"The speed limit is pretty clear, but some people just don't get it."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Those were the words Bathurst Highway Patrol's top cop had to say about Mount Panorama just hours before the start of Operation Australia Day.
Friday was day one of the operation and it ended with a vehicle being towed away from Mount Panorama after being detected going well above the speed limit.
Police received a phone call at about 11.20am from a member of the public advising that a green Ford Falcon with no registration plates was driving at excessive speed and on the incorrect side of the road on Mountain Straight.
Bathurst Highway Patrol was already conducting speed enforcement on Mount Panorama and within moments observed the vehicle, which was then clocked at 125km/h.
Police stopped the vehicle and spoke with the driver, a 49-year-old man from Sydney.
He was breath tested, returning a negative result, and it was determined that he was a suspended driver who had been caught drink-driving two weeks earlier.
The driver told police that the unregistered vehicle had been imported from South Africa and he had picked it up from Melbourne a few days ago.
He was driving the vehicle back home to Sydney and when asked why he didn't have an unregistered vehicle permit, he stated: "They were closed".
When the man was asked about his manner of driving and excessive speed, he replied, "I'm just doing a re-enactment", referring to the Bathurst 1000 race.
Police impounded the XY Falcon for three months due to the excessive speed.
The man was issued with a field court attendance notice to appear at Bathurst Local Court in March 2022 for the offence of driving whilst suspended.
