Bathurst 1000
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| Venue | Mount Panorama Circuit |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| - Laps | 161 |
| - Distance | 1000 km |
| Last Race (2006) | |
| Winning Driver | Craig Lowndes / Jamie Whincup |
| Winning Team | Triple Eight |
| Winning Manufacturer |  Ford |
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1000-kilometre motor race for touring cars, conducted each October at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The winners of the race receive the Peter Brock Trophy, inaugurated at the 2006 race in honour of the late Bathurst legend Peter Brock.
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[edit] Race history
The race has a long and colourful history, having been conducted for numerous categories such as production cars, Group C, Group A, Super Touring and currently the popular V8 Supercar category. It was first held at Bathurst in 1963, replacing an earlier endurance race at Philip Island in Victoria, over a 500-mile distance. It changed to the present 1000km distance in 1973.
Over the years, the race name has changed to reflect the main sponsor of the race and the race distance. Following is a summary of the various names so far:
| 1963–1965 | Armstrong 500 |
| 1966–1967 | Gallaher 500 |
| 1968–1972 | Hardie Ferodo 500 |
| 1973–1980 | Hardie Ferodo 1000 |
| 1981–1987 | James Hardie 1000 |
| 1988–1995 | Tooheys 1000 |
| 1996–1998 | AMP 1000 Kilometres |
| 1997 | PRIMUS 1000 Classic |
| 1998–2000 | FAI 1000 Classic |
| 2001 | V8 Supercar 1000 |
| 2002–2004 | Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 |
| 2005–Present | Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 |
Makes as diverse as Mini, Jaguar, BMW, Volvo, Nissan, Ford and Holden have tasted success at "The Mountain". However, the strongest and longest-running rivalry at the mountain has been between the two local makes, Ford and Holden. Holden has achieved the most victories at Bathurst with 25 wins (as of 2006), and Ford being the second most successful with 15 victories (or 16 if including the victory from the original Philip Island event). Although many Australian racing drivers have raced for both the Ford and Holden marques, Steven Richards, Tony Longhurst and Craig Lowndes are the only drivers to have won at Bathurst for both.
The most successful driver at Bathurst was the late Peter Brock otherwise known as Peter Perfect and the The King of the Mountain, who has nine victories to his credit (1972, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987). Jim Richards is close behind with seven victories (1978, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2002), and also holds the record for the most starts (34 as of 2005) by an individual at this event. Larry Perkins is the third most successful driver at Bathurst, with six victories (1982, 1983, 1984, 1993, 1995 and 1997). Both Richards and Perkins have shared some of their victories as co-drivers with Peter Brock.
[edit] Group A era
1985 to 1992 saw the race running under international Group A rules. Tom Walkinshaw Racing won the first ever Group A version of the race with their Jaguar XJS. Imported turbocharged cars, such as Ford Sierras, dominated the race during the late 1980s. In 1987, the race was a round of the short-lived World Touring Car Championship, and competitors in that championship raced against the local teams. The resulting culture clash was considerable; local scrutineers, who had been applying the Group A regulations as written, repeatedly disagreed with European teams (notably that of Rudi Eggenberger) and the global organising body (FISA, the ancestor of the FIA) that were considerably more liberal with their interpretations. Eggenberger's cars ran 1-2, only to be disqualified months later due to bodywork irregularities, and awarding the race to Peter Brock for a record ninth time.
Local Sierra teams won in 1988 and 1989, losing in 1990 to the local favourite Holden Commodores after all the leading Sierras broke down. In 1991 and 1992, turbocharged all-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline GTRs won. The 1992 Nissan victory was particularly controversial. Already disliked by the parochial Bathurst crowd, who saw the race as a contest between the traditional V8 touring car marques of Holden and Ford, the leading Skyline of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife was awarded victory after the race was abandoned following a huge storm that caused a number of crashes, including that of the winning car. As Richards had been leading the race in the lap prior to the cancellation of the event, his team was declared the winner, much to the vocal displeasure of the crowd. Richards called the crowd "a pack of arseholes" from the winner's podium. During the race Formula One legend Denny Hulme had died of a heart attack at the wheel of his BMW M3.
