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When the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship starts tomorrow, it will be the second weekend of racing in a row at Mount Panorama, off the back of the Bathurst 12 Hour.
As part of the 10-day event programme, a range of new fan attractions have been created, such as a moonlight cinema, live theatre, nightly concerts, and Track to Town.
While some of those initiatives are hardly foreign concepts, many are firsts for a Supercars Championship event in Bathurst.
Furthermore, while they were essentially a necessity to justify the 10-day concept, they are consistent with what is said to be a broader push to add fanfare to events.
“Trying to take over the region is what we’re all about,” Watsford told assembled media, including Speedcafe, in the Bathurst CBD.
“Supercars, we all know, is a travelling circus; we bring a lot of people for a big period of time.
“The opportunity to activate a week of activity, engage the next generation of fans throughout the week, was really important to us.
“The support of Bathurst council and the broader New South Wales Government has been amazing, the fact that we get to do it for the better part of eight days over two weekends is pretty fun.
“So, look, it’s important for us, we want to grow a presence in the region, and all regions, to be quite honest.
“We do bring a substantial amount of hopefully economic activity throughout the week, which is kind of primary for our direction going forward; bigger, better, more.”
Track to Town, for example, was first put on by Supercars as part of the 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour.
It expanded from one example of each of the GT3 models competing in that year’s race to become, in more recent years, a parade feature every car in the field.
Today, the activation will be extended to the Supercars Championship itself for the first time, with two Chevrolet Camaros and two Mustangs to be driven from Mount Panorama to Russell Street in the CBD.
It follows the stunt before last year’s Gold Coast 500, when four cars were driven across the Sundale Bridge just north of where the street circuit would see racing action in the following week.
“We’ve got Supercars – two Mustangs, two Camaros – going to be in town for the first time ever come Thursday,” noted Watsford, the former CEO of the Northern Territory Major Events Company, which promotes the Darwin Triple Crown.
“So, if that that works, well, what else can we do?
“It’s a real desire from our RACE board, our CEO in Shane Howard, myself, and the executive team to do better and activate off-track activity.
“This year is the start, so the success of this event will absolutely lay a great foundation for when we’re back in October [for the Bathurst 1000].”
Tonight’s Track to Town will see cars arrive just after a Wiggles concert, an initiative which was largely met by derision when it was announced.
Watsford addressed that in separate comments to Speedcafe, explaining that there was a level of opportunism in the booking due to a tie-up with the Bathurst 500’s title sponsor in Thrifty, but also that it is intended to broaden the fanbase.
“The Wiggles are out doing a regional tour with Thrifty and what better alignment than our naming rights partner to bring them along, and thanks to them to kind of get them out,” he said.
“I think, from an activation perspective, really engaging that next level of fan, let’s call it, is a good thing for us.
“They obviously form part of our Superfest programme. Now there’s other acts that will be up there with them, so they’re definitely going to be hopefully a highlight.
“We’ve had some great interest and especially from Council, the interest that we’ve been getting kind of out of Christmas and into February has been amazing.
“So, I think we’ve made the right decision, and it’s a really good thing to try and really engage that family base, which is what we went out to achieve and have some fun doing it.”
Watsford nominated a similar crowd to the Bathurst 12 Hour, which pulled a three-day attendance of 47,333, as a goal.
“Quite frankly, the 1000 is a very unique offering,” he stated, with the Bathurst 1000 having drawn 204,069 over four days last October.
“If we try to land where we did in the 12 Hour numbers, I think it’d be going really well.”
