Sun
Oct
09
2005

The mighty Bathurst 1000

I’ve just enjoyed a great second-last day of my holiday doing absolutely nothing but sitting and watch the Bathurst 1000 v8 Supercar race. And it was great entertainment. For those not in the know, this race, while a stand alone event for many, is actually Round 10 (out of 13) in the Australian Touring Car Championship. It’s a real marathon, being 1000 kilometres – about 7 hours behind the wheel. A very demanding time for both drivers and cars.
The weather at Bathurst can do very strange and interesting things, and today was no exception. With snow falling just 30 minutes away at Orange, and a freezing, howling WSW wind blowing, high temperatures in the cars was not something to worry about. But the rain was in the early stages. It never got to the point of the cars needing to change to wets, but it was close.

In recent years, the competitiveness of this event seems to have increased, and the way the cars took off from the line, you would think they were in a 10 lap sprint, not the 1000k, 161 lap marathon.
The crashes are always entertaining to watch – so long as no one is hurt. Yesterday’s Porsche Cararra double roll in one of the lead up races is a good example. But the prang of the day today must go to the biff between Ambrose and Murphy 12 laps before the end. That took out both Marcus Ambrose and Greg Murphy, and about another 4-5 cars, and supporters of both guys will argue long and loud about who caused it. I’ll give you a clue of what colours I fly if I tell you that I thought Ambrose only got what he usually dishes out!
I was really happy to see Skaife win. The Bathurst 1000 was a major omission from his collection of racing achievements recently. I was also very happy to see the red and white branded cars get first and second… ;-)

The Mt Panorama is an amazing circuit. Unpredictable, challenging, and thoroughly entertaining. But I would never choose to watch the race from there. It’s such a long circuit (6.1ks) that standing in one place means you only get to see a tiny part of the action. The TV coverage is good and although I was missing my big screen TV today, I was just happy that the race fell in my holiday, and for the chance to share the time with Sam.

Posted by Neil, 9 October 05
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Comment

  1. Two great motor races in one day (Bathurst and the Japanese GP)!

    Bathurst is always my ‘one day of the year’—the family knows this now and plans things to accommodate me.

    Sadly, I had to tape the last 10 laps as I needed to get to (5pm) church early to operate the sound system. I think my friends knew not to discuss the result with me at that stage—and they were all well behaved.

    As to the Ambrose/Murphy incident: nasty. Whose fault? Hard to say. Arguments on both sides. But both of the drivers are old enough to know better. It was an avoidable collision that carried a great deal of risk.

    I’m happy enough for Skaife to win his fifth—I have no brand loyalties.

    I would have been very happy to see Jason Richards take the win—but he seemed delighted with second!

    I long to see Glen Seton take a Bathurst win—but I fear he is in the wrong place for that to happen at present. Maybe if he could wend his way to 888 Racing or take the seat Ambrose is vacating…

    And you could never object to a Lowndes win. The guy has such a balanced view of his racing (but he gives his kids odd names?!?).

    Big change of pace tomorrow—off for my first experience of Synod!

    — Richard Neale · Oct 9, 05:48 AM · #

  2. And here’s the comment you’d never thought you’d hear from me:

    The prang between Ambrose and Murphy (and the other cars which piled up behind them) was avoidable, but entertaining (given that no-one got hurt). Also, it’s interesting to see the older ex-drivers having a gripe about having wearing the flame-retardant balaclavas, when in the end, they’re worth it if they save someone’s life/face.

    — Ben · Oct 9, 05:34 PM · #

  3. I have to agree with Richard. Two fantastic races in one day.

    I’m happy that Skaife won, not so happy that Raikkonen won (what was Fischi thinking?)

    Re: Ambrose-Murphy. I couldn’t see a definitive camera shot of the incident. My feeling that trying to go four abrest through the Cutting always is likely to cause a prang.

    Just once I’d like to see the Aust F1 GP held at Bathurst – just for fun. Imagine a F1 car heading down the hill from Skyline!

    — Pete · Oct 9, 08:51 PM · #

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