Bathurst 12 Hour RIP?

[Alan59]

Beginning to think the timeline is something like this
October-Ratel can’t get anything out of Supercars about the 2022 race or even if the new owners want to proceed with it.
November-Ratel goes rogue and announces March dates to get something happening.That the dates clash with Sebring tells you it was never serious
December-February dates announced but guessing no real contact between Ratel and Supercars
December-Omicron causes postponement of IGTC race in South Africa.Lack of contact reflected in the new dates are 18 days before Bathurst starts.Given a lot of the cars move by boat this is obviously a logistical impossibility
December-Supercars has a contract with Bathurst Council to run a second meeting.A Nationals calendar appears with a  NSW TBA round listed for May which would satisfy their obligations
December-12 Hour web site has no details about ticket sales,camp sites,support categories etc.Only 1 entry has made an announcement about contesting the race.
Mid December-After all this Perottet declares freedom day and Covid goes beserk.
January-Stories begin to emerge about race not happening.No confirmation 6 weeks out.
Story floated about 12 Hour in May.For who?The 15 cars that made it to Bathurst in December?Its not happening.
Guessing the new Supercar owners are not keen.Can’t find anyone to buy out the race.I’m afraid it is dead.
My second favourite event in Australia after Albert Park.At least the Going Global book will cover the entire GT3 history.Very small consolation.

[Sonic]

Hope you're wrong about a 'permanent' death but I doubt 2022 will happen at a minimum.

Would be surprised if nobody wanted to take on the date. Plenty of people want to race there so it would be easy enough to put a meeting together with a grid capacity turnout.

[Kytabu]

On the point of tickets and camping, previous campsite holders received an e-mail from Bathurst Council three weeks ago regarding campsite sales. They were intending for bookings to start in mid-January

[kennymiesta]

Beginning to think the timeline is something like this
October-Ratel can’t get anything out of Supercars about the 2022 race or even if the new owners want to proceed with it.
November-Ratel goes rogue and announces March dates to get something happening.That the dates clash with Sebring tells you it was never serious
December-February dates announced but guessing no real contact between Ratel and Supercars
December-Omicron causes postponement of IGTC race in South Africa.Lack of contact reflected in the new dates are 18 days before Bathurst starts.Given a lot of the cars move by boat this is obviously a logistical impossibility
December-Supercars has a contract with Bathurst Council to run a second meeting.A Nationals calendar appears with a  NSW TBA round listed for May which would satisfy their obligations
December-12 Hour web site has no details about ticket sales,camp sites,support categories etc.Only 1 entry has made an announcement about contesting the race.
Mid December-After all this Perottet declares freedom day and Covid goes beserk.
January-Stories begin to emerge about race not happening.No confirmation 6 weeks out.
Story floated about 12 Hour in May.For who?The 15 cars that made it to Bathurst in December?Its not happening.
Guessing the new Supercar owners are not keen.Can’t find anyone to buy out the race.I’m afraid it is dead.
My second favourite event in Australia after Albert Park.At least the Going Global book will cover the entire GT3 history.Very small consolation.

I hope you're wrong about the "permanent" part of this. It is such an awesome event. If Supercars don't want it, I can see someone else coming in and running it. It's too big of an event now days for it to disappear completely.

[Alan59]

On the point of tickets and camping, previous campsite holders received an e-mail from Bathurst Council three weeks ago regarding campsite sales. They were intending for bookings to start in mid-January

There is another sign that Supercars want out.Since 2016  they have run the camping.
Maybe the council was hoping someone else would step in.
Highly unlikely to impossible in the current Covid economic climate.The 12 Hour is an expensive race to run and Bathurst is a expensive circuit to operate.At a minimum you need a large field paying large entry fees and a strong base of event sponsorship.
If anyone thinks I am death riding the race the opposite is true.I have been to every 12 Hour race at Bathurst since it started in 1991.It is my second favourite motor sport event in Australia behind only Albert Park.

[skaifeman]

A glimmer of hope?
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/supercars-sro-committed-2022-bathurst-12-hour/7181656/

[Alan59]

A glimmer of hope?
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/supercars-sro-committed-2022-bathurst-12-hour/7181656/

Not sure how much credibility to place in this.This would be the 4th press release put out by Ratel about the 12 Hour compared to 0 by Supercars who actually run the meeting.
Also he talks about holding the race possibly in March or April which has been established is impossible for logistical and contractural reasons around circuit hire and competitor availability.As for May checking the European and American GT3 calendars of which Ratel’s series are only a small part you might find every weekend is spoken for.

[Sonic]

A glimmer of hope?
https://www.motorsport.com/endurance/news/supercars-sro-committed-2022-bathurst-12-hour/7181656/

Not sure how much credibility to place in this.This would be the 4th press release put out by Ratel about the 12 Hour compared to 0 by Supercars who actually run the meeting.
Also he talks about holding the race possibly in March or April which has been established is impossible for logistical and contractural reasons around circuit hire and competitor availability.As for May checking the European and American GT3 calendars of which Ratel’s series are only a small part you might find every weekend is spoken for.

also add in that the 6 hour is on at Easter so you would be putting 2 big events close to each other which would be taxing on the volunteers

[Alan59]

May features the Nürburgring 24,rounds of Ratel’s Euro GT series,Weathertech series in US,Asian Le Mans,DTM,British GT,Spa WEC..The chance of an international GT race in Australia in May is zero.

[skaifeman]

May features the Nürburgring 24,rounds of Ratel’s Euro GT series,Weathertech series in US,Asian Le Mans,DTM,British GT,Spa WEC..The chance of an international GT race in Australia in May is zero.

They're giving it a crack! May 13-15. Ratel says the GT Challenge will be re-jigged to accommodate this.
https://www.speedcafe.com/2022/01/14/bathurst-12-hour-postponement-confirmed/

[Alan59]

Glad to be wrong.I can’t see many if any overseas cars being here but that weekend is the best for overseas driver availability.A round of Ratel’s Euro GT season scheduled but that’s about it.The weekend after is DTM and Asian Le Mans and 1 week after that is Nürburgring 24.2 weeks before is WEC at Spa and from memory week before is Weathertech round.
Even if it finishes up being a mainly local race with a smallish field much better than no race at all.

[skaifeman]

Even if it finishes up being a mainly local race with a smallish field much better than no race at all.

Agreed .

[kennymiesta]

They HAD to choose the weekend of my sisters wedding....

She's going to be pissed that I'm missing her special day 

[stevo qld]

Surely, there are a lot of local cars now, with some having older spare cars that could be leased.

If numbers are down, just add another class such as superseded Porsches.

Maybe it is too expensive for additional, mostly amateur, entrants?

[Alan59]

Yes there are a lot of older cars.
Yes it is a very expensive race for entrants.
Just adding old cars with Am drivers might help the balance sheet but it does nothing for the spectacle of the race.
What has made this race great is the large number of top flight international GT3 teams and drivers.
Something resembling a glorified combined Aus GT Chship /AMRS GT grid is hardly equivalent.
But like I posted better a lesser race than no race at all.