MAGAZInE pREsEnTs
BATHURST ThIRd EdITIon
AUSTRALIA $49.95 inc.gst
19mm spine
MAGAZInE pREsEnTs
THE DIPPER
1964
The Barry Seton and Herb Taylor Ford Cortina GT leads a group of cars through the Dipper in the 1964 Great Race. Seton and Taylor eventually finished second.
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Left: Peter Brock became a household name through his achievements at Bathurst. He claimed nine victories at the Mountain, a feat that will possibly never be matched.
PETER BROCK
Bathurst 1972
The making of a legend
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etting that elusive breakthrough win at Bathurst is tough. Many great Australian racing drivers would give back every other win in their motor sport careers for just one victory at Mount Panorama. Drivers like Glenn Seton can tell you how cruel the Mountain can be. And many other drivers have also had a near certain victory snatched from them in the dying stages of the race. But for those lucky enough to claim victory at Bathurst, it can give them self-belief and a confidence that they can do it again. That was certainly the case for the man who would later become known as the ‘King of the Mountain’. The iconic touring car event, which would become the Great Race that we know today, was only seven years old when a young Peter Brock made his Bathurst debut – ironically that year he also drove
in a Monaro with experienced driver Des West. West and Brock finished a credible third, but it wasn’t until 1972, when Brock won the Great Race for the first time in a little six-cylinder Holden Torana LJ XU-1, that Australian racing fans knew they were about to witness a very special era. “It was the victory that changed my life; there is no doubt about that,” admitted Brock. The race favorite was Allan Moffat in the awesome Ford Falcon XY GTHO, but this race was destined to be the race where a new legend was made. The rivalry between Brock and Moffat had been building when Brock started winning races in 1972. “There were a number of ingredients which are timeless… there were two guys representing Holden [Brock and Colin Bond] and almost one guy representing Ford… I suppose there was a couple of Ford guys – Fred [Gibson] and Allan Moffat – but V8X
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Right: The undisputed King of the Mountain, Peter ‘Perfect’ Brock. Far right: Gentleman Jim Richards has come closest to Brock’s feat of nine Great Race wins.
Right: The workingclass man’s hero, Larry Perkins, has conquered the Mountain six times. Far right: Mark Skaife’s won Bathurst multiple times in a Nissan and a Holden.
Right: Craig Lowndes proved he was a Bathurst natural right from his first start. Far right: Born in Canada, Allan Moffat became an Aussie Ford icon.
Right: Greg Murphy is a natural at Bathurst, remembered for that lap in 2003. Far right: Jamie Whincup has won four Bathurst 1000s before his 30th birthday.
Right: Dick Johnson proved that hardluck stories can turn into personal triumphs. Far right: Garth Tander has become a consistent Bathurst threat. 22
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race
BATHURST HEROES
Ten of the best
Drivers who have won three or more at the Mountain
T
here is little doubt that Mount Panorama, Bathurst is the most revered motor racing circuit in Australia. In fact, many would say that it is a match to the best that the rest of the world has to offer. Its tight corners and narrow, concrete-lined straights make it one of the most difficult and dangerous places to race a car on the planet. Plenty of racing stars from Australia and around the world have tried to conquer the Mountain over the years, and many of them have failed. The fables of drivers trying to tame the Mountain over the past 50 years have created the legend that the success of today’s V8 Supercar championship is built on. But Bathurst is about more than just car racing. It is about the many stories of man and machine taking on the might of Mount Panorama.
All of these men have their tales, some of hard luck and others of personal triumph. Such is the magic of the 1000-kilometre touring car races around Bathurst, and the 500-mile races that preceded them, that to merely compete in this great event is an achievement, while to actually finish the race can be a feat of life-changing proportions. But those who have truly triumphed at the Mountain are those who have beaten the odds to win Australia’s iconic motor race. There are not many who can call themselves multiple winners, and even fewer who have conquered the Mountain three or more times. In fact, there are just 10 of them, from Allan Moffat to Jamie Whincup, who lay claim to being Australian touring car greats. Their stories are chronicled on the pages that follow… V8X
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THE ULTIMATE TEST DRIVE 1963-1972
1968
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race
Tony Roberts and Bob Watson on their way to third in the Great Race of 1968 in their Monaro GTS 327.
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Far left: Allan Moffat and Ian Geoghegan won the 1973 Great Race in their Ford Falcon XA GT. Left: Peter Brock tastes the champagne after his maiden victory in 1972. Below left: The car that started the Brockie legend – the ‘72 Holden Torana XU-1. Right: The new King of the Mountain is crowned.
No moRe RoAd RAceRS From Series Production to Improved Production (Group C)
f Australian Touring Cars were on page one of the Sydney Sun-Herald something had to be wrong – and it was. The Great Race was about to change forever, and along with it, Australian touring car racing. It was 1972, a time when the Bathurst enduro was for stock-standard production cars – many were even road registered. The Bathurst 500, as it was then known, had become a major marketing tool, the event a true battle of manufacturers who were keen to prove their engineering ability, quality, performance and reliability to the car-buying public. ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ was the catch-cry.
