BATHURST Regional Council has rejected a claim it had agreed with Supercars to run the Bathurst 1000 from November 4-7 as the fallout from a scheduling clash with Challenge Bathurst starts to turn ugly.
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Ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns in Sydney and interstate forced Supercars to redraw its 2021 calendar last month and it announced on July 30 that the Repco Bathurst 1000 was being moved from its traditional October date.
But the Western Advocate understands Bathurst Regional Council, as the track hirer, had not signed off on the new dates before the Supercars announcement because it was aware of a clash with the annual Challenge Bathurst event, booked in to run from November 11-17.
According to the contract agreement between council and Challenge Bathurst organisers, they must be allowed exclusive use of the circuit for a "bump-in" period prior to the official start date.
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Council general manager David Sherley confirmed on Wednesday that the Bathurst 1000 dates selected and advertised by Supercars "fall within the exclusive sue period for Challenge Bathurst" and that there was no agreement between council and Supercars for the Bathurst 1000 to go ahead from November 4-7.
"If Supercars wish to conduct the event on another date that does not conflict with Challenge Bathurst (or any other third-party hirer of the circuit), or obtain the consent of Challenge Bathurst for the proposed date or some other date, BRC will take all reasonable steps to facilitate the hire of the circuit to Supercars to the event," Mr Sherley said.
"The mayor and council officers continue to hold ongoing discussions with our event partners on the Mount Panorama racing circuit, including Supercars and Challenge Bathurst.
"Council will continue to honour its existing contract agreements for racing at Mount Panorama."
But that's not how Supercars sees it, with a spokesperson saying it was up to council - not Supercars - to find a solution.
"The agreement for Challenge Bathurst is held by the Bathurst Regional Council, and therefore this is a matter for them to resolve given they had agreed to both events," the spokesperson said.
"Alternative dates were part of a broad discussion that included support for, and compensation to, the organisers of Challenge Bathurst but the weekend that was proposed (October 28-31) would have created a back-to-back event with Phillip Island which is not feasible when teams need to prepare for the biggest event on the annual motorsport calendar.
"Supercars has yet to receive any operational evidence suggesting that both events can't co-exist on the nominated dates ... Supercars has remained open to discussion and negotiation with all parties."
November is set to be a busy month on Mount Panorama with the Bathurst 1000, Challenge Bathurst and inaugural Bathurst International all scheduled.
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