82 replies to this topic

[Keir]

Ray,
Tell us about your favorite circuit.

And one question.
Was the "Hill Circuit" ever considered for the Aussie GP?

[Ray Bell]

Keir - you baffle me. The Mountain was inaugurated with the Australian Grand Prix... won by Peter Whitehead in an ERA, and without a crash hat. Then in 1947 it came around again, and 1952 and 1957..sorry, 1958... whenever it was New South Wales' turn to host the AGP - up until the construction of Warwick Farm and the introduction of the Tasman Cup series.
This is all in the 'Australian Grand Prix in former days' thread - don't tell me you haven't spent a lunch hour poring over that.. the whole story's there.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[This message has been edited by Ray Bell (edited 04-28-2000).]

[Keir]

Ray,
I meant for the modern Aussie GP for F1 cars.
I'm more than familiar with the Tasman series.

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"I Was Born Ready"

[Darren]

That would be exciting in a kind of lethal, uninsurable sort of a way. Mika on the heels of Michael lapping Pedro through the Dipper...

[Ray Bell]

Like I mentioned somewhere else, the cicruit has been downgraded in its rating over the years, which wasn't a problem when the fools only ran the tin tops there... The last serious open wheeler there was an ANF 2 car, the Birranas ran there in 73 with Hart twin cam Fords. The year Niel Allen ran with the F5000 there were two 2.5s (Geoghegan and Harvey) and a couple of FVA 1600s - a pretty good crop for a non-title meeting.
I think the last major open-wheeler race was won by Black Jack in 1969, or was it 68? There were two major crashes in practice - the same Geoghegan and Harvey (Leo in the Lotus 39, Johnny in a Brabham that broke an upright.. both with 2.5 Repcos) - and the race got mighty thin when Max Stewart and Niel Allen clashed the first time over Skyline in the only front running 1600s... Would you believe an old Elfin fitted with a Peugeot 403 engine filled a place in the points?
Now we should be able to see the Formula Holdens run there, with perhaps the big worry being if one took off after Skyline and went over the concrete wall.. but that could happen with far more devestating effect with one of these 650hp tin tops we have running here.
Our F Holden is made up of F3000 cars with a standardised 300hp Holden (nee Buick or something) iron V6. They're pretty quick, lots of wing and that sort of thing... used to sound dreadful, like old Porsches, but they changed the exhausts and made a great difference to them.
So Chev V8s have a great record at the Mountain. Leading the 1958 AGP until the Tornado (a handsome Special) broke a wishbone bracket, powering the last P3 to run there, taking the absolute lap record for the original circuit with Allen at the helm, and these days in the Holden Commodores they're racking up the odd win or two.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Brent]

F5000 at Bathurst!!!!!!

Oh man i wish i was there. That must have been just incredible. What speed were they getting up to down Conrod?

[Ray Bell]

Niel was definitely not trying in the M10B.. but he did 171mph on Conrod (compare with today's tin top speeds and see he just wasn't trying at all). It was just a Sunday (Monday?) drive running away from Harvey and Geoghegan. This circuit the F5000s had a bit advantage over the 2.5s, not like Warwick Farm and Lakeside.. Hey, Leo was in the 59 with the 2-litre Waggott engine... sorry folks.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Darren]

I would believe that an old Elfin with a 403 providing the motivation would get points, because I've seen what those old Peugeot engines can do. Do you remember the Monaco Motors special that Jim Smith used to run? That had a 203 engine in it at one stage, and was quick enough at the time.

[Alfisti]

Keir,

invest A$30 and buy the Bathurst 1000 from 1995. That will give you some idea of the place. I've hooned around it in a Mazda work Van in 2nd gear going up the mountain..... topped 120KMh on the straight!!!!!

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"Life will not break your heart, it'll crush it" - Henry Rollins.

[Brent]

LOL @ Alfisti What did your boss think about that?

Ray, how fast were F5000 at the Mountain??

TELL MEEEEE!!!!!!!PLS i gotta know...

[Ray Bell]

The 30-year-old lap record, from the start of the F5000 era and from a time when the road was nothing like as good as now, was 1:09.7 - a time the tin tops are knocking at in qualifying today, even with the inclusion of the Chase.
As mentioned, his top speed that was timed in the flying eighth was 171mph, though I believe they would have chosen to time him... I think the Ferrari P4 driven by Bill Brown did a faster time a couple of years before, but I can't find any mention of it in the Bathurst book... I'll check RCN later.
Unfortunately, there was never a F5000 race at Bathurst, but there were a few big Sports Car races, Brown coming from behind in the one mentioned and having Allen do a quicker lap time (2:19.4) and new Sports Car record following him home..
The problem is for newcomers, it's just so hard explaining what the circuit was like then compared to now.
Have you got Bathurst book by John Medley... well worth the $90 and it's got more in it than you can absorb...

