specification.

Team Lamborghini Australia will field a Lamborghini Diablo GTR for Nations Cup series leader Paul Stokell and three others rumoured to be leading Ford drivers.

British teams are due to bring at least six cars, including two Florida-built Mosler MT900R coupes and a TVR Tuscan from the British GT Championship and two Porsche GT3 RSs.

PROCAR Australia Chairman Ross Palmer said the organisers were in negotiation with Europe's current top Porsche team, Friesinger Motorsport of Germany, which recently won the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race in Belgium.

"If Manfred Friesinger confirms his entry we understand he intends to lead the team with Stephane Ortelli, who is a Le Mans winner and current champion in international FIA N-GT and Porsche Supercup," he said.

"We are also dealing with three Swedish touring car teams, one from New Zealand and others from Holland and Germany."

Mr Palmer said news of the successful first Bathurst 24-Hour had spread widely through the international motorsport community and the event was on its way to becoming an important fixture on the endurance racing calendar.

"It will bring many more fans and teams to Bathurst this year, plus valuable exposure for the New South Wales central-west region through international and domestic television coverage.

"With an historic, world-famous circuit that sits at the top of the main street, Bathurst has a unique atmosphere.

"I'm delighted that Bathurst City Council and the residents recognise the opportunity this presents and are planning celebrations that will make a visit to the Bathurst 24-Hour truly memorable," Mr Palmer said.

The round-the-clock race starting at 2 pm on Saturday 22 November will be the centrepiece of a huge weekend of entertainment at Bathurst.

Other attractions are planned to include races for GTP and Production cars, V8 BRutes and Porsches, a ute muster and a country music concert.