Well Easter certainly was better spent than sitting around the house, arsing about eating chocolate. Bathurst put on a great little 3 dayer of motorsport, without a V8 McSupercar in sight. The only dissapointment being the car i’d driven 800 kilometres to see (the XR6 Turbo) only get a measly 14th outright placing. Here’s the final rankings.

What was the Bathurst International Motorsport Festival? Well there were a few races, Commodore Cup, classic racers, GT cup and of course the Production Car 12 hour. Surprisingly all were cool and good in their own way. Even the Commodore Cup was actually awesome to watch. My personal fav was the classic cars, because with their crappy old brakes and old fashioned grunt (mostly Mustangs, Mazda rotaries and XU1 Toranas) really keep you on your toes. One Mustang left the most bad arsed black skid mark on a ripple strip after oversteering through a corner the driver must’ve crapped himself!

For bragging rights though the GT cup, full of Lamborginis and Porsche GT3s owned. We got a great spot just coming off of Conrod straight where these exotics really had to break, so you got the full aural spectrum. Surprisingly the Lambo Gallardo (when driven hard) sounds like a John Deere tractor changing down; the Ferrari F430 literally farted between gearshifts and the Porsches, were well just, Porsches. Driven by Porsche drivers. Basically a big helping of beige with some creamy beige sauce.

Speaking of aural senstations, the Production Cars didn’t dissapoint. Well except for a Diesel Alfa Romeo that seemed to be running on wind because there was no engine noise whatsoever. Funnily, a few old Celicas were brapping their way around the track, revving their tits off, sounding the way an Alfa used to! So too an old Honda Integra Type R. Bloody brilliant. It was worth the drive just to see this variety of cars, old and new, racing at once.

An old Ford Falcon TE 50, which sadly didn’t finish sounded simply awesome! A delicious rich V8 burble you wish you could bottle and age. Not so an old VY SS Commodore. It just sounded muted and dull. The XR6 Turbos, sadly, didn’t sound so great. The Typhoon F6 version though sounded like Sir Michael Mouse the Third. Quite simply, it was god!

If you’re thinking of going up (if it happens again) next year, Saturday really is the main day. After all, everyone has to drive home on the Sunday! It’s just chock-a-block racing. There were a few wanky glory laps of hot cars and classic motorbikes around the track, not actually racing. Nonetheless if was great eye candy and pretty cool.

Also there was a dirt track for the Crusty Demon motorbike dudes doing jumps and tricks. Having said that, I don’t think they were THE Crusty Demons, but they were bloody good - especially for free!

What really sucked though was I swear this event was run by communists. Because they seeminly had NO interest in getting money. There were canteens closed, no EFTPOS or ATM facilities, very few Mr Whippy vans or Concession stands and only one Jack Daniels sponsored bar (that wasn’t really accessible. It was a 10 minute walk wherever you were) serving booze. So if you do come, come cashed up. Because otherwise you’ll have to get a pass out and go back into town.

Would I go again?
Hell yeah! For $55 for 3 days, despite the Communist proliteriat giving me the shits, it was just fantastic. The crowd isn’t too bogany and the racing is just awesome. You can access at least half of the track (you can even camp there) and see some great thrills and spills and diversity in motorsport.

Only recommendation is book hotel accomodation in advance or camp. Because I had to stay in the most expensive, misery guts, crappy motel of my life - AND paid 5 times more than mates who stayed in pubs at around $25 a night each.

Roadtrip tips
Best meals of the trip were the Knickerbocker Hotel in Bathurst (massive steaks and a great seafood platter). They serve the pub grub of country legend. For lunch the best was the Cowra Smokehouse, which served a lamp wrap worth marrying.