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Brent]

" well worth the $90 and it's got more in than you can absorb..."

[Brent]

coolas...but $90 ?!?

You must look like a Mtr Racing junky, and the staff said..."Hey lets earn a tip off this fella".

[Brent]

LOL

Anyway,seriously, i thought F5000 would've been 215mph plus on Conrod.

[Brent]

You farken blokes are all asleep...

pikers

[Ray Bell]

Sorry Brent, I have to work weekends... yeah, $90 Aust and worth every penny of it. Over 800 photos on 400 pages, which are quite large and the quality is great. John also went to the trouble of finding as many photos as possible that had never been published before. He spent twenty or more years putting it together, it's got the entries and results for every race held on the circuit from 1938 to 1973 (when real racing ended) with the exception of the 500s and 1000s and the six hour that fore-ran the first 500 (which also included Sports Cars and was won by a Daimler SP250).
The jury is out on whether or not it's a better book than the 50 year history of the AGP - do you have that one, nice F5000s in it, nice Amons and Clarks and Palmers and Grants and even a bit of Radisich (Frank, that is) and McRae.
You still awake?

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Brent]

Fell asleep...but i'm ok now. I'm going to try to get that book. Sounds great.

[Falcadore]

Mount Panorama did play host to Formula One cars in the 50's. The later three AGP's all featured at least a couple of ex-factory Euro F1 cars, initally Doug Whitefords two Lago Talbots, but later Maserati's in 250F, 6C, 4CL, a Ferrari 625, OSCA V12 plus Coopers of many descriptions although most of them were probly F2s.

When they kicked winged open wheelers in the 70's there ended any hope of Formula One visiting Bathurst. No open wheeler faster than a Formula Ford has raced there in a very long time. I don't think Formula Holdens would be able to run Bathurst, they'd smash the lap record if they could, but they're too damn fast for the place. Plus the run from Skyline down to the elbow would be plenty hazardous to the health of FHolden drivers. They'd probably say no if you asked them. They vowed never to return to Lakeside again a few years ago - although that was more to do with the surface.

Sports Sedans haven't been there in almost ten years either. That could be politics. How can a touring car not have the lap record?

For tin top fans - Chevron have republished "Australia's Greatest Motor Race" book which has been updated to cover 1960-1999, from the early years at Phillip Island, the transition of the race to Bathurst, Series Production, the Supercar of the early 70's, Group C, Group A, V8Supercar and Super Touring of the last three races. Jane, Firth, the Geoghegans, the Setons, Gibson, Moffat, Brock, Morris, Grice, Goss, Bartlett, Johnson, Fury, the Richards', Perkins, Bowe, Skaife, Ingall, the Brabhams.

$150 bucks though is a fair wad of cash, mostly new photos though, and Bill Tuckeys introductory chapters have been touched up by David Greenhalgh.

Alifist, 1994 was a better race than 1995, it would be hard to cover that race in less than 161 laps in the highlights. The closest race in the races' history with the possible excpetions of 1977 and 1998, 1994 saw 6 cars still on the lead lap, and a fight for the lead in the dying laps. This was after early rain, and more lead changes than errrr. You remember lead changes? Used to happen in motor racing all the time. 1985's also a good vid because of the diversity of machinery (listen to the in car roar aboard the 5.7 litre V12 Jaguar)

Although for those who like thier racing mixed with insanity - last weekend saw bikes racing at Bathurst, with the fastest being Superbikes (yes the same day as the World Superbike round at Phillip Island - nice timing guys!)

[Ray Bell]

The main reason the FHolden guys vetoed Lakeside was the growing ruts in the surface in the main braking areas caused by the truck racing. This is not an issue at Bathurst, and I don't think you'd hear a murmur from any of them against goint to the Mountain. I also don't feel the esses would be an issue for them, indeed, they're probably better than some of the places they race at the moment.
Perhaps politics will keep them away, as you say, how could a tin top not have the outright record? I don't understand your comment, "when they kicked winged open wheelers in the 70s.."
They weren't kicked, the whole meeting was dropped and the only race at the joint for the next twelve or fifteen years was the enduro...
It really was a case of motor racing being tossed out and a special event taking over the place. Now there are subsidiary races as makeweights to spread the big meeting better over an extra day.. when they ran the ATCC meeting at Easter there was a better mix, more like it used to be, but still without decent cars.


