Bathurst Question

[Kingair]

One of those silly questions, but why did they pick October to run the race at Bathurst? Was it due to October long weekend or the football season had finished?

[peckstar]

I'd always assumed it was too with the long weekend.

but it was also of the The ATCC had finished for the year and had the good fortune to be after the AFL (and maybe the NRL) had finished for the year.

But i'm too young to truly know, had just been assumed

I note that the PI races that preceded it were not held on that weekend (two were 3rd weekend in November the other the 3rd weekend in October which is not a public holiday in Vic

[Falcadore]

The ARDC always held motor racing meetings at Bathurst at Easter and October for decades. Long before the Armstrong 500 moved from Phillip Island, long before the ATCC and Bathurst were run to the same regulations (for many years they were not - different drivers and cars competed in ATCC and Bathurst) and long before football and motor racing paid any attention to each other. The Australian Grand Prix was held on the October long weekend way back in 1947.

I would suggest it is just a matter of the logistics of staffing such a huge circuit. When a lot of the people running the meeting are coming from Sydney it makes sense to hold these meeting on a day when there is not so much of a rush to get back to work on Monday.

Of course, it's a nice consideration to all those spectators who camp out at the circuit as well. Especially considering there weren't as many hotels back then. Almost everyone would have been camping, certainly most of the teams.