FIRST there were six and now just three remain.
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Bathurst Regional Council has announced its shortlist of proposals for a potential fifth major motor sport event at Mount Panorama.
They are from Australian Racing Group/CAMS, Mountain Motorsports and Supercars, the latter of which already runs two events at the circuit.
That means that Ontic Sports, Creventic International and 24 Hours of Lemons all missed out on the opportunity to host their proposed events.
Councillor Warren Aubin said that, while those events didn't make the cut this time, they would all be ideal for the second track once it is built.
The decision as to which events were shortlisted was made by councillors.
"We went through every one and cut it as we went," Cr Aubin said.
"We've got to look at it as what is beneficial to the economy, and longevity.
"It has to be sustainable and something that we can sign up for five years and it grows stronger."
He also said that councillors were looking for an event that would be cost-effective so it didn't operate at a loss.
The three shortlisted promoters are scheduled to come back to council in mid-June to present their final proposals, with council set to make a decision shortly after.
Cr Aubin said a quick decision was necessary to give the chosen event every opportunity to be up and running in 2020.
He told the Western Advocate that, based on the shortlist process, there was a front runner for the final spot on the calendar, but couldn't divulge which it was.
He also said that the final pitches could sway councillors in a different direction.
"It will be interesting to see what they bring to the table because we have only seen what is on a piece of paper," Cr Aubin said.
Ultimately, he said the final event had to be something that made people say "Wow - I need to go watch that".
Not much is publicly known about what kind of events the three promoters on the shortlist have pitched.
On the Australian Racing Group website, it states that it runs two racing categories, the S5000 open wheel racing championship and the TCR Series.
Last week, Speedcafe reported that CAMS and TCR Australia were interested in bringing a round of the the World Touring Car Cup (FIA WTCR) to Australia.
The article implied that Mount Panorama was the circuit that CAMS wanted to see a potential Australian round hosted at.
The second contender, Mountain Motorsport, runs the Australian Tarmac Rally Championship.
That particular event, the next round of which will be held in September in Victoria, offers "three levels of driving for modern, classic and showroom-spec cars".
The Western Advocate has approached Supercars in relation to its expression of interest, but the organisation is staying tight-lipped at this time.
Supercars already runs the Bathurst 1000 and the Bathurst 12 Hour events at Mount Panorama, events that are very different from each other.
Cr Aubin said one of the reasons why Creventic didn't get make it on the shortlist was because of what the 12 Hour, a race for international GT cars, offered.
"The problem with that is that it is using the same cars that are in the 12 Hour ... you don't want to clash," he said.
Ontic's event was ruled out as its proposal didn't disclose enough detail, while financial concerns put the 24 Hours of Lemons out of the running.