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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Alfisti]

Falcadore,

no way 94 was better. If i never get married then the Bathurst of 95 will be the happiest day of my life..... Perkins (my fav) from last to first after Seton's mill dropped it's guts EVERYWHERE yet again.... an amazing day.

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"Life will not break your heart, it'll crush it" - Henry Rollins.

[Ray Bell]

Come, now, chaps... let's just remember that this is the nostalgia forum and predominantly for open wheelers... what about the day that the first to complete a flying lap would be the man to break the 100mph lap barrier?
No, you weren't there, were you? But I was, and a whole bunch of us were pretty excited about this whole thing.. As for me and my mates, we didn't want Spencer Martin to do, Kevin Bartlett was our man and he was the one who pulled it off. Peter Wherrett (at a time in his life when he was less of a sleeze than he is now) wrote of Bartlett going down the esses: "It seemed he simply twitched the car from one corner to the next, setting the booming Brabham up in the middle of one corner so that it was a near as possible to being spot on line for the one following, and then upsetting the whole thing in the middle of the corner so tht he would be right for the next and so on."
The standing lap was 4.4 seconds inside the record, the second brought him down to 2:17.4 - well inside his pole position-winning 2:18.6... and he ran more laps in the 17s until.. Martin also did a 2:17.8, but then fell out on the seventh lap. Bartlett backed off and won the event easily.
And while it seems just like yesterday, I have to remind myself that it was 33 years ago this month... and that it was probably one of the last times that the anachronistic title of 'NSW Racing Car Championships' was ever applied to a race.
Another possible contender for the 'first over the ton' was Niel Allen, who had the Elfin 400 there and did a 2:20.3 in practice... but he failed in the race, only doing 2:26.6, three tenths slower than Matich had been in the same car. His record came a couple of years later.
I mention once again here the standard of the road at this time, just nothing like it became in the late seventies, the eighties and the nineties. Rough, patchy, poorly edged, flanked by wire fences and trees for most of its edges, while embankments and drops abounded. Much more interesting than your tin top stuff.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[This message has been edited by Ray Bell (edited 04-30-2000).]

[Ray Bell]

One way you can gain some small appreciation of the circuit in years gone by (1938.. all gravel, ruts developing towards the end of the Grand Prix nearly a foot deep at Forrest Elbow!) is to look at the pictures in the book, "Bathurst, Cradle of Australian Motor Racing"...
It has over 800 photos, 400 pages, quite large size and good paper, good reproduction, no colour except on the dustjacket.
I spoke to John Medley, the author tonight. He tells me there are precious few left, but it has taken nearly two years to reach this point so they will not be reprinting...
In other words, get in now!
It's only $90 in Aust currency and contains everything you could possibly want to know about every race from 1938 to 1973 with the exception of the enduros from 1962 onwards. There is a review of the entry, details of practice incidents etc, some humorous asides (Medley is a born comedian), complete entry lists of each race, descriptions of each race and full results of each race. That's each race at every meeting from 1938 to 1973, as mentioned.
He has taken pains to select photos that are descriptive of all parts of the circuit, the racing and individual entries, as well as ensure that as many as possible have never been previously published.
Published by Turton & Armstrong, Sydney.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[davo]

FALCADORE
I have vague recollections of a Keith Carling Sports Sedan doing some pretty serious speeds at Bathurst.

Nissan 300ZX shell. IMSA 3.0L twin turbo and 300+ kph down Conrod.

Not as developed as the Touring Cars and slower total lap time. Was it all a dream?

[island]

Ray,
when will you write a book on the Tasman
Cup or on Formula 5000 in Australia?!

[Falcadore]

davo,
I have very fond memories of Carling's weapon of choice. Weapon is the only word that can describe it really, an awesome piece of machinery that given sufficient budget would have made even the Ricciardello Alfetta irrelevant. It could have been the Veskanda all over again. Alas the budget did not come, but in the 1992 Bathurst round of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship Carling did break the Caltex Chase lap record. The lap record has since been reclaimed by the touring cars as the sports sedans have not revisted. Carling himself woud appear to be in retirement and his mighty Z was IIRC re-engined with the ubiquotous Chev by the new owner, not wanting to meddle with the complexities of the twin turbo three litre.

300kph down Conrod is not that special - the Sierras and Nissan GT-R's could do it, although modern V8Supercar can only just reach it because of those huge wings slowing them down, such is the nature of the wings.

