Bathurst Clubs Real Winners on Race Weekend

Every October, racing enthusiasts from all corners of Australia converge on the regional town, leading to a remarkable economic surge, including at local clubs.

In the week leading into the race, campers begin arriving as soon as the Monday, with the influx of visitors a huge win for business.

The racing enthusiasts seek accommodation, entertainment and meals. The clubs see one of their busiest trading periods of the year, and not just over on the weekend itself.

“We've had a massive upturn in business coming through from Tuesday,” says Bathurst RSL Marketing Manager Janneke Van Der Sterren. 

“(Wednesday) is massive because they've got a street party and signing session (with Supercars drivers) just down the road from us here.”

This street party, which is a new addition this year, saw the Supercars driven behind a police escort from the circuit into the centre of town. 

The route went right past the back of Panthers Bathurst. With the amount of race fans drawn into the town and away from the campsites by this promotion, business for the Club was up massively, even compared with the same period last year.

“The numbers we did were pretty much doubled what we did race week last year,” Panthers Bathurst General Manager Mark Burns says of the Wednesday trading.

“We did $10k in the bistro (Wednesday night), normally on a race week we do about $6k. The street party was fantastic.”

Typical racegoers have changed over the past few years, with the Bathurst 1000 now very much a family-friendly occasion.

“I've been here since the 90s and I can tell you back in the 90s they were really rowdy,” Janneke says. 

“But we actually find nowadays that there's a lot of families that come into town, which is great. We also get lots of repeat groups that come in year after year after year.

“A lot of people travel from places such as New Zealand and Victoria. We get lots of groups of friends who meet up every year.”

Panthers too have seen a similar patronage, with a plethora of kids who in NSW are still on school holidays.

Bathurst has no shortage of options for a meal after a big day of race watching, and Janneke says there’s no need for special promotions or offers to entice patrons. There is just one thing they are sure to stock up on.

“Our experience tells us that people want to eat steak,” she says. “So in the bistro we have got two different wagyu beef steaks on special. (On Tuesday night) we almost ran out of room on our grill.

“We don't do anything special. We just don't need to because people are coming in anyway. So it's one of those things that we just do what we do best.”

It’s not just within the clubs that hungry mouths are fed. Panthers Bathurst also has the contract this year for the catering of Mount Panorama staff and volunteers. 

The Club prepared sandwiches which were taken up to the circuit for the hungry marshals stationed around the track.

On Sunday evening and Monday morning as the race teams, campervans and fans return home, Bathurst becomes a bit quieter. 

The Peter Brock trophy may have been awarded to just two drivers, but the clubs are also winners, too.