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Mount Panorama’s fifth event has endured a rocky start, largely through factors outside of the control of owner Australian Racing Group and/or the Bathurst Regional Council.
The latest blow is a decision from FIA TCR World Tour organisers to pull the pin on its Australian leg for this season, which was to be made up of Race Sydney at Sydney Motorsport Park, and the International.
Suddenly, the International isn’t all that international. That’s a problem. And unfortunately it’s not a new problem.
Back in 2019, ARG won the well-documented tender for a fifth Bathurst event on the promise of bringing the world to Bathurst. The tender came down to ARG’s Bathurst International concept, and a bid from Supercars built around a Goodwood Festival of Speed-style event.
In the end, the idea of a two-driver, 500-kilometre TCR race and some big international names in S5000 won the Bathurst Regional Council over, and the Bathurst International was born.
Equally well-documented is what happened next. COVID-19. The first Bathurst International didn’t happen until 2022 and even then the ‘international’ flavour was questionable.
There was a step in the right direction a year later when TCR World Tour brought the international look and feel the event badly needed – but as we now know, that was a short-lived endeavour.
The loss of the TCR World Tour leaves the future of the event delicately poised.
The event will run this year as planned, with a blitz on recruiting international TCR and GT talent to run in local entries likely.
But the council wants a stronger, stricter plan in place for 2025 before a new five-year deal is signed.
Speedcafe’s intel is that ARG has been asked to present that plan in the coming weeks.
Motorsport Australia continues to back the event and is confident it can succeed, given time. That backing means it’s not dead yet.
But it is at a crossroads and the clock is ticking for the event to find its identity and a clear plan for the future.
