The Bathurst 1000 is a special race at a magical place.

The flavours have been reduced to two, the grid from 60-odd to fewer than 30, but the intensity of the V8 supercars contest is stronger than ever, with at least a handful of combos right in the fight for victory.

It was pleasing to see Channel Nine's 60 Minutes do a piece on Bathurst 1000 contenders Jamie Whincup and Garth Tander - two brilliant and personable young drivers. It was poignant to see the willing sacrifice of Whincup's folks to bankroll his early karting career to the tune of $70,000 a year, leaving them skint.

Sadly, though, the work experience presenter naively offered up some laughable Bathurst crowd predictions and TV audiences. Credibility, my son, credibility … Kerry would not have approved.

Tander and Whincup, and the other gifted drivers and professional teams, should be the focus this weekend. It's a shame that the so-called marquee events - Adelaide's Clipsal 500, the Gold Coast Indy and Bathurst - attract more party animals than race fans.

Genuine fans have generally welcomed the booze limit. Poor souls have each been limited to a daily BYO can limit of a slab of full-strength beer.

Alonso ignoredBMW's formula one team has confirmed it is sticking with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica next season, almost certainly ensuring Fernando Alonso, who is running out of options, will remain at Renault.

In other F1 news, Canada has been unceremoniously axed without warning from the 2009 calendar.

Tatnell honouredSPEEDWAY remembers one of its greats next Saturday at Parramatta City Raceway with the running of the inaugural George Tatnell Legends Night.

Taking cues from the drive-anything attitude of Tatnell, the emphasis is on double duty driving - sprintcar and speedcar.

Tatnell, who died last year from cancer, in 1988 became the first to win both national titles. A $2000 bonus awaits any driver who claims the double.