To me endurance tin top racing IS Bathurst. In 23 years of race spectating I have not seen or experienced it in any other manner. I have of course read of the days of open wheeler racing at Bathurst, but that is something I can merely marvel over from the distance of time and the words of others in the true manner of nostalgia.

yours
Mark Alan Jones
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"Logic my dear, merely allows one to be wrong with authority"

[This message has been edited by Falcadore (edited 05-01-2000).]

[Darren]

Davo and Falcadore,

Carling's Z was quick, but if you'd ever seen the Benincas' Alfetta GTV (when it was running) then you would have trembled at the possibilities it had for a freight-train run down Conrod. Benincas' own turbo twin-spark four-valve head 2.0l Alfa four, transaxle straight out of an Alfa F1 car, and the much under-rated Dominc Beninca at the wheel. Unfortunately, they never had the budget or the organisation to get it into proper shape. The Ricciardello Alfetta was a sad reincarnation of the beautiful Chev-engined car put together by K&F engineering in Adelaide, driven by Tony Edmondson and run by Don Elliot. The original car was a work of art - acres of hand-fabricated aluminium with that incredible Chev.

[Ray Bell]

To be honest, I don't see me ever doing a book like that... I'm in enough trouble doing one on Matich!
..And I'd really like to write a movie about La Perouse.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Alfisti]

Guys... i own two Alfetta's (sedans) and i have been in love with Beninca's weapon for years. My original intention was to build a twin spark 2 litre 4cyl for street use in my car but Beninca wanted over $20,000!!

It would have been a weapon though. See my web site for more details.

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"Life will not break your heart, it'll crush it" - Henry Rollins.

[Ray Bell]

From what I've heard, your love life would need to take a severe upturn (love your signature line!) for you to justify continued ownership of the sedans... why not hock one and get into the sophisticated gear?
And who's going to post something about Bathurst?

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Falcadore]

There have been two Ricciardello Alfettas which one was the ex-Edmondson machine? A new car appeared around 4 years ago, which was much quicker than the original Alfetta-Chev. The two cars were run side by side briefly during the period when Tony started racing the cars and Brian Smith was still with them. Didn't Basil himself step into the older car for a few meetings as well? I had also thought the Edmondson machine was last owned by Canberra's Chris Clearihan. Was the second Ricciardello Alfetta, the Clearihan car refetted? It looked in pretty good fettle when in Clearihan's hand in the yellow colours of.... I can't remember. Ignis?

I do remember the Beninca turbo in it's final year of regular competition in 1991 during the reborn Australian Sports Sedan Championship. It won a race in the very competitive series at Sandown, a power circuit in it's purest form (short of AVUS). I also remember that the Benincas had built an Alfetta Group C Touring car at some point and had previously assumed the Alfa Turbo was the Group C car rebuilt. Some pictures I have of both cars, does look remarkably similar despite the difference in category.

As I recall from an article in RCN about the Nissan's construction there were some Renault F1 pieces aboard that car, possibly the turbochargers.

yours
Mark Alan Jones
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"Now Doctor since you hold my career in your hands, I hope you can justify my faith."
"With respect Group Captain, your career is magnificently irrelevant."

[DJS]

As far as I recall neither Riccardello Alfa is the former Edmonson vehicle. I remember watching the AGP in 86 or 87 and, having watched his usual blitzing of the field at Wanneroo, was stunned to see this 'other' Alfa beating him. I later found pics of the original Riccardello Alfa racing at Wanneroo against Tony Edmonson. From what I've been told (by Tony Riccardello) the current car was completely new. It is still based more on an Elfin F5000 (like the original) than anything else, and it looks and goes real hard!! I love it

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'The curse of commercialism is the ruin of sport, and the degeneracy of motor racing as a sport is due to the financial issues now involved. The charm disappears, and I can see the sporting element obliterated altogether by the all-devouring monster of commercialism,-the curse of the Twentieth Century.'
Charles Jarrott, 1905.

[Alfisti]

Ray,

i don't get the link between my love life and the sedans??? As for the "sophisticated gear", well that was always the intention. I am into "retro-tech".. the modification of old body shapes with 90's technology. All the running gear would have been from a 75 built in 1993, the engine would have had blow off valve, twin spark, after market computer, intercooler... the works. Once I got my quotes together i was looking at over $40,000 though. So i sold one and bought a 1973 Bertone GTV.... yes the classic of all classic Alfa's... i'm 23 and own a car normally bought by 50 year olds!! She's inthe shop as i dropping a 93 model engine in her so i can use it as a daily driver. So now i have a TINY coupe...all class, just wood and chrome everywhere

As for the Alfetta sports sedans. I know Beninca has a yellow one with a truck turbo making something like 800Hp..... then there is the one that ALWAYS wins the sport sedan races.. i think it's red with a chev engine. I love those cars.