[edit] V8 Supercar/ 2ltr Supertourer era
The Jim Richards moment helped to precipitate the gathering split in Australian touring car racing between the internationalist Super Touring category and the Australian-centred V8 Supercars. For a few years there were two races at Bathurst, both claiming to be the legitimate Bathurst 1000, although one of the races was officially branded the "Australian 1000 Classic". One was for Super Touring and production cars (Bathurst 1000), the other for V8 Supercars (Australian 1000 Classic).
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During the early 1990's marketing executives from both Holden and Ford decided they needed a better platform to show off the local product, which were either not competing with (Ford), or totally out classed by (Holden), the European and Japanese cars, in particular the Nissan Skyline GTR which dominated touring car racing. A portion of the local race fans, namely the Holden fans, were not happy with the class of racing either, and it was decided that for 1993 a variation of Group A was to be run, allowing only V8 Holden Commodore and V8 Ford Falcon, with the exception of a weight limited BMW M3 run by Tony Longhurst. The following year Australia also had a 2 Litre championship, the cars which were so popular in England and Europe and being run by TOCA. For the 1994 Bathurst 1000 the 2 Litre cars ran with the V8's, with a top placing of 10th outright. For 1995 the 2 Litre cars played a support role as the 1000 km race was once again only for the V8's. Now under the control of events manager Tony Cochran, the V8 series took on the new challenge of being the only class to dominate Australian motorsport, and this meant out-promoting, and beating, the 2 Litre class of racing at any cost. AVESCO began requiring more money from venues to host the V8 Supercar show, and by 1997, the cost to have the V8 class of racing at Bathurst was far in excess of what the ARDC could afford. When the required fees were not met AVESCO made the decision to pull the original race from the V8 calendar, leaving the organisers without an entry field for the 1997 race. It was decided to ask the 2 Litre cars if they would fill the void, a solution which saw local and overseas teams such as Williams-Renault filling the grid. Many believed the 2 Litre cars were too highly tuned and were not capable of lasting the distance, however those fears were allayed with the BMW of David Brabham & Geoff Brabham won the event, following the retirement of Alain Menu's Renault and subsequent disqualification of the Paul Morris / Craig Baird #1 BMW for Craig Baird violating an endurance racing rule prohibiting drivers from driving more than 210 consecutive minutes in any one stint.
1998 was the last of the mixed class 1000 km races. With the V8s having started their own 1000 km race accompanied by an intensive marketing campaign the 2 Litre class disappeared from Bathurst due to a reducing number of competitors and spectators. The 1998 race was closely fought with minimal safety car intervention with Jim Richards winning his 7th Bathurst 1000 in the Volvo beating his son Steven who drove a Nissan.
Since the demise of the mixed class race there has been the V8 Supercar 1000 only in its place. The race is run in the first full weekend of October as part of the V8 Supercar series.
[edit] Deaths
In over 40 years of racing at Bathurst, only four drivers have died - Mike Burgmann in 1986, former Formula 1 World Champion Denny Hulme in 1992, Don Watson in 1994 and Mark Porter in 2006.
In 1986, Sydney accountant Mike Burgmann became the first fatality in the race's history when his car, travelling at 268 km/h, struck the recently constructed Bridgestone Bridge down Conrod Straight. The accident resulted in a change to the course with the Chase - a three-turn sequence - added to the two-kilometre straight to slow the cars as they approach the bridge. The Chase was dedicated to Burgmann.
In 1992 Denny Hulme, after complaining of blurred vision, suffered a massive heart attack at the wheel whilst travelling down Conrod Straight. After veering into the wall on the left side of the track, he managed to bring the car to a relatively controlled stop on the opposite side of the course. When marshals reached the scene they found Hulme still strapped in, dead.
In 1994 Melbourne privateer, Don Watson, died during practice when his car left circuit and hit a barrier on Conrod straight.
The 2006 event was marred by the death of New Zealand racing driver Mark Porter in a support race for the Fujitsu V8 series on Friday, 6th October. His car spun in a section at the top of the mountain and was then hit from behind by Chris Alajajian and stalled, sitting sideways on the track. As fellow driver David Clark came around a blind corner at speeds of around 200 km/hr, he swerved to try and avoid Porter's car but slid sideways into the driver's door. Porter was airlifted to hospital with serious head and chest injuries but passed away in late afternoon of Sunday, 8th October, as the feature race was concluding. Just two hours after the crowd was celebrating Craig Lowndes' win, and on the same day the late Peter Brock was farewelled, Porter's family issued a statement announcing his death.
