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RECORD ENTRIES RECIEVED FOR BATHURST MOTOR FESTIVAL
EASTER IN BATHURST will be bigger than ever before, with a record number of entries lodged for the 2014 running of the Bathurst Motor Festival on April 18-20.332 nominations across seven categories have been received by Event organisers following the close of entries last Friday, surpassing the previous record number (305) achieved last year.”We are very pleased with the reaction from competitors and categories to the general concept of the Bathurst Motor Festival – offering a way for those who wouldn’t normally get a chance to race at Bathurst an opportunity to do so,” Event Director James O’Brien said.”The side-effect is a sensational weekend of motorsport for the Bathurst and NSW Central West region with big fields, competitive racing and plenty of fun for everyone involved. “It promises to be a great weekend on the Mountain and a great way to celebrate the Easter break.”An incredible 112 competitors have been confirmed across two New South Wales Road Racing Club regularity classes, split into two fields of 57 and 55 cars, respectively.More than 20 brands and 50 different models are entered across the two classes, that allow drivers and cars who otherwise might never have the opportunity to get ‘competitive’ laps at Mount Panorama the chance to do so. The incredible regularity fields include everything from four-wheel-drive turbo Mitsubishi’s to kit-car Clubmans and everything in between.The Porsche Club of NSW has a similarly large field; their 55-car entry including 911s, Boxters, 944s and almost everything produced by the famous German brand over the years.The regularity categories do not race against each other but against the clock, making it one of the most diverse and accessible forms of motorsport going around.The four ‘racing’ categories entered promise furious competition between big fields with Historic Group N Touring Cars, Production Sports Car and the NSW Production Touring Car Series all offering 50-plus fields. The fastest cars in Australia, the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship, also return to Bathurst for the third time.The stunning Group N field brings together some of the most stunning examples of Australia’s motorsport past in one field and from all around Australia, too. Six drivers are travelling from Western Australia whilst the remainder are split between New South Wales, South Australia, the ACT and Queensland.Represented in the Group N field will be Australian classics like the Ford Falcon XY GTHO, Holden Torana XU-1 to American Muscle Cars like the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro. Twin-cam Capri’s, Lotus Cortina’s, Rotary-powered Mazda RX2s and more also feature amongst the stunning field.From the fastest cars of the era to the fastest cars of today, the NSW Production Sports Car Series brings top-notch modern sports car machinery to the Mountain in a field that will have echoes of the recent Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.A big group of Porsche’s, Lamborghini’s, Lotuses and Corvette’s make up some of the 52-car field that will tackle two, 35-minute races on Saturday and a one-hour enduro on the Sunday of the Motor Festival weekend.The NSW Production Touring Car series has grown into one of the strongest production-based series in Australia in recent years and return to Bathurst this year promising to put on an even better show than before – thanks in part to their 48-car grid.Quite literally cars that you see regularly on the road but converted to race use, the PTC field includes Mitsubishi Lancer EVOs, HSVs and BMWs and, this year, even a Ford Falcon V8 Ute to add to the diversity.The Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship may not have the large numbers of the other categories; however the competition at the front of Australia’s fastest racing category will be fiercer than ever before.Determined to regain ‘their’ outright lap record – taken by GT cars at the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year – the young rising stars of the sport will be in newer, faster cars this year as they tackle a pair of challenging races in the battle for the CAMS Gold Star.The Bathurst Motor Festival will be held across the April 18-20 long weekend at Mount Panorama, Bathurst. Volunteers to assist in the operation of the Event are still being sought; interested parties can visit www.bathurstmotorfestival.com.au and click the ‘officials and volunteers’ tab to find more info.