At just 16, the Canberra Grammar School year 11 student appears to be of very tender years to be racing at one of the fastest and most challenging race circuits in the country, against others twice his age.

Zach Bates will be the youngest on the grid this weekend and will need to lean heavily on the experience of his racing father, Rick, for advice on how to manage a fast lap around the undulating 6.2km circuit.

The younger cousin to Toyota rally stars Harry and Lewis Bates, Zach has spent the past two years racing in Formula Ford open-wheelers, where he has finished runner-up in the championship twice and well-developed the fine art of slip-streaming other cars in order to pass.

That skill will come in handy at Bathurst, where the long, downhill Conrod Straight will have the identical Toyota sports cars jockeying for the best possible wind-cheating drag race to overtake.

"Bathurst is a very tough place to learn a new circuit and to race a new car but you have to start somewhere and Zach's a pretty fast learner," Rick Bates said.

Like his twin brother Neal, Rick has raced at Bathurst numerous times in different types of cars, including V8 Supercars and sports cars over 12 hours.

"Zach has done some testing with the new car - not at Bathurst, of course - but it's never as much time we'd like," Rick Bates said.

"The tough thing is that drivers in the 86 series will only get two 20-minute practice sessions before things start to get really serious.

"But the circuit is so long that you can be about four seconds off the pace in one session and then right on the pace in the next by not changing anything because there's all these places around the track where you can make up little increments of time."

Zach's mum and dad have been bankrolling his racing career to date but thankfully Canberra retailer Seears Workwear has come on board for this season, with business owner Pat Seears being a big motor racing fan and keen to support a local driver.

This weekend's track familiarisation will start with a family track walk, but Rick Bates was philosophical about Zach's chances.

"You can give a young fella all the advice in the world but in the end, it's his race to run," he said.