Co-drivers at the Bathurst 1000 are required to complete at least 54 laps of the 161-lap race under current Supercars regulations.

Basic rule

  • The race is 161 laps, so 54 laps is roughly one third of the total distance.
  • Regulations state that each driver in the car must complete at least 54 laps , not just the “co-driver”.

Why 54 laps?

  • The rule is effectively a “minimum distance per driver” to stop teams from using the primary driver for almost the whole race and barely running the co-driver.
  • Historically it comes from a requirement that no driver may cover more than about two-thirds of the race, which in practice forces both drivers to meaningfully share the workload.

What happens in practice?

  • Because of fuel windows (typically around 24–26 laps per stint) and strategy, co-drivers usually end up doing more than the bare 54 laps – often two or three full stints.
  • Teams often plan for the co-driver to knock over their minimum laps in the middle of the race so the lead driver can finish the final stints.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.