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"Life will not break your heart, it'll crush it" - Henry Rollins.

[This message has been edited by Alfisti (edited 05-03-2000).]

[Ray Bell]

In a real world, a decent love life leads to marriage and kids, hence sedans are required posessions. Are things perking up there?
Love that retro technology.. 404s with 505 injection engines would do me fine, even if they are sedans.

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Life and love are mixed with pain...

[Sid Rutty]

Reading over this old thread and speaking of F5000 at Bathurst, Kevin Bartlett and Max Stewart did some demonstration laps at Bathurst when Jackie Stewart came out to Bathurst in (1975?) to inspect the circuit as a possibilty to look at the option of running a F1 race there. Maybe Ray Bell was there or can help with the demonstration lap times on that day and if they were faster than the outright lap record of Neil Allen.

[Ray Bell]

Having spent some time with Kevin Bartlett last week, guess how I feel about this question not having come up before?

I might email him this thread and see if he wants to tell us himself...

By the way, I see I failed to live up to my promise back in April to look up Bill Brown's fastest speed down the straight, and RCN comes up with the figure of 181mph. His lap time was 2:18.4, over 100mph.
Interesting that Medley's book omitted this fastest-ever record...[p][Edited by Ray Bell on 01-24-2001]

[Sid Rutty]

Thanks Ray, i knew you would have the answer. Speaking of Kevin i think he writes about it in his book " Big Rev Kev"
I will check it out when i get home. JYS had a fair few media of the day in his presence. Was Max Stahl there?

[Ray Bell]

I'll ask, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't.... That would have been the time that Goodyear put a talk on at the Showground for the press and Stewart talked well into the night... the night I got a little blow-up blimp for my son...
I've also got the 'Big Rev' book around here somewhere...

Keir's original question is now answered... I think it was pretty much pie in the sky, but there was consideration given to running a WDC AGP at Bathurst.

That doesn't mean someone can't tell another story about 'the Mountain'...

[Falcadore]

There was a proposal to run Formula One at Bathurst in the 90's, however it was going to involve a largely new circuit. After turning left at Hell Corner the cars would travel up Mountain Straight and turn left somewhere near the upper Mountain Straight access gate before running around in the laregely unoccupied land within the ciruit before rejoining somewhere near the first hump on Conrod before travelling down into the chase and Murray's Corner.

It never went ahead for a few reasons, the primary one of course is that Bernie Ecclestone will not seriously consider anything other than a street circuit for the Australian Grand Prix. Could have saved Jon Davison quite a lot of money over the years of he'd realised this simple fact.

Actually Melbourne would be dropped in an instant if Bernie could get what he really wants - a street circuit along Sydney Harbour. Unfortunately geographics and governments seem to be against the idea. Pity. Albert Park just isn't Adelaide.

[Barry Lake]

Speaking of the FIA and Bathurst, I don't suppose anyone else has noticed that, since 1999, when you go to Bathurst and spend the weekend in the pits with a race team, you don't get to see a single car in action - other than on the TV.

I have yet to figure out how the pit crews have to be protected from flying cars by a tall concrete wall, while the spectators on the opposite side of the track need no such protection.

[Falcadore]

This shot was taken looking through the pit garages and elevated from the paddock. This was the height of the wall in 1998. In 1999 the pit wall had grown to the extent that anyone under about 6'2" would be unable to see over it. Personally I think it's a slap in the face to the hard working pit crew's. Most of which are unpaid, but even the ones who are surely deserve to be able to see the action. Additionally I can't recall of any incidents at Bathurst where pit crew have been hurt by someone on the hot (hotter) side of pit wall.

There was an incident at Lakeside some years back when a pit crewman leaning out over the wall was struck by a car that was crashing, but Lakeside's pit wall at the time was lower and was ARMCO barrier, not Detriot Concrete Wall like at Bathurst. Before spending that money on Bathurst why weren't other tracks brought up to existing Bathurst standard. Yes I know it isn't that simple, but maybe it should be.


BTW - would the denizens here like a pictorial lap of Bathurst while I'm posting pics of the Mountain?

BTWBTW - the old V8SP10/VESRIX site was relaunched this weekend as http://www.conrod.com.au - for those interested in the Bathurst V8's[p][Edited by Falcadore on 01-28-2001]

[V8SP10]

Did somebody say VESRIX?

The new site with a slighty better look and feel is at http://www.conrod.com.au/stats.

I'm in the process tonight of setting up VESRIX on the old site so that you get a nice message redirecting you to the new site on all the pages.

