TCR beats Supercars to new Bathurst race

ARG and Supercars were left as the last two bidders for what's been dubbed the 'fifth Bathurst event', sitting alongside the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 12 Hour, Bathurst 6 Hour and Challenge Bathurst.

The Bathurst Regional Council staged its final vote, with ARG named as the winner of the tender.

The outcome means ARG will run two Bathurst events next year, having recently bought the 6 Hour production car race.

It's widely-expected that this new Bathurst event, set for December 2020, will be feature a 500-kilometre international TCR race as its centrepiece.

The programme will also include S5000 and LMP3.

“We expect the event to be up and running in December 2020 and we’re excited about the prospect of seeing new cars and drivers lining up to tackle the challenging circuit," said Bathurst mayor Bobby Bourke.

“Council undertook a detailed tender process to select the successful bid and we’re confident the fifth event will bring dedicated motorsport fans to the circuit in December each year as well as attract new fans to the sport."

ARG boss Matt Braid added: “Australian Racing Group, together with CAMS, is extremely honoured to be awarded the fifth Bathurst event.

“Mount Panorama is an iconic racing circuit that is revered in Australia and throughout the rest of the world.

"We look forward to bringing a significant international focus to Bathurst with competitors coming from all over the world to race in the S5000, TCR, Touring Car Masters, LMP3 and TA2 categories in what will be the grand finale of the global motorsport calendar each year.”

The ARG/BRC deal will run for the next five years.