A SATURDAY 6 Hour, a Sunday sprint and the possibility of international wildcards - that is what the Australian Racing Group is planning for Mount Panorama this November.
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It was revealed in March that the coronavirus pandemic had forced the ARG to cancel its intended Easter date for the Bathurst 6 Hour, but that the enduro would still go ahead.
Since then the ARG has worked hard on the logistics, confirming the November event would be expanded to run over four days - the 12th to the 15th - instead of the original three.
AGR chief executive officer Matt Braid has now revealed more of what can be expected at Mount Panorama, including the Bathurst 6 Hour running on Saturday.
"The four-day event at this stage, what we are looking at doing is we'll have multiple categories involved outside the highlight category, certainly being the production [6 Hour] race," Braid said.
"The schedule is still being finalised, but we do anticipate we'll run the 6 Hour production race on the Saturday of the event and then have the Bathurst International focus categories on the Sunday of the event.
"The exact timing of those we are working through at the moment and then you'll have some other categories working around either side of those categories."
The Bathurst International focus categories are the TCR and the open-wheeler S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship.
While it was initially planned to run the TCR as a 500 kilometre endurance race, Braid confirmed it will now be a championship round sprint-race format for that category at Mount Panorama instead.
However, New Zealand-based TCR outfits could join the grid as well.
"The intention was to make it an enduro, but in condensing two weekends into one so to speak it made that difficult," Braid said.
"The attractiveness of an enduro when you've got international teams and drivers coming is one thing, we weren't able to offer that, so on that basis on the costs involved and the logistics involved, we decided to make it a sprint round.
"In saying that, we are talking to some international drivers for a couple of categories and certainly some of the New Zealand TCR teams about whether they would be able to come and make that event.
"Even though it's going to be a TCR Australia sprint round so to speak, there could be potentially some international wild cards appearing at the event.
"That will all be dependent on restrictions and obviously travel logistics for it to be possible."
As for the international wildcards in the S5000 - who were to include Formula 1 legend Rubens Barrichello - Braid admits that is less likely.
"We have got 14 cars available and had two, and potentially up to four, internationals who were looking to come for that event," Braid said.
"Our view now is that they're looking unlikely and even though we are in contact with them on an almost a daily basis and they're chomping at the bit to come out - who wouldn't really to race those cars at Bathurst - I think the logistics and the restrictions will probably beat us.
"But I think, from our point of view, we are looking at 12 cars would be the logical number if we take out the two for those wildcards which are probably not going to eventuate."
The other categories which are confirmed to be part of the November meeting at Mount Panorama are Touring Car Masters and the National Trans Am Series.
