The programme of events for the long awaited return of motorcycle racing to the Bathurst Showground has been expanded to include a Maters Shootout, a series of match races for the top riders that is certain to excite fans.
Saturday March 5 is locked in for race day, after practice on the Friday, for the Bathurst Long Track Masters meeting, more than four years since the last time the venue hosted racing.
If 111 events across 14 classes of competition were not enough, organisers have now added another feature to be staged around what is normally the tea break for the meeting.
The timing of that break in racing is invariably dictated by the setting sun with officials cautious about sending off a full field of machines looking in to the setting sun low in the western sky.
Instead the series of match races will involve just two machines at a time, and they will be the best performed riders up to that point in the programme.
There will be four classes for the Masters Shootout – Pro 450 and Over 40s / Unlimited 2-stroke machines, long track sliders and the two three-wheel classes, namely dirt track sidecars and speedway sidecars.
Lap times recorded in qualifying heats during the afternoon will determine the three fastest in the sidecar classes and five fastest in the two-wheel classes.
The Shootout format is simple – the two slowest qualifiers will have a one-lap match race with the loser eliminated and the winner progressing to take on the next fastest of the qualifiers.
For the last two riders it will be a ‘dash for cash’ with only the winner taking the prizemoney from local businesses Bustin’ Free Earthworks and Schumack Engineering.
The last meeting at Bathurst Showground back in 2017 saw the Shootout staged as a series of time trials and one of those winners Mackenzie Childs is back this year aiming for a repeat success in the Pro 450 class.
Fans should remember they can secure their tickets now via the website https://www.eventbrite.com.au/o/panorama-motorcycle-club-long-track-40142513283
