THE awarding of honorary citizenship to motor racing champion Craig Lowndes capped a remarkable weekend for Bathurst.
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The ceremony at the National Motor Racing Museum on Monday morning followed another successful Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama on Sunday.
The 12 Hour is an event that continues to grow in popularity and prestige and is sure to remain an important date on the local motor racing calendar.
Crucially, crowds on the Mount for the 12 Hour continue to grow and while they cannot yet come anywhere near the Bathurst 1000 crowds, any increase is a good result.
But not even the 12 Hour could not compete with the news on Sunday that Sir Elton John had been booked to play a concert at Bathurst’s Carrington Park next January as part of his farewell world tour.
That was simply breathtaking news, and plenty of people took a little convincing that it was not all a hoax.
In combination, though, those two major stories tell a lot about the Bathurst we live in today.
Motor racing is an important part of this city’s past and also its future, but it is not the only string to our bow.
Bathurst has an enviable reputation for hosting major events that bring in thousands of people and millions of dollars every year.
It is a model that other regional centres would do well to emulate but even that is easier said than done. There is plenty of hard work and strategy behind the scenes to make any major event a success.
So having come through such a big Sunday for our region, the ceremony on Monday morning to honour and acknowledge one of the city’s great friends was the perfect way to start a new working week.
Craig Lowndes concedes he owes a lot to Bathurst because it was here that much of his fame and fortune was built.
At the same time, though, our city owes much more to Craig Lowndes.
Like Peter Brock before him, Lowndes is an enthusiastic and popular advocate for racing and for Bathurst, and he brings a credibility to all he touches that few people in this country can match.
He is a genuinely likeable person and someone who always has time for the fans.
If Craig Lowndes is proud to be associated with Bathurst then we are even prouder to be associated with him.
So welcome to our newest honorary citizen. There’s always a place for you here.