BTW, Interesting choice of picture Falc - that just happen to be the first one that matched your requirements?

Shane Rogers

[Falcadore]

Shane,
yes it was the first pic I came across.

I haven't sent you all the pics I've got.

Compared to Mr. David's picture of the young Miss Amanda it's positively plain.

[Falcadore]

At Vasco's request, one of the finest examples of circuits of times past still in use for major racing today I present the virtual tour of Mount Panorama!


This is the shot that greets every weary traveller that journeys to the mountain. As you crest the rise on the road from the town to the circuit the vista of the circuit is laid out before you. And spelt out in white rocks on the vast green pasture of the slope below the Skyline reads Mount Panorama. Directly above the 'U' you can see the three story Castrol Tower that sits on the highest point of the circuit for which has excellent views of the circuit.

It's a signal, every time I see it the brain kicks in and it's racetime! Phil Branagan once said Mount Panorama is different because as a circuit it's isolated from what we perceive as a city and from the time you arrive till the time you leave there is nothing but the race. Not those exact words but that was the sentiment.


image by Michael Shaw
The start of the 2000 Bathurst 1000. Wayne Gardner is on pole in the Ford Credit Ford Falcon AU, alongside is the Falcon of Paul Radisich, behind on the second row are Craig Lowndes (Holden Commodore VT) and Mark Larkham (Ford Falcon AU) headlights ablaze. Bathurst is not a nice place in the wet. This was one of only four wet race starts in the history of the Great Race (the others being 1972, 1994 & 1996)


Here's a nice night exposure shot looking back along pit straight from the Hell Corner escape road. The red line is a car disappearing up Mountain Straight. This was taken Wednesday night of the 1997 Bathurst 1000 just as yours truly had arrived at the circuit.


Looking down the Hell Corner escape road as Robert Jones steers his Konica Series Commodore up the hill in 2001.


image by Michael Shaw
At the tail of the 2000 Bathurst 1000 field Shane Howison wonder just how slow he should be for safeties sake. The mist has completely enveloped the first lap field as it climbs away from Hell Corner and up Mountain Straight.


Hell Corner. It's a 90 degree left hander, around 100km/h in today's V8Supercars, near identical to Murray's Corner but runs out to the right and is uphill rather than downhill. In the 70's the big brakeless tourers would drift half a car width across the paved shoulder. Here is Jason Richards in a BMW 320i Schedule S car at the 1998 Bathurst 1000.


Mountain Straight. The cars sprint just under a kilometer up hill from Hell Corner before arriving at the brave right hander at Griffins Bend. Neither Mountain or Con-Rod straights are flat, both are roller coaster rides. There is one major crest on Mountain Straight, visible in this shot as Ed Aitken's Porsche 911RSCS GT-Production car approaches in practice for the 1998 Bathurst 3 Hour. On the descent from this crest the V8Supercars reach 250km/h.

Up the top of the photo you can see Castrol Tower and the smoke billowing across the top of the mountain comes from the Toyota MR2 Bathurst (yes that's the model name ) of Robert Porter burns to a crisp at the Essess.


A more panoramic view of Mountain Straight, with Griffins Bend turning right in the far distance at the top of Mountain Straight.

I don't have shots of the next section, which is restricted to acreditetd photogrpahers and marshalls. At the top of Mountain Striaght is a fast climbing right hander called Griffins Bend that sweeps through 100 degrees and taken 130km/h in third gear by the big V8's and they then climb steeply up a short straight about 400 meters, reaching 185km/h, before arriving at the tricky double apex left hander at the Cutting. Just before the first apex the circuit flattens and stops climbing for a shelf as you round the two-in-one corner.

It was Griffin's Bend that made the reputation of Craig Lowndes. Dick Johnson & John Bowe had been the most impressive crew in the 1994 Bathurst 1000, but thanks a little to pace cars, and a lot to Brad Jones herculean double stint in the middle of the race, Lowndes as able to challenge Bowe near the end. With 11 laps to go Lowdnes missed his braking marker into Griffins as Bowe coverred the inside line. Lowndes had no choice but to sit on the outside and hope to hold the line as he swept past into the lead. Bowe was shaken with what he believed was Lowndes' bravery and promptly panicked in the car. There were only 60 kilometers left in the 6.5 hour marathon. The team worked frantically to calm Bowe. What happenned next? That's a tale for later in the tour [p]

[fines]

Is that Castrol tower right at Skyline? Should be a gorgeous view!