These cars didn’t compete for the Australian Touring Car Championship – that was for modified machines, such as Norm Beechey’s Holden Monaro, Allan Moffat’s Ford Mustang, Bob Jane’s Chevrolet Camaro and Ian Geoghegan’s Ford Falcon. So to the manufacturers, Bathurst was everything. Almost since the race’s inception, manufacturers had built Bathurst specials – hotted-up versions of their road cars and each year, they would build them with bigger engines capable of greater acceleration and faster top speeds. Ford’s Cortina GT 500 won the Great Race in 1965 with a 72 kW 1.5-litre four-cylinder V8X
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Right: Peter Brock wins in 1975. Far left: The start of the 1979 Great Race. Left: Bernie Haehnle and Wayne Rogerson claimed the Class C victory in 1973. Bottom left: Brock wins again in 1984; in the dominant Commodore VK.
THe KING IS CROWNeD
1973-1984
The Peter Brock era
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y the early ‘70s Bathurst was deeply etched into the Australian motor racing scene, and the Holden versus Ford battles were creating a legend of their own. Following 1972, Peter Brock had emerged as the new Holden hero and Allan Moffat remained the idol of Ford fans. The 1973 Great Race – the first held over the new metric distance of 1000 kilometres or 163 laps (pre-construction of the Chase) of Mount Panorama – was a classic General versus Blue Oval skirmish. That year was also the first time that the classes were determined solely by engine capacity after a
complicated formula which separated the classes by a combination of engine capacity and retail price had been tried in 1972. While Moffat and co-driver Ian Geoghegan were awarded the $10,000 prize money for the race victory, the story that had unfolded earlier in the day was the kind of stuff of which the Bathurst legend is made. On lap 107 Doug Chivas – who was co-driving the Holden Dealer Team Torana LJ XU1 with Brock – ran out of petrol at the Esses on top of the Mountain while leading the race. He coasted the little Torana down the hill, around Forrest’s Elbow, and along Conrod Straight. V8X
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Right: Larry Perkins has fond memories of the Group C days, having won three Bathurst 1000 codriving Commodores with Peter Brock (below left) in the era. Far left: Jaguar, Volvo and Mustang were all contenders under the new ‘international’ Group A regulation. Left: Mike Burgmann finished eighth in his Mazda RX-7 in 1984, sadly he was killed in an accident in his Commodore in 1986.
TAking on THe woRld Group C to Group A
n the early 1980s Australian motor racing was looking for international relevance. Fuelled by Alan Jones’ Formula One world championship at the start of the decade, local stars and administrators were keen to show the world just how competitive our abundant driving talent could be on the world stage. So it made sense to abandon our uniquelyAustralian categories and replace them with similar international classes. This would allow local drivers to more easily compete overseas and make Australia a more attractive destination for international drivers. The Aussie world assault began soon after Jones’
big win, and it quickly gained momentum. Firstly, our premier open-wheeler class, Formula 5000 – no longer an international category having been discarded in the United States and Europe –was dropped for 1981 in favour of Formula Pacific (aka Formula Atlantic and Formula Mondial). In 1984, Sandown Park promoter, the Light Car Club of Australia, ambitiously staged a financially-disastrous round of the World Endurance Championship for Le Mans type sports cars, while in 1985, South Australia transformed the Australian Grand Prix into a fair dinkum Formula One world championship event. There was also a successful push to globalise our V8X
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Right: Peter Brock didn’t dominate in Group A like he had during the Group C era – having only the one win in 1987. Far left: Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy finished third in 1985 in their Jaguar XJ-S – The sister car of John Goss and Armin Hahne won the race. Left: Allan Grice (right) and Graeme Bailey celebrate their 1986 victory. Below left: The Ray Ellis/ Bruce Williams Commodore is virtually written-off following a coming together with the George Fury/Mark Skaife Nissan in practice in 1988.
THe new woRld STAge
1985-1996
The international invasion
A
fter the introduction of Group A racing to Australia in 1985 the James Hardie 1000 of that year posed more questions than answers in its lead-up. The domestic Australian Touring Car Championship Series had thrown up enough variety already with Dick Johnson campaigning a Mustang, Jim Richards, who eventually won the series, ran a BMW 635CSi, and the VK Commodore was at a distinct disadvantage under the new rules. Add to this Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar and a swath of other manufacturers and the Group A formula was set for success. 51 cars lined up for the race with 11 different manufacturers represented. Tom Walkinshaw
entered three factory-backed Jaguar XJS cars in what was one of the most intimidating appearances in the race’s history. The race will be remembered for the dominance of the Jaguars and the remarkable events surrounding the removal of both front and rear windscreens from Peter Brock’s Commodore. However, it was not Walkinshaw who took the glory as expected, but it was the Australian hero of yesteryear, John Goss, and teammate Armin Hahne, who would be on top of the podium at the end of the race. With the failure of the Jeff Allam/Ron Dickson Jaguar on lap three and oil cooler issues suffered by V8X
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Top left: Glenn Seton’s Falcon promised a lot but delivered little beyond the ability to qualify well in the early ‘90s. The cars had pace but suffered too many mechanical failures. Left: Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford were the first drivers to win after the race focus turned to a Holden versus Ford V8 formula. Bottom left: The success of the Nissan GT-R put an end to Group A regulations in Australia. Jim Richards and Mark Skaife scored backto-back wins in 1991 and 1992 races. The ‘92 win was most unpopular with Ford fans who believed Dick Johnson should have been handed victory after bad weather brought a premature end to the race. Right: 1967 Formula 1 world champion Denny Hulme made a number of visits to Bathurst. 1992 was his last when he died after suffering a heart attack while on Conrod Straight. Hulme pulled his BMW up against the concrete wall in his last act as a driver.
