the toil placed on the cold mix bitumen surface by the race, with the largest entry the race had seen, overwhelmed the phillip island racetrack. dangerous potholes formed all around the circuit, leaving a hefty repair bill, and an ominous threat to the future growth of the race. staying at phillip island, as attractive as other factors presented, was plainly impossible and the search began by the promoters for a new home for the increasingly popular endurance production car race. earlier the same year the bathurst six hour classic had been held at the mount panorama circuit near bathurst (won by a daimler not eligible to run in the armstrong), and that circuit immediately entered speculation.