Alfa Romeo have entered an Alfa 159 2.4 Litre in the Eco Diesel/Hybrid class for the 2008 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour, to be held in conjunction with the WPS Bathurst Motor Festival next February.

Alfa Romeo have submitted the first entry for the 2008 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour, to be held in conjunction with the WPS Bathurst Motor Festival on February 8-10 next year. The Thomson Alfa Romeo team lodged an entry with WPS 12 Hour Category Manager SPHERIX earlier this week to register an Alfa 159 2.4 Litre in the Eco Diesel/Hybrid class for over 3.5 Litre vehicles, following on from a successful campaign in that class during this year’s running of the Race.

The 2007 Diesel class victors Kean Booker, Rocco Rinaldo and Alfa Romeo Australia boss David Stone will return to the hallowed Mount Panorama bitumen in February to try for two in a row for Alfa Romeo. “We are very enthusiastic about returning to the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour after our win in the diesel category last time – so we lodged our entry as soon as we could,” said David Stone. Participation is important to us as I cannot think of a better venue anywhere to showcase the 159’s outstanding performance and great handling. The diesel category is a true battle of the manufacturers, so we expect plenty of strong competition. Our key partners, Selenia Oil, SuperCharge Batteries and DHL are all back with us to help with the defence of the diesel powered title.”

Alfa Romeo has a unique place in motor sport history, with a name that has been closely linked to motorsport since the birth of the car in 1920. Most famously the Italian car maker won both the very first Formula One World Championship and repeated this effort by taking the first post war title. In addition it has won races and titles in most motorsport arenas and provided many legendary names, perhaps most famously, Enzo Ferrari, with their start in motorsport.

WPS Bathurst Motor Festival Event Director James O’Brien is pleased the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour has drawn support from the history-laden Italian car maker. “When we revived the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour for the 2007 Festival, we were proud to have Alfa Romeo included in the list of manufacturers showing their support for the Event,” said O’Brien. "The 2008 Race is shaping up to be bigger and better, growing from the success it enjoyed last year, and we hope that Alfa Romeo will soon be joined by many of those manufacturers who competed in 2007 as well as some new brands as the Race grows in size and profile.”

The signing of Alfa Romeo as the first official entry for the Race further increases the manufacturer’s previously standing commitment to the Event following the recent announcement of their role as the official suppliers of the Safety and Course cars for the 2008 WPS Bathurst Motor Festival. Alfa Romeo is providing three cars for the Festival. Spending most of its time on-track will be the Alfa Romeo 159 JTS 3.2 Q4, the range-topping version of the Alfa Romeo 159, which will be joined by two additional cars, the Brera JTS 3.2 Q4 and a 159 JTS 2.2, for the Festival organisers to use in support of the event. The 2008 WPS Bathurst Motor Festival will be held at Mount Panorama on February 8-10, incorporating the WPS Bathurst 12 Hour on Sunday February 10.