[edit] Winners
| Phillip Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | John Roxburgh / Frank Coad | Vauxhall Cresta |
| 1961 | Bob Jane / Harry Firth | Mercedes-Benz 220SE |
| 1962 | Harry Firth / Bob Jane | Ford Falcon XL |
| Mount Panorama | ||
| 1963 | Harry Firth / Bob Jane | Ford Cortina GT |
| 1964 | Bob Jane / George Reynolds | Ford Cortina GT |
| 1965 | Barry Seton / Midge Bosworth | Ford Cortina GT500 |
| 1966 | Rauno Aaltonen / Bob Holden | Morris Cooper S |
| 1967 | Harry Firth / Fred Gibson | Ford XR Falcon GT |
| 1968 | Bruce McPhee / Barry Mulholland | Holden Monaro GTS327 |
| 1969 | Colin Bond / Tony Roberts | Holden Monaro GTS350 |
| 1970 | Allan Moffat | Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II |
| 1971 | Allan Moffat | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III |
| 1972 | Peter Brock | Holden Torana LJ XU-1 |
| 1973 | Allan Moffat / Ian Geoghegan | Ford XA Falcon GT |
| 1974 | John Goss / Kevin Bartlett | Ford XA Falcon GT |
| 1975 | Peter Brock / Brian Sampson | Holden Torana L34 |
| 1976 | Bob Morris / John Fitzpatrick | Holden Torana L34 |
| 1977 | Allan Moffat / Jacky Ickx | Ford XC Falcon |
| 1978 | Peter Brock / Jim Richards | Holden Torana A9X SS |
| 1979 | Peter Brock / Jim Richards | Holden Torana A9X SS |
| 1980 | Peter Brock / Jim Richards | Holden VC Commodore |
| 1981 | Dick Johnson / John French | Ford XD Falcon |
| 1982 | Peter Brock / Larry Perkins | Holden VH Commodore |
| 1983 | Peter Brock / Larry Perkins / John Harvey | Holden VH Commodore |
| 1984 | Peter Brock / Larry Perkins | Holden VK Commodore |
| 1985 | John Goss / Armin Hahne | Jaguar XJS |
| 1986 | Allan Grice / Graeme Bailey | Holden VK Commodore |
| 1987 | Peter Brock / David Parsons / Peter McLeod | Holden VL Commodore |
| 1988 | Tony Longhurst / Tomas Mezera | Ford Sierra RS500 |
| 1989 | Dick Johnson / John Bowe | Ford Sierra RS500 |
| 1990 | Win Percy / Allan Grice | Holden VL Commodore |
| 1991 | Mark Skaife / Jim Richards | Nissan Skyline GT-R |
| 1992 | Mark Skaife / Jim Richards | Nissan Skyline GT-R |
| 1993 | Larry Perkins / Gregg Hansford | Holden VP Commodore |
| 1994 | Dick Johnson / John Bowe | Ford EB Falcon |
| 1995 | Larry Perkins / Russell Ingall | Holden VR Commodore |
| 1996 | Craig Lowndes / Greg Murphy | Holden VR Commodore |
| 1997 | Geoff Brabham / David Brabham | BMW 320i |
| 1997 | Larry Perkins / Russell Ingall | Holden VS Commodore * |
| 1998 | Rickard Rydell / Jim Richards | Volvo S40 |
| 1998 | Jason Bright / Steven Richards | Ford EL Falcon * |
| 1999 | Steven Richards / Greg Murphy | Holden VT Commodore |
| 2000 | Garth Tander / Jason Bargwanna | Holden VT Commodore |
| 2001 | Mark Skaife / Tony Longhurst | Holden VX Commodore |
| 2002 | Mark Skaife / Jim Richards | Holden VX Commodore |
| 2003 | Greg Murphy / Rick Kelly | Holden VY Commodore |
| 2004 | Greg Murphy / Rick Kelly | Holden VY Commodore |
| 2005 | Mark Skaife / Todd Kelly | Holden VZ Commodore |
| 2006 | Craig Lowndes / Jamie Whincup | Ford BA Falcon |
| * Denotes "Australian 1000 Classic" race for V8 Supercars | ||