[Ray Bell]

Sure is a great view, and there are a number of spots where they can be had. The traditionally great shot is a head on of cars arriving at Griffin's Mount or Reid park, with the lazy gum tree's branch providing a frame within which sits the car and the City of Bathurst.
Whiteford's Lago looked best in that shot... Byron Gunther probably pioneered the scene.

[fines]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
The traditionally great shot is a head on of cars arriving at Griffin's Mount or Reid park, with the lazy gum tree's branch providing a frame within which sits the car and the City of Bathurst.
Whiteford's Lago looked best in that shot...

Could you PLEEAAAAASE post that one, Ray? :excited:

[Ray Bell]

Soon as I get a chance, fines... I don't have anything here to scan it from... end of the week, if I remember.
If I forget, just PM me.

[Falcadore]

Section two


Here we have Russell Ingall (Holden Commodore VS - V8Supercar) in the car he shared with team boss Larry Perkins (driver of the last BRM), on his way to winning the 1997 Bathurst Classic trying not to wheelspin on the steepest section of the track. This is the climb away from the second corner of The Cutting. The advertising hoardings in the background give some idea of the steepness. Also look at the white line on the inside of the corner. I'm also shooting on a slightly precarious slope before and below the Reid Park gates.


Win Percy (in John Faulkner's Holden Commodore V8Supercar) passing directly under the same photographic vantage point in the same session. The steepest section is over quickly and flattens slightly. The course sweeps round to the right causing the cars to hug the wall on the outside here....


.... before drifting out to the inside wall here as the cars reach a small shelf before the final climb up to Reid Park. Here Alan Jones swings his Ford Falcon EL V8Supercar up the hill at the 1998 Bathurst Classic. Over the wall in the distance is Pit Straight, the pits, the paddock, and Murrays Corner and the base of Con-Rod Straight to the extreme right. From there the cars are climbing in earnest again still swinging around to the right.


Sweeping right and climbing, but climbing no longer is Paul Radisich who is supervising the loading of his Ford Falcon V8Supercar onto a trailer after engine failure during the 2001 Bathurst 1000.


The road, still climbing, still accelerating hard, straighten outs briefly as it rushed up towards the Reid Park crest. Here Paul Romano races the Holden Young Lions Holden Commodore up through this section. Just here the road steers right againat the top of the climb before flicking around to the left for thr run across Reid Park crest.


In the wet of the WTCC round of 1987 Bathurst 1000, Johnny Cecotto screamed up to this section and just didn't make the short right flick, bouncing his BMW M3 off the wall two feet in the air. Coming across the crest line in 1982 Bathurst 1000, Kevin Bartlett had a tyre go flat, the sudden change in the cars balance causing a blow to the wal and oh so gracefully the big Chevvy Camaro flipped on it's lid. Bartlett upon alighting from the slick slapped the tyre in question for the cameras and crowd as if to say - never trust rubber. In this shot Paul Morris (BMW 320i Super Touring Car) and Jim Richards (Volvo S40 Super Touring Car) dice for the lead of the 1999 Bathurst 100 - a 16 lap qualifying race for the next day's 1999 Bathurst 500.


In a slightly artier version of the same shot, the 2001 race winning Holden Commodore driven by Mark Skaife and Tony Longhurst takes the left hander across the Redi Park crest with a gaggle of the front running cars spread across the road behind after a safety car restart.


Andrew Miedecke races Mark Larkham's Ford Falcon EL V8Supercar across the Reid Park crest in the 1997 Bathurst Classic on their way to a long desrved podium (3rd) for Larkham. Not the right rear corner is punched in. For perrennial bad luck trier Larkham it looked like he would be robbed of his moment in the sun. Wayne Gardner and blown his engine (while leading) at Forrests Elbow, coating the track in oil and Larkham lost it on the oil clouting the hapless Gardner hard. The crowd was groaning yet another not-his-fault crash when Larko got the car going.


One of my favourite Bathurst images. Across the top of the Reid Park crest drifts on thursday morning Jason Bright in the Ford Falcon EL V8Supercar in practice for the 1998 Bathurst Classic. The very next lap around the car looked like this -


The poor distraught Bright had slid wide on the descent from Reid Park and slid along the wall before finally grinding to a halt here at McPhillamy. McPhillamy? We'll get to that in a minute. The Falcon was repaired in time to record only one, count 'em, one flying lap in qualifying on Friday afternoon, qualifying them in 15th and salvaging a rear of grid start. From there excellent tactics from Ross & Jim stone, and brilliant driving from Jason Bright and Steven Richards told a fantastic tale. No-one had ever come from such depths in practice to win, but win they did. It was an astonishing moment.[p]

[Falcadore]

Illustrating graphically the steepness of the plunge off the Reid Park crest Mark Skaife leads John Bowe towards Sulman Park during the opening stint of the 2001 Bathurst 1000.


