Like all professional sporting bodies, Supercars battled through a very tough year in 2020, negotiating a difficult path through constantly changing travel restrictions and crowd limits to deliver the best possible season for drivers and fans.

That the season went ahead as it did was a credit to the determination of all involved, though the sight of cars racing around a largely empty circuit at Mount Panorama did feel a little hollow.

Regardless, the season was completed and a champion was crowned, and Supercars was able to deliver a product for its TV audience even if crowds were not able to flock to the track as they normally would.

But all that came at a cost and that's what makes next year so important.

Every professional sport must be viewing 2021 as the start of the great rebuilding process and none can afford another year like the one we've just seen.

So in such an important year it is no accident that Supercars has decided that Bathurst should host not one, but two rounds of the 2021.

The Supercars will kick off the new season in the best possible fashion by bringing the opening round to Bathurst in late February before returning to the city in October for the Bathurst 1000.

It's a decision that illustrates not only what a valuable asset Mount Panorama is to Bathurst, but also what a valuable asset Bathurst is to the Supercars.

Bathurst is the spiritual home of Australian motorsport and is by far the most recognised motorsport brand among the broader Australian public.

While diehard motor racing fans will closely follow every round of the series, Bathurst attracts a much different viewing audience.

The Bathurst 1000 is the Melbourne Cup of the Supercars calendar.

It's an event not just for motor racing fans but for all sports fans, and millions who might not watch another race all year will tune in to see the drivers take on the most revered 6.213km of asphalt in Australia.

So in a year when Supercars must make every post a winner, it makes sense for the championship to wring whatever it can out of the popularity of Bathurst.

Bathurst needs the Supercars as much as they need Bathurst - and that's the mark of a successful relationship.