A DOUBLE dose of Bathurst - it was a move that certainly got the thumbs up from Mark Winterbottom but he is not sure if it is something he will get to experience again in his Supercars career.
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The cancellation of this year's Bathurst 12-Hour due to the COVID-19 international travel restrictions meant Supercars was able to schedule a sprint round at Mount Panorama to open its 2021 championship.
The Bathurst 500, which featured a pair of 250 kilometres races, offered drivers a very different challenge to the 161-lap Great Race this Sunday which will act as the season finale.
"To get not only one crack but two at the best track definitely in the country, let alone around the world, I think it's fantastic ... we are so lucky we get to do it twice," Winterbottom, who drives for Team 18, said.
This year is the first time since 1996 that Mount Panorama has staged twin rounds of the same championship, but with the circuit limited to five full-track closures a year, it could be a long wait to see another double dose of Supercars.
It is something Winterbottom understands.
"I'd race there any point in the year, any time you'd take it," he said. "But obviously it's not just a Supercars decision saying 'We'll put the calendar here', it's the New South Wales Government - they're a big supporter - there's so many hurdles that you have to go through to have that race happen," he said.
Next season Newcastle has been confirmed as the venue for round one, replacing the Bathurst 500, while the 12 Hour is set to return to the Mount with a February 25-27 date locked in for the GT racing spectacle.
As for having the Bathurst 1000 in December again - something which occurred this year as COVID-19 forced a number of changes to the Supercars schedule - Winterbottom thinks isn't ideal.
The man known as Frosty laughs he'd do the Great Race any time of year, but he feels the regular October date has worked well. The famous enduro has been held in October on 51 occasions.
"October traditionally, I think that date people know so moving it may not work. Traditionalists like the same thing every year, so who knows if moving it permanently would work?," he said.
"But race drivers' point of view, I'll race there any time, two times even better if you can get it."
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