New title sponsor for Bathurst 1000

This year’s running of the famous Bathurst 1000 race at Mount Panorama will be the last to be under the Supercheap Auto banner as the automotive retailer announced it had parted ways with Supercars after a 16-year run as the title sponsor for The Great Race.

Insider reports suggest that while Supercheap Auto was offering up to two-and-a-half times more than what they currently do to be the title sponsor of the Bathurst 1000, the number wasn’t enough for Supercars who instead went with one of the company’s biggest competitors in the automotive retail segment.

Iconic Australian brand Repco will make its debut as the primary sponsor of the Bathurst 1000 from 2021, taking on a five-year to take the partnership through to at least 2025.

Best remembered as the company which supplied Jack Brabham with the V8 engine for his BT19 which won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1966, a Repco motor also powered the BT11A to the first 100 mile an hour lap of Bathurst in 1967.

Having been taken over by American automotive parts giant Genuine Parts Company in 2018, Repco’s move to become a title sponsor of the Bathurst 1000 will strengthen the credibility of both brands according to Supercars CEO Sean Seamer.

“We are delighted to welcome one of Australian motorsport’s most recognisable and premium brands as our naming rights partner of our marquee event from 2021,” Seamer said.

“Having a partner who wants to celebrate this iconic Australian event as much as we do is great news for our sport and an event which is broadcast to around 298 million homes in 90 countries.”

“Having such a prestigious brand behind us is testament Repco’s ongoing support for the category.”

Supercheap Auto’s run of 16 years as the primary sponsor of the Bathurst 1000 puts it second in the line of years at the forefront of backing Australia’s Great Race after the James Hardie company put its own name and the Hardie-Ferodo offshoot to the race from 1969 to 1987.