The Mount is taking shape for the Bathurst 1000.
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While Supercar teams are flatout preparing for the endurance events of this year's championship, they are not the only ones on the "rev limiter".
A major contributor to Supercar events for more than two decades, Sign Event has the task of ensuring Bathurst's iconic race track at Mt Panorama is looking its best and that not a concrete barrier or billboard is out of place at least three times a year.
While born out of the Gold Coast Indycar race in the 1990s, Sign Event is now almost as much a Bathurst business as it is a Queensland operation.
Headed by industry leader, Mark Weissel, Sign Event has played a role in preparing and presenting the signage around Mt Panorama's 6.213km circuit since 1993.
In recent years Sign Event's commitment to Bathurst has included the purchase of two four-bedroom homes at Kelso, which also include garages for the storage of equipment and supplies.
Three years ago, Sign Event employed local Tristan Langfield to coordinate all the company's Bathurst activities on a full-time basis.
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For more than half the year Langfield is joined by up to 15 Sign Event staff working day and night seven days a week to hit race-day deadlines with as little disruption to local traffic and residents as possible.
When you sit back and consider the reskinning of Mt Panorama's pit-straight bridge, the painting of Pirtek Skyline, the major billboards at Murray's Corner and branding of almost every piece of concrete on both sides of the 6.213km track, you start to get an understanding of the enormity of the regular task.
In many cases, much of that signage is being re-done for the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 12 Hour and Bathurst 6 Hour events.
"There is nothing quite like The Mountain," said Weissel.
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"It is an incredible amount of work to have it looking as pristine as possible for the fans as well as the national and international TV audience for all the events through the year, but it is something we are very proud of and take very seriously.
"While our head office is on the Gold Coast, we also consider ourselves a Bathurst business and contribute to the local economy wherever we can."
In the next six-week period Supercars have to deliver three of the biggest events of the year including this weekend's Penrite Sandown 500, the Repco Bathurst 1000 (Oct 5-8) and the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 (Oct 27-29) and Sign Event will be presenting each event.
Producing and installing all the signage at Mt Panorama takes seven weeks, while it takes five weeks to get everything in place for the Gold Coast event, which is located in the heart of one of the biggest residential and tourism hubs in the country.
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You don't have to be Einstein to workout the logistics involved when you understand there are just three weeks between those two events. Then you throw in this week's Sandown 500 for good measure.
"It is always madness at this time of the year, but our team have been doing it for so many years and really thrive on it," said Weissel.
"Like a successful race team it is all about people and we have the best and most committed in the business.
"We are constantly changing and trying to work on more efficient and effective ways of doing things.
"Applying paint or vinyl, which people can see us physically delivering in the lead up to every event, is probably about 20 percent of the actual job.
"I guess that can also be related back to a race team where all the preparation is done back at the workshop, but few people get to see it."
While a go-to company in Australian motorsports, Sign Event has unquestionable reputation across the country with their work for the Gold Coast Suns, the World Surfing League, the Norwell Motorplex, the Australian PGA and even the recent Gold Coast Airshow.
Weissel's corporate relationships are vast and he has a team of staff which is dedicated to maintaining the look and feel of 183 Chempro Chemists across the country.
Signage work for this year's Bathurst 1000 started on August 31 and will continue up until the starter's flag drops on Sunday, October 8.
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