IT will not be officially revealed until Thursday morning, but keen motorsport fans yesterday got the chance to be the first in the country to pose and snap off a few pictures in front of Bathurst's new Peter Brock Memorial.
Workers yesterday spent the morning putting the monument in place near the National Motor Racing Museum while artist Julie Squires made a final few touches to her massive artwork.
For the crowd of eager observers, armed with video cameras and mobile phones, it provided the perfect opportunity to get the first glimpse of the statue of the man who won nine Bathurst 1000 crowns.
Kirsty and Scott Marnock, from Malgrave in Victoria, arrived it Bathurst on Saturday for their fifth great race and were very impressed by the sculpture.
"It is awesome, it is a very fitting tribute to the man," Kirsty said.
"Definitely it is something wonderful for Bathurst and will generate a lot of interest for the town."
The bronze statue depicts a victorious Peter Brock standing on top his 1984 Holden VK Commodore with the James Hardie Trophy held high above his head.
True to history, Brock's number (05) and all of the sponsors that were on the vehicle during the race are detailed on the car, including HDT, FLY TAA, Castrol and Marlboro.
Bathurst resident Ted Comerford was driving past when he saw the statue and decided to take a closer look.
"It is better than I though it would be, it is very impressive," he said.
"I think people will be very interested with this."
Fellow local Martin Edwards said even though he was more of a Dick Johnson fan, he was pleased with how life-like the Brock work is.
"It looks a lot like him [Peter Brock] and looks a lot better than I thought it would," he said.
"The detail in the car is more I thought it would be."
While members of the public were free to take pictures of the monument yesterday, a private security guard was on hand to try and prevent the media from taking any shot of the depicting the entire sculpture before the official unveiling on Thursday at 9am.
National Motor Racing Museum manager Rod Harvey said a huge crowd was expected for the unveiling.
"We are expecting around 150 people to be here, it should be a big drawcard for the museum," he said.
"It has been an expensive project but the results speak for themselves."
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