A PACKED campground at the 2021 Bathurst 1000 would be a fitting reward for our region's efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Supercars announced on Tuesday evening that all eight campgrounds at Mount Panorama would be open for the October event.
The Paddock, McPhillamy Park, Reid and Sulman, Max Cameron, The Chase, The Orchard, Enduro and The Motorhome will be in operation for this year's event, which is scheduled for October 7-10.
That's a far cry from the strictly limited numbers that were allowed on-site at the 2020 event and will ensure the off-track colour and movement that is so much a part of the lure of the Bathurst 1000 can finally return.
A packed campground will also mean a packed city throughout Race Week and will get the tills ringing again at local shops, pubs, clubs and restaurants.
We can (hopefully) again look forward to a Pantech parade down William Street, a driver signing session in Russell Street and a party for the fans in Kings Parade on the Saturday before the main event.
What's not to like?
COVID-19 has tested our communities in ways we could not have imagined and so every victory - large or small - as we emerge from the pandemic is well worth celebrating.
First we celebrated the easing of the state's strictest lockdown measures last year, then we celebrated students returning to classrooms and workers returning to the office, state borders reopening and, now, a travel bubble with New Zealand.
Despite ongoing hurdles, we have also celebrated a rollout of the various COVID-19 vaccines across the globe and the impact they are starting to have in countries that have been badly affected by the virus far more significantly than Australia.
They have been the major wins, but the smaller wins are also worth noting - among them, a return to something approaching a "normal" Bathurst 1000 in October.
On a global scale it's not a big thing, but - apart from the impact on our economy - we should not underestimate the impact it will have on our city's psyche.
In years to come, the COVID-19 pandemic will be measured in terms of losses; lost lives, lost jobs and lost events. So the recovery from COVID-19 will naturally measured by what we can win back and, in Bathurst, that means the Bathurst 1000.
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