IT HAS been confirmed that Mount Panorama will become the home for the axed Newcastle 500.
What will be known as the Bathurst 500, will take place in February over 10-days as part of Bathurst SuperFest.
It comes after the NSW government failed to break an impasse with Newcastle council.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said earlier this month that Supercars chief executive Shane Howard had called her to say that the motor racing organisation was moving ahead with a back-up plan to hold the first event of the year in Bathurst.
The Bathurst SuperFest will feature the Bathurst 12 Hour from February 16-18 and the Bathurst 500 from February 23-25, along with a week-long program of community events to celebrate the start of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship.
Though the official calendar has yet to be announced, Bathurst Mayor Jess Jennings said that the timing of the Bathurst 500 creates a plethora of potential for race fans and the local community.
"There's the opportunity for those that can allocate the time and the resources to be here for the entire festival, but there's also the opportunity to come to the first event and stay a little bit longer," he said.
"Or arrive a little bit earlier and catch some of the off-track events, and then catch the second weekend.
"This is shaping up to be a genuine festival and I'm looking forward to all the off-track curricular activities that haven't traditionally been a part of race events."
And though this has been the case for recent years, Cr Jennings said that it wasn't always this way.
According to Cr Jennings, off-track events used to be an important feature of the Bathurst racing calendar, and he is hoping to see a resurgence with the Bathurst SuperFest.
"I'm really looking forward to history repeating to some extent," he said.
"While the program for this hasn't been finalised at this stage, in a broad sense, it opens the opportunity for things like markets, night markets, food and wine events, and music, entertainment, street theatre.
"All sorts of things become an opportunity when you have to fill in two or three days in between the two weekend bump-ins and bump-outs."
And with these circumstances, comes the potential for a significant boost to the local economy.
"It's great for Bathurst and it means that we can leverage more off Mount Panorama for both the local community and the visitor economy," he said.
"It's a win-win-win situation when it comes to supporting not just the Motorsport fans who come from far afield, but I'm really looking forward to the off-track events that are delivered as part of the festival."
