Bathurst 12 Hour: Television game show host Grant Denyer says motor racing remains his No.1 passion ahead of Bathurst 12 Hour

He is best known as the vivacious host of TV shows such as Deal or No Deal, but Grant Denyer feels more at home with a race suit on. He explains his love affair with motor racing and the iconic Mount Panorama.

Grant Denyer might be one of Australia’s most popular game show hosts, but the Gold Logie winner says motorsport remains his No.1 passion.

The effervescent Deal or No Deal host will renew his love affair with the sport and Mount Panorama when he suits up for the Bathurst 12 Hour this weekend for the Australian debut of the “luscious” new Lamborghini Huracan.

Living just a few kilometres from the iconic race track, Mount Panorama is a place Denyer refers to as his “spiritual home and happy place”, which he is able to see each day from his kitchen window.

While he is best known to most for his career as a vivacious television personality, Denyer admits he feels more at home with a race suit on, rather than a business suit in front of the camera.

“I was a race car driver first, not television,” Denyer said.

“I won a go-kart championship when I was a kid and then got into television because I wasn’t from a wealthy family and I wanted to get my way into motorsport to become a professional race-car driver and I thought if I was on television that is probably a good way to find sponsors.

“It was as simple and as naive as that. I have gone on to have a great motor-racing career and done three Bathurst 1000s in Supercars and won races in Supercars and to still be doing it in this day and age as a TV game-show host is a great privilege.

“It’s the No.1 priority in my life, it always has (been) and probably always will be.

“Once you conquer the mountain or get close, or at least just drive it at 300 km/h that’s a feeling that is unsurpassed and that’s all you’ll ever want to do from that point on.

“Being here is a racing car driver’s ultimate wet dream.”

Grant Denyer celebrates on the podium during the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour Race at Mount Panorama. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Denyer will team up with Adrian Dietz, David Wall and Tony D’Alberto in the Lamborghini squad for the endurance event, which attracts the best GT racers from around the world.

The TV star is no stranger to the race, having previously finished second outright (in 2008) and also claimed a class victory 10 years ago.

“I love it because it brings the greatest race car drivers from around the world here on one of the greatest race tracks in the world,” Denyer said.

“It is on all their bucket lists, so when you get these incredible European factory teams and the names like (former MotoGP star) Valentino Rossi, to have that kind of calibre of world-class driver here is so exquisite.

“We have got one of Lamborghini’s brand new cars. It’s the latest evolution of the Lamborghini Huracan and it’s absolutely glorious, it’s a really super exotic, dream worthy childhood wall-poster type car.

“It’s a pinch me moment driving something so luscious as this because it is the latest and great spec and is the debut of the brand-new Lamborghini in the southern hemisphere, so it’s an honour to be driving such a calibre of car and we have got a great line-up of drivers.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have podium finishes and class wins here so it has been good to me over the years.”

Grant Denyer attends the 2024 AACTA Awards. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images for AFI

While he considered himself lucky to still get the chance to race cars “for fun”, Denyer said his decision to choose his television career over the chance to race Supercars full-time 15 years ago remained one of the toughest of his life.

“I had broken my back (in a monster truck crash in 2008) and then came back and won more Supercar races than I had ever won. I think I won five races in what they call Super2 now or the development series,” Denyer said.

“My idol Dick Johnson said ‘You are good enough to be a full-time main game driver in the V8 Supercars’ and he said ‘However, you can’t do both, you can’t do TV and you can’t do racing, you are going to have to make a decision’.

“It was the hardest decision of my life giving away my passion to continue my career. But I think for the sake of my future family, I probably made the right decision.

“Now, I’m lucky I’ve got it back in my life and I can do it for fun and on an occasional basis.

“Could I have gone all the way? Hard to know. All the ingredients were there, but I put all my eggs in the television basket and the rest is history.”

Television personality Grant Denyer ahead of the Bathurst 12 hour race in 2009. Picture: AAP Image/Peter Foran

Still, racing is never far from Denyer’s thoughts, especially with Mount Panorama only a stone’s throw from home.

“I live only 3km behind the mountain, so it’s my spiritual home and my happy place,” he said.

“I live on a little farm literally behind the hill. I can see it from my kitchen window.

“I have to use part of the track to get from my house to get to my mother-in-law’s. When the kids are going to see their grandparents, I am driving on the track every day.

“I run around it for fitness, it’s one steep hell of a bastard of a hill to walk around, but to drive around it is one of life’s truly greatest experiences.”

And Denyer is hoping to use to local knowledge to chase a podium finish with his Lamborghini team this weekend.

“It’s hard to out-gun these factory European teams, these guys are in these cars every weekend all around the world so they are on top of it,” Denyer said.

“The once a year GT-racers like myself find it hard to bang door handles with these guys, they have slightly got our margin.

“But 12 hours is a long time around here and attrition can be high because the track is so intense that there can be a lot of accidents and things can fall your way. So a podium is what we are after.

“The good thing is after this many years I am very match-fit for this environment.

“It is an environment I feel right at home at. It’s nice to exchange one business suit for a race suit, it’s certainly a suit that I feel fits better.”

Aside from the impressive contingent of international GT racers, there will also be a host of Supercars stars in action at the 12 Hour.

Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Will Brown, Cam Waters, Thomas Randle, Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and David Reynolds will be among the V8 stars in action.

The opening round of the Supercars season will follow at Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 500 next weekend.

ENDS

Originally published as Bathurst 12 Hour: Television game show host Grant Denyer says motor racing remains his No.1 passion ahead of Bathurst 12 Hour