Will Bathurst get its funding ????

[marcus]

Again reading in AA today , they claim that Avesco and the gang have decided not to go ahead witha street race at Homebush (site of the 2000 olympics) because the government have promised funding towards Bathurst.

about time I say , the conditions up there are not that good and the place needs a complete revamp , but will it happen ???

and whatever happened to this planned hotel thingy at the bottom of Conrod ???

are the government going to come through this time or was it just another election promise that wont happen because they need the money elswhere ??

[Crash Test]

I dunno, I'd prefer the money to be spent elsewhere- can't the Bathurst City Council buy Lakeside??

[D.R.T.]

Wasn't the idea of a Street Race around the olympic site abandoned because of a species of Frog around there becomeing endangered?

I don't know the exact state of Mt Panourama, but people still turn up and Cochrane is the only person who I've heard complaining about it? Couldn't the money be spread over motorsport in general not a track that racers visit once a year?

[marcus]

oh boy.

Bathurst is the jewle in the crown of Oz motorsport and needs upgrading alot.
if you have only heard Tony c complaining then you havent been listening very hard , spend the weekend up the top and you soon be complaining yourself.

ok Crash test lakeside is in serious trouble if not completely had it ( i guess you knoiw more about it than me ) but if Bathurst doesnt get upgrades then I think it may eventually end up the same way

[Buckshot]

Yes the trackside facilities may need to be upgraded but the track did get re-surfaced last year. How many millions would that have cost ?

[Alan Jones]

Bathurst is mecca, heaven, the promised land, and a sacred site!!!!

We have to support it and keep it a viable, up to date facility.

As for the top of the mountain, leave it as it is. Last year we saw many punters up the top who were so drunk they wouldn't even notice a fresh toilet etc etc.
The biggest shame is they are only a small percentage of the fans and IMO, we all pay for their behaviour with the government unwilling to sink moneym into motor racing, due to the behaviour of the minority.

[Alan Jones]

Bathurst is mecca, heaven, the promised land, and a sacred site!!!!

We have to support it and keep it a viable, up to date facility.

As for the top of the mountain, leave it as it is. Last year we saw many punters up the top who were so drunk they wouldn't even notice a fresh toilet etc etc.
The biggest shame is they are only a small percentage of the fans and IMO, we all pay for their behaviour with the government unwilling to sink moneym into motor racing, due to the behaviour of the minority.

[Group'C']

I think you'll find all the money will be spent at the bottom of the track, I have seen a drawing of the proposed pit changes.
If you've worked there you would have to agree its a pain in the a..e moving everything out of the pit bays up the stairs and dragging trolly's through the MUD
I'll agree with AJ about the drunks up the top - half wouldn't even see the end of the race,
Its like the Cricket(MCG), why pay money to see your favorite sport just to get legless and make idoits of your selfs!

I do wish AVESCO would stop talking about street races, when there are no tracks left for the teams to test on, then he'll start jummping up and down.

[Crash Test]

Lakeside is in very serious shyte unless something drastic happens.

Ok, build them new toilets, but that doesn't cost $24mil. The top of the hill is like the (former) northern outer at Lang Park- very basic, but the best damn place to watch a game of football from. If they built grandstands all over the top of the mountain, would anymore people go there for that one weekend of the year?? Of course not...

Group C- I've never really thought about the steps, but would there be any way at all that could be changed? Remembering back to 1987, they were easily the best pits in the land, and since then, not that many other tracks have caught up (Eastern Creek, what is Hidden Valley like?). But bulldozing everything on the Harris Park side of the track and building new corporate boxes doesn't make a whole heap of sense to me. Paving the pits- yes, fair enough....that sort of thing should have been done a long time ago. It reminds me of Morgan Park- if ever one of the council road making machines had a bit of left over material, they would go and dump it out at the the race track, where it's gladly accepted.

Also, I think the hotel has kind of stalled due to lack of interest...

[racer69]

I think one reason the governments may be not so keen is that they invested in the huge improvements to the mountain in 1987 in anticipation of the '87 World Touring Car Championship round, the chase, new pits & corporate area's, the 'expo' thing, guardrails round the whole track, and they got a 2 years out of it before it wasn't a FISA champiosnhip race, meaning FISA rules didn't apply. I think they don't want to see the money wasted, and with Cochrane's history, they probably don't trust his word.

The top could probably do with some improvements, but grandstands and so on would stuff it completely, plus many probably wouldn't turn up because they can't camp,etc..

I agree that places like Lakeside deserve government funding firstly, but i think that, as the FIA have said recently, track improvements shouldn't be dependent on government donations.

[mtpanorama]

Originally posted by Crash Test
Group C- I've never really thought about the steps, but would there be any way at all that could be changed?

Also, I think the hotel has kind of stalled due to lack of interest...

A few of us were having a chat about the pit area the other day at work (it was real busy ). The biggest problem is the steps and the narrow lane behind the pit area. So why not domolish all the garages behind the pit area and level that off to the same depth as the pit lane and then build enclosed garages that join onto the back of the existing pit area. Knock down all the old buildinds and sheds that are in the pit compound area and tar the lot of it so the trucks can back up to the garages. It would stop that congestion that occors in the laneway behind the pits.
The biggest problem we can see with this idea is that it is too simple and it doesnt allow for more corporate guests.And as we all know they are the only people who count in v8 supercars these days .

The hotel hasnt rated a mention around town for a long time. The sign is still up when you enter the circuit , but niothing has been said about it. The people who were trying to get it going were trying to sell each room idividually and the person who bought them would recieve some sort of return for leasing them back to the hotel company. IIRC they were asking $125000 to $350000 per room, and you couldnt have it back for race weekend.!!!!!!

[Michael H]

I cannot see govt money being spent at the Mountain, unfortunately. The place is not used enough. There should be at least three major races there each year.
I disagree about the top of the mountain. I say build corporate boxes , set back from the track, all the way across the top, with grandstands built on top of these corporate boxes. A restaurant should be built at Castrol Tower site.

[Crash Test]

"I say build corporate boxes , set back from the track, all the way across the top, with grandstands built on top of these corporate boxes. A restaurant should be built at Castrol Tower site."
- But how on earth would that improve the track? Tell the people who have been going up there for the past 30 years to gnat off isn't going make many people happy.

There is already a restaurant at Griffins Bend, how successful is that?