It's lap one of the 1997 Bathurst 1000. After the Reid Park crest the road drops away sharply, while still sweepeing around the left, travelling at about 180km/h in fourth gear. The challenge is how close to the wall you can slide the car to the left of the picture, without hitting the wall hard. It was here that Bright hit the wall in the above mentioned crash. Also Andrew Bagnall got too far left in his Ford Sierra RS500 in Hardie Heroes of 1989, the one lap qualifying shoot out for the top ten grid positions held on Saturday morning after the previous days qualifying sessions decide 11th-55th.

Here the leaders are already through as the second rank Super Touring Cars are led by Julian Bailey / Warren Luff (Honda Accord), John Cleland / James Kaye (Vauhall Vectra), Cameron McConville / Jean-Francois Hemroulle (Audi A4 Quattro), Neal Bates / Mark Adderton (Toyota Camry - locking front left wheel), Jim Richards / Rickard Rydell (Volvo 850), Troy Searle / Geoff Full (BMW 320i) and Jason Richards / Brett Riley (BMW 318i). In the cars just ahead were Alain Menu / Jason Plato (Renault Laguna), Paul Morris / Craig Baird (BMW 320i), Paul Radisich / Tim Harvey (Peugeot 406), Peter Brock / Derek Warwick (Holden Vectra), Geoff Brabham / David Brabham (BMW 320i), Patrick Watts / Neil Crompton (Peugeot 406), Alan Jones / Graham Moore (Renault Laguna) and Brad Jones / Frank Biela (Audi A4 Quattro) in one of the most international fields the Mountain had ever seen. In such a field it was perhaps fitting that Sir Jack Brabham's legacy would triumph.


Climbing again, heading for the left hander known at various times as Castrol Curve, Tooheys Turn, but the fast challenging left hander in front of Sulman Park. Here Terry Wyhoon leads fellow Ford Falcon steeres Mark Larkham and David Besnard during the earlier stages of the race as the troubled Wyhoon / Rod Salmon Falcon is about to be lapped by the yellow and green cars.


A long view of the Sulman Park area. It's Rod Salmon again, this time in his older model Konica Series Ford Falcon framed against the thin Thursday crowd along the top of the Mountain in 2001.


Closer to the track, and out of the sweeping hollow in the track in front of Sulman Park screams Larry Perkins headlights ablaze in the 1998 Bathurst Classic. Once the cars straighten up it's up the hill and ...


.... over the blind crest that guards one of Australia's great white knuckle corners. Over the crest the V8Supercar's arrive at McPhillamy Corner at 185km/h, can't see a thing for the crest, and then the wall, but you're already committed to the corner, 4th gear in red mist mad song...

Here we see the all day long duel of father and son that was the closest ever Bathurst 1000. In 1998 Steven Richards teamed with Matt Neal in a factory Nissan Primera, while father and legend Jim Richards joined Rickad Rydell in the TWR Volvo S40. The cars were scarcely further apart than this for over 6 hours. In the end it came down to a lapped car on the last lap and Rydell skipped away when Neal was badly balked. The final margin was only 2 seconds, but it could have been 2 seconds closer than that.


This time the Volvo leads the Nissan in the same race at the same corner.


Another view which demonstartes how blind the approach to McPhillamy Park Corner is. Here Rod Nash's Holden Commodore cries it's last in 2001 Bathurst 1000, climbing the crest before McPhillamy. You have to start turn in before you reach the crest, by then you are committed when the corner comes into view.


Four Super Tourers race across the top of the Mountain, through McPhillamy Park Corner and one down the short straight towards the Skyline. To the right is the Castrol Tower and the thin scattering of crowd. For the V8Supercar event a month later the crowd is packed 4-6 rows deep here.....

[Ray Bell]

Shame you don't have more background in many of those, Mark. Obviously you were shooting the cars and not the circuit.

It's a great place all right... that first pic of your last post gives a bit of an idea... when you appreciate that the car at the back of the train has virtually got no traction for a moment as it crests the brow of that curve.
Here's an older shot of the same spot...



Oh, and Bartlett wasn't patting the tyre.. he inspected the wheel, which had been flawed when made and the rim had cracked. He actually mentioned that he rim was broken on TV, and pointed directly to the crack. It was a rim section made when there was a joint venture between a large South Australian manufacturer and Simmons, which Simmons has since ended. Tony prefers a better level of quality control.