With an eye-catching chrome wrap on their John Davis Renault Megane and race experience at Bathurst now under their belts, the Bathurst brothers are hopeful they can stand out in more ways than one.

The Aubins finished third in Class C in 2016 and for much of the race were eyeing off a top 10 overall result and a class victory.

A puncture cost the pair both those results, but by taking the car from its starting position of 33^rd to an overall finish of 14^th they still had plenty to be proud of.

Blake Aubin can’t wait to get back among the atmosphere of his home endurance event

“In the space of 12 months this event has grown so much. We’ve got V8 drivers and a few international drivers there now so to be on the same track as those guys, at Mount Panorama, is awesome,” he said.

“Last year was really good for us. Obviously experience up at the Mount is vital and that was our first time around there. We were leading our class when we had a puncture, but that was our only downfall in the race.

“We were still able to bring it home in third place in our class, which was still pretty good, but there’s room for improvement.

“We have a fresh clutch and fresh injectors. The guys have done a bit of work to the car, with a few little changes here and there.”

The Class C battle is expected to be more fierce this year, with eight teams entered and some experienced personnel on board.

The category brings together several different makes, including Renault, BMW, Mazda and Alfa Romeo.

Kyle Aubin said even with the first year of racing at Mount Panorama done and dusted, the experience will take some time to get used to again.

“There’s a massive field. We’ve got Todd Hazlewood in our class, who’s a Super2 driver at the moment so it will be interesting to see how we compare against him,” he said.

“I didn’t know what to expect going into last year. When you get out there and you can go on both sides of the road you think ‘Whoa. This is different’ and you’ve got the crowd watching on as well.

“This year will still take a while to get used to, I think, even though we’ve been there once before.

“The car’s the exact same from last year, so hopefully we can roll it out and it will be good again. Hopefully I be even quicker this year.

“It’s great being the local boys. You’ve got the town getting around you.”

Both brothers are keen to build upon what was a strong 2016, both in and away from Bathurst.

Blake Aubin took his Holden Astra to second place in the New South Wales Production Touring Car Championship while Kyle Aubin steered the Renault to third place in his class.

“With that experience hopefully we’ll be a little quicker. Six hours is a long time though, it’s not just about pace,” Blake Aubin said.

“After that experience in Sydney and Wakefield Park over last year we’re feeling confident.”