The Bathurst Motor Festival was an annual motor racing event held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia during the Easter long weekend. [1] The event was first held in 2011 as a replacement for the Festival of Sporting Cars and as a way to give a higher number of drivers the opportunity to drive on the circuit. [2] The event played host to a variety of racing categories, including production cars, sports cars, open-wheel racing cars and historic cars, which took part in sprint races, endurance races and regularity sessions. [3] Around 300 vehicles were entered for the event each year, with crowds of up to and over 10,000 people attending the event. [1] [3] [4] Car clubs also attended the event, displaying their cars within the confines of the circuit and performing parade laps. [5]
In 2016, the Bathurst 6 Hour production car race was added. [6] The Festival was not held after 2016 although the Bathurst 6 Hour race continued to be held.
During the 2014 event, Formula 3 driver Simon Hodge set a new lap record for the circuit of 2:02.6701. [7] Hodge's time remained as the lap record until the 2016 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, where Shane van Gisbergen set a time of 2:01.567 in a McLaren 650S GT3. [8]
During the 2016 event, Nathan Morcom and 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert won the inaugural Bathurst 6 Hour, which also saw the event's biggest weekend crowd to date. [4]
The following categories have raced at the Bathurst Motor Festival. [3] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]