THE 2017 Bathurst 6 Hour will be remembered for its record grid of 64 starters, but as event director James O’Brien looks to the future, his focus is not on numbers.
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Instead he thinks ensuring the growth of the Production Cars event, which was conducted for just the second time on Sunday, rests with what cars and drivers take part.
This year of the 66 entries which initially nominated for the Bathurst 6 Hour, 35 different models of vehicle were included representing 18 different brands.
BMW was the most numerous marque with 13 entries representing different eight models.
"Fifty entrants in the first year was beyond expectations and we've grown that to mid-60s this year. The response from the Production Car community has been fantastic,” he said
"We won't focus so much on growing the quantity of the grid, but we'll look at the quality of the grid. Hopefully we'll see more newer and newer cars, better prepared teams, and we can start to get a bit more picky and choosy with the quality of the grid.
“Not that there's anything wrong with [what we had Sunday], but obviously we do have a finite capacity, so that's the area we'll look at next year.”
One of the winner’s of Sunday’s race, experienced endurance driver Paul Morris, believes more international drivers will join the field in future editions as the appeal of the 6 Hour grows.
"I've had some friends on the phone from America going 'Hey, how can I do that race?,’ so I reckon we'll see a few internationals here next year for sure,” he said.