When given a brief to build the best motor racing circuit in the southern hemisphere, some would shy away.
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But representatives from Apex Circuit Design are keen to take on the mammoth challenge to deliver Bathurst its second motor racing circuit.
Representatives from Apex – which was announced, in July, as the successful tenderer to design the new circuit at Mount Panorama - were in Bathurst on Wednesday morning to conduct groundwork design.
Design director Dafydd Broom said one of the primary aims for the new track’s design is to allow motorcycle racing.
“We know how important this circuit is on a regional and national level for Australia,” he said.
“We’re going to be putting maximum effort in to making this the best it can possibly be.
“One of the primary focuses for this track is for motorcycles.
“We’re not going to ignore the four-wheel vehicles, but given motorcycles haven’t raced at Mount Panorama within the last two decades, we really want to bring them back here at a world-class facility.
“We’ve been given a brief to build the best circuit in the southern hemisphere and that’s a pretty big target to reach.”
Mr Broom said Apex will carefully consider any recommendations that Indigenous studies reveal at the site of the new circuit.
“Studies are being taken as we speak. I have no comment as to how we will approach this at this point in time,” he said.
“Until we understand what those studies have brought about, we can't use that as any constraint within the design. That’s not to say they will not be considered very carefully and with utmost importance.”
A start date and finish date have not been decided upon.
“Planning can vary widely. It can be short, depending on the political will of the project, and this has good political will, so hopefully the planning will be relatively smooth,” Mr Broom said.
“Given the fact the site has few restraints, we think planning will be a smooth process, but that doesn’t mean a curve ball hasn’t been thrown to us before in previous projects.”
Mr Broom said the challenge of building the new track comes with more pressure than other facilities the Apex company has worked on.
“We’re going to go away and make something we’ll be proud of,” he said.