AUSTRALIA'S fastest growing sport, V8 Supercars has doubled its fan base in the past 10 years
Approximately 1.9 million fans have witnessed the Ford v Holden battles trackside around the country in the last 12 months, making V8 Supercars the third most attended sport behind cricket and AFL Football in Australia.
This year's Bathurst 1000 will see the attendance record for the 'great race' shattered.
Ticket sales have reached new levels, new grandstands are near completion and every camp ground on the mountain and motel in a 200 mile radius of Bathurst, have the 'no vacancy' sign on display.
Every state in Australia benefits when the V8 Supercar circus rolls into town.
Adelaide, Darwin, Townsville, Melbourne, Perth, the Gold Coast and a number of smaller country towns including Winton in Victoria, Ipswich in Queensland and Launceston in Tassie all reap a financial bonus when the Supercar boys arrive to strut their stuff.
Bathurst is no different.
The economic benefit to the town is enormous with more and more fans making the pilgrimage to Mount Panorama each year providing employment opportunities right across the Central West.
Facilities and amenities have been upgraded to the tune of $26 million over the past few years to accommodate the ever increasing interest from the corporate community and the race fans themselves, creating hundreds of full time jobs.
The Australian economy benefits along the way as well.
The 14 round championship series is shown in many countries and the Supercheap Bathurst 1000 will beam live to the United States, England, Europe and New Zealand.
Packaged highlights or on delay vision will be seen in 110 countries reaching 850 million homes.
When the 'great race' unfolds on television throughout the world, the Mount Panorama spectacle will have a hidden agenda, showcasing not only the best touring car championship on the planet.
The audience will also be watching the telecast will see Bathurst, New South Wales and Australia at it's best.
Okay the rest of the world can wait.
Economic benefits, employment opportunities, tourist dollars and vision of the lucky country overseas will make little difference to the 150,000 race fans heading to the Mountain this year, many who have spent a weekend in October for as long as they can remember.
Some began with Mum and Dad 30 years ago, with mates, with the girlfriend or family cheering on the legends in Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Dick Johnson, Colin Bond, Alan Grice or Mark Skaife.
These days old Mum and Dad still watch the race at home on the new plasma, the girlfriend has become the wife and the mates now take the younger generation junior Supercar 'ankle biters' to watch the new breed of drivers who grace the racetrack 'Skaifey', 'Lowndsey', 'Richo' 'Murph', 'Bargs' and the Kelly brothers.
A unique product that blows people away with the power, the speed, the noise and the excitement when the Supercars stars and cars come calling, another magic mountain moment is about to unfold.
FINKE DRIFT CHAMPION
Victorian driver Luke Fink has been crowned the new Australian Drift Champion, after winning the 2009 Drift National Champion at Oran Park Raceway.
Having finished second in last year's Drift Australia Series, Fink, one of the event favourites didn't disappoint.
Fink topped qualifying in his Nissan Silvia and advanced through the battle stages to book his place in the final, where he took on South Australian Simon Podlewski, the new recruit from last year's championship winning outfit, Team CTS.
On the second run of the final, Fink executed a clean overtaking move on Podlewski (Nissan 180SX) to secure victory.
"I'm stoked, it's a great result," Fink beamed.
"Last year we came to Oran Park trying to win the championship but we couldn't quite get it done.
"We were really keen to go one better this year; the car was fantastic, it didn't miss a beat all day and we're going home with the trophy,'' said Fink.
Third place went to Jake Jones, who fought back after a crash in Saturday's pre-event practice session, which saw the team work well into the night.
Dan Mackie and Bryce Chapman were the pick of the New South Wales drivers, with Mackie finishing fourth behind Jones.
Safe Motoring
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