'King of the mountain' immortalised in bronze
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Peter Brock was killed in a car crash at the Targa West Rally in WA. (Getty Images)
A four metre high sculpture of Peter Brock will be erected today on Bathurst's Mount Panorama in central western New South Wales.
The $100,000 sculpture features the motor racing legend standing on top of his VK Commodore after he won the great race in 1984.
The bronze piece includes cigarette advertising on the side of the car, despite calls to remove it from the final design.
Sculptor Julie Squires says she has gone to great lengths to ensure the piece is as realistic as possible.
"Because it's an '84 vehicle, trying to get the flair kit, I had to wait seven weeks to get a flair kit made from South Australia, to get the right Group C flair kit, so I'm hoping that those people who are passionate [about] the cars and of course Peter Brock, will appreciate the amount of work that's gone into getting this work as correct as ... [possible]," she said.
She says she ignored calls to remove the advertising because she wanted it to realistically depict Brock and his delight at winning the motor race in 1984.
"I have seen other seen other portraits of Peter where he has a serious face, while they are very accurate representations I've been trying to get across a different, joyous sort of work," she said.
Bathurst 1000
Meanwhile, there will be fewer police on Mount Panorama for this weekend's Bathurst 1000, compared to last year's event.
About 600 officers will patrol the Mount, Bathurst and roads across the region.
For the second consecutive year, the amount of alcohol that can be taken into the event each day will be limited.
Assistant Police Commissioner Bob Waites, who is overseeing the operation, says it is unnecessary to maintain last year's high police presence.
"The crowd was well behaved last year, it was a good event. It was a very happy atmosphere and we believe that'll be covered again the same way this year," he said.
"We don't see the need to make it a police event. It's a sporting event.
"We do a risk assessment on the sporting event and see that there's not the need for the same numbers we had last year."
However, Assistant Commissioner Waites says the police operation extends beyond Mount Panorama and Bathurst.
"Given that many of the patrons that come there come from interstate and they don't all come straight from Sydney," he said.
"The traffic operations spans the 360 degrees right around Bathurst out for several hundred kilometres."
