COUNCILLOR Warren Aubin has welcomed the idea of the Bathurst 6 Hour being held on a Saturday in November, as Australian Racing Group (ARG) works to finalise its plans for the first Bathurst International.
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The event will be held over four days, from November 12 to 15, and combine two events after the 6 Hour was unable to go ahead at Easter due to COVID-19.
Race formats for other categories included in the Bathurst International have also had to change.
ARG recently said it was intending to hold the endurance race on the Saturday of the event, instead of the Sunday like most people would have expected.
"The Bathurst International was born to bring international drivers out to Bathurst to race in different categories," Cr Aubin said.
"There was going to be a TCR 500-kilometre event, an enduro, but that won't be able to happen because the international drivers can't get out here.
"... Instead of that, they have put on a production car race on the Saturday, the 6 Hour, as a precursor to the sprint events on Sunday."
He is in favour of the Saturday endurance race and thinks fans, if they can come to the track, will also like it.
"I do think it is better to have it on Saturday, so you can have all that sprint racing on Sunday," Cr Aubin said.
ARG has been put in a tough position, trying to organise a bumper motor sport event at Mount Panorama while the country deals with the uncertainty of COVID-19.
However, it is handling the challenge well.
As well as the Bathurst 6 Hour, and sprint round TCR Australia Series, there will also be a round of the S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship at the Mount in November.
The Bathurst event will also see brand-new trophy races for the Touring Car Masters and the National Trans Am Series.
Cr Aubin said ARG has been really easy for Bathurst Regional Council to work with during this time.
"They are a pretty easy mob to work with. They are very professional and run a lot of other events in Australia," he said.
"It will the first Bathurst International event and it's just unfortunate that it has come in at the same time as COVID-19.
"But I'm really looking forward to it, it should be a good event, and anything that is a motor racing event at Mount Panorama will be worth watching."