SHow me THe money Group A to V8 Supercars
n the early ‘90s there was a mood for change in Australian racing. The desire of complying with world racing categories was no longer present; in fact, in some quarters there was almost the attitude of ‘stuff the rest of the world’. Faced with the need to reduce costs, regain fan approval – following the previous few races having been won by Japanese manufacturer, Nissan, which was a situation that far from impressed the local V8 fans – and boost television ratings, the decision by the powers-that-be to cease Group A at the end of 1992 marked a defining moment in Australian motor racing.
After much discussion between all of the stakeholders it was determined that for the 1993 season, Group A would give way to a new local formula that promoted the Holden versus Ford battle. Two classes based on cubic capacity were introduced – five-litre and two-litre – and turbocharging was banned. This eliminated the Skyline GT-R and Sierra RS 500. Glenn Seton and Alan Jones became the first drivers to race a ‘93-spec five-litre EB Falcon in the 1992 Sandown 500 and the big Ford was a welcome sight to local Blue Oval fans. V8X
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Right: Bathurst hasn’t been the favourite hunting ground of 1980 Formula One World Champion, Alan Jones. Far left: Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall claimed their second Great Race victory as co-drivers in 1997. Left: Glenn Seton and Neil Crompton finished 13th in the 2000 Great Race in their Ford Tickford Racing Falcon AU. Below left: The field files through Forrest’s Elbow in 2006.
THe v8s RoAR
1997-2012
The Holden versus Ford battle
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or Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall to win the 1997 race, their second together, was extra special because in a race of attrition their car never missed a beat. In contrast, race favourites Brock/Skaife and Seton/Parsons fell by the wayside. It was Brock’s ‘last’ time at the Mountain and the King was determined to go out with a bang, and that he did, although not in the desired manner. Skaife put the car on grid one and Brock proceeded to lead the first 32 laps of the race before handing over to Skaife shortly before the engine expired, ending any dream ending to a magnificent career. In fact, only three cars led any significant
number of laps in the race. Wayne Gardner was left devastated after his engine blew just before the Cutting while leading on lap 89, leaving a very slippery track for Perkins to negotiate his way to the lead, but others were not so lucky. The HRT team couldn’t take a trick as Lowndes crashed at McPhillamy Park on lap seven and Bargwanna was out before the race started when he found the Forrest’s Elbow wall in the morning practice. Ford’s best hopes were shot when Bowe crashed the Shell Falcon on lap 17 after the suspension failed and Seton struggled with engine problems all day. Tomas Mezera had a big moment when his V8X
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BATHURST The Legend of Australia’s Iconic Motor Race Left: The three factory entries that will compete in V8 Supercars in 2013, the Holden Racing Team, Ford Performance Racing and Nissan Motorsport, which joins forces with Kelly Racing. Right: Mark Skaife has stepped out of the driver’s seat to lead the V8 Supercars Commission and try to entice new manufacturers to enter the series.
Looking To THe fUTURe V8 Supercars to Car of the Future
t’s fitting that the 50 years of the long-distance event at Mount Panorama celebrations marked the end of an era for V8 Supercars. Amidst the celebrations of the event’s history was the realisation that the 2012 event was the final head-to-head battle between Holden and Ford. From 2013, V8 Supercars opens its doors to other manufacturers through the new Car of the Future regulations. With Holden and Ford in particular struggling in the Australian marketplace relative to imported makes and V8 Supercars pushing for international reach, enticing new makes was seen as vital for the series’ long-term viability.
Nissan was the first manufacturer to announce it would be joining V8 Supercars from 2013, pairing with Kelly Racing to run four Altima cars powered by the manufacturer’s VK56DE powerplant. Ironically, it was the dominance of Nissan’s GT-R Skyline that helped inspire the five-litre V8-engined Ford and Holden only regulations that were implemented in 1993 and excluded other manufacturers for two decades. However, the Japanese manufacturer was the first to return. Stone Brothers Racing, meanwhile, joined forces with sportscar outfit Erebus Motorsport to run three Mercedes-Benz entries with the support of the manufacturer’s performance arm, AMG. V8X
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THE DIPPER
2012
Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup going through the Dipper on his way to victory at the 2012 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Outside back cover: The Peter Brock Trophy held aloft by former rival Dick Johnson and former teammate Jim Richards in 2006.
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MAGAZInE pREsEnTs
BATHURST ThIRd EdITIon
AUSTRALIA $49.95 inc.gst
19mm spine
MAGAZInE pREsEnTs