BATHURST FIFTH EVENT SUBMISSIONS THIS WEEK
Bathurst Regional Council to hear fifth event submissions this week
Bathurst Regional Council will hear submissions from the three groups bidding for the proposed fifth event at Mount Panorama on Thursday.
By MARK FOGARTY
Supercars, Australian Racing Group and Mountain Motor Sports have been shortlisted by BRC to apply for the right to host an additional meeting that requires the full closure of the public scenic road circuit.
At the end of last month, EOIs submitted by Ontic Sports, 24 Hours of Lemons and international promoter Creventic were rejected.
Representatives of Supercars, ARG and MMS will make presentations to BRC, headed by mayor Graeme Hanger, in Bathurst on Thursday.
The council will consider the submissions and decide which bid – if any – is successful.
There is no indication on when a decision will be made.
“Council is seeking additional information from each of the shortlisted parties to further assess the suitability of their submission and is unable to comment further until this process is complete,” Hanger said in a statement to AUTO ACTION.
Rather than a sprint round in addition to the Bathurst 1000, Supercars is thought to be proposing a Goodwood Festival Of Speed-style celebration of cars and racing.
ARG is making a bid in conjunction with CAMS for a 500 km TCR endurance race that could also be a round of the WTCR World Touring Car Cup.
MMS is understood to be proposing a tarmac rally event.
On ARG’s bid, director Matt Braid commented: “The Bathurst Regional Council has done their short list and we’re very privileged to be on that short list. We’re going through that process with them and it’s probably not right to comment in too much detail on that, but we are doing it for a reason.
“We want to be involved and we’d love to take the opportunity of that fifth Bathurst event.”
Amid widespread talk of a TCR enduro at Bathurst, fuelled by TCR global boss Marcello Lotti’s expressed enthusiasm for the idea during his Phillip Island visit at the weekend, Braid was cautious.
“That hasn’t been determined yet,” he said. “There’s talk – and Marcello’s mentioned TCR as a component of that – but the makeup of that TCR component hasn’t been formalised yet.
“There are some discussions within the presentation which we are not at liberty to discuss at this stage and that will dictate what the end result might be if we are successful.”
With CAMS partnering ARG’s bid, Braid acknowledged that other endorsed categories would be on the support program.
“Bathurst is such an iconic venue and such a great event, you can’t just have one category running there,” he said. “You need to make it an event and certainly that is what we are considering at the moment.
“And, yes, partnering with CAMS, there is scope to do more than one [category].”
Bathurst Regional Council is not committed to allocating a fifth meeting at Mount Panorama, but will do so if the best proposal adds value to the annual line-up and offers a major economic benefit.
The world-famous circuit currently hosts four major events annually which require full track closures – Bathurst 12 Hour, Bathurst 6 Hour, Bathurst 1000 and Challenge Bathurst.
NSW government legislation allows multi-day use of the Mount Panorama scenic road for race meetings up to five times a year.
with BRUCE NEWTON
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