How the 2023 Bathurst 1000 is the 60th anniversary race

WE’VE been asked plenty of questions and spotted plenty of people online wondering how the 2023 edition of the Repco Bathurst 1000 is the 60^th anniversary running of the race.

2023 marks the 60^th anniversary of the 1963 Armstrong 500, the first time the ‘Great Race’ was held at Mount Panorama.

However, the convoluted history of the race means that many of its milestones end up being celebrated in different years.

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For instance, this year is the 60^th anniversary of the race behind held at Bathurst, but it’s not the 60^th anniversary of the race itself.

The Great Race was first held at Phillip Island in 1960, which hosted the race for three editions before it moved north for 1963.

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Then there’s the infamous ‘Battle for Bathurst’ era of the late 1990s, during which two separate Bathurst 1000s were held each year.

Super Tourers tackled the traditional ARDC-run event in 1997 and 1998, while the newly-established V8 Supercars held its own 1000-kilometre enduro – originally branded as the Australian 1000, then the ‘1000 Classic’ – in the same years.

The V8 event prospered while the ARDC event foundered, leaving just one Bathurst 1000 on the sporting calendar from 1999 onwards.

In the same way that rugby league considers both the NSWRL and Super League Grand Finals of 1997 as part of the same lineage that continues today with the NRL, both the Super Touring and V8 Supercars editions of the race are counted as part of Bathurst 1000 history, which continues under the auspices of Supercars this weekend.

The two years of double-ups, though, means that the 60^th running of the race doesn’t coincide with its 60^th anniversary. Instead, the 60^th running of the ‘Great Race’ occurred back in 2020.

Another bit of confusion creeps in because of the celebrations around the 2012 race.

On that occasion, Supercars celebrated the 50^th year of the ‘Great Race’ at Bathurst, a milestone that is subtly different from an anniversary.

The timespan of 1963 to 2012 inclusive totals 50 years, making 2012 the 50^th year. In contrast, the decade anniversaries fall on years ending in ‘three’ – ie 10^th anniversary in 1973, 30^th in 1992 and 50^th in 2013.

Repco Bathurst 1000: The 60^th Milestones

2020: 60^th running

2022: 60^th year

2023: 60^th anniversary