Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1000 km motor race for touring cars, conducted at the Mount Panorama circuit near Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.
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 distance in 1973.
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.
Between 1985 and 1992 saw the race running under international Group A rules. Imported turbocharged cars, first the Ford Sierra turbos 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) who were considerably more lax with their interpretations. Eggenberger's cars ran 1–2, only to be disqualified months later due to bodywork irregularities, and awarding the race to local legend Peter Brock for the ninth (and last) time. Brock's nine victories are by far the most Bathurst wins by an individual.
Local Sierra teams won in 1988 and 89, and losing in 1990 to the local favourite Holden Commodores only after all the leading Sierras broke down. In 1991 and 1992, turbocharged, four-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline GTRs won. The 1992 victory was particularly controversial. Already disliked by the parochial Bathurst crowd, the race was stopped after a huge storm caused a number of crashes, including that of the leading Skyline. The race was awarded to the Skyline (Jim Richards and Mark Skaife), who had led the lap previous to the race halt, much to the vocal displeasure of the crowd. Richards memorably called the crowd "a pack of arseholes" from the winner's podium. The moment was fateful, helping 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. One was for Super Touring and production cars, the other for V8 Supercars.
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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 Falcon XR GT)
- 1968 – Bruce McPhee / Barry Mulholland (Holden Monaro GTS327)
- 1969 – Colin Bond / Tony Roberts (Holden Monaro GTS350)
- 1970 – Allan Moffat (Ford Falcon XW GTHO Phase II)
- 1971 – Allan Moffat (Ford Falcon XY GTHO)
- 1972 – Peter Brock (Holden Torana LJ XU-1)
- 1973 – Allan Moffat / Ian Geoghegan (Ford Falcon XA GT)
- 1974 – John Goss / Kevin Bartlett (Ford Falcon XA GT)
- 1975 – Peter Brock / Brian Sampson (Holden Torana L34)
- 1976 – Bob Morris / John Fitzpatrick (Holden Torana L34)
- 1977 – Allan Moffat / Jacky Ickx (Ford Falcon XC)
- 1978 – Peter Brock / Jim Richards (Holden Torana A9X)
- 1979 – Peter Brock / Jim Richards (Holden Torana A9X)
- 1980 – Peter Brock / Jim Richards (Holden Commodore VC)
- 1981 – Dick Johnson / John French (motor racing) (Ford Facon XD)
- 1982 – Peter Brock / Larry Perkins (Holden Commodore VH)
- 1983 – Peter Brock / Larry Perkins / John Harvey (Holden Commodore VH)
- 1984 – Peter Brock / Larry Perkins (Holden Commodore VK)
- 1985 – John Goss / Armin Hahne (Jaguar XJS)
- 1986 – Allan Grice / Graeme Bailey (Holden Commodore VK)
- 1987 – Peter Brock / David Parsons / Peter McLeod (Holden Commodore VL)
- 1988 – Tony Longhurst / Tomas Mezera (Ford Sierra RS500)
- 1989 – Dick Johnson / John Bowe (Ford Sierra RS500)
- 1990 – Win Percy / Alan Grice (Holden Commodore VL)
- 1991 – Mark Skaife / Jim Richards (Nissan Skyline GT-R)
- 1992 – Mark Skaife / Jim Richards (Nissan Skyline GT-R)
- 1993 – Larry Perkins / Gregg Hansford (Holden Commodore VP)
- 1994 – Dick Johnson / John Bowe (Ford Falcon EB)
- 1995 – Larry Perkins / Russell Ingall (Holden Commodore VR)
- 1996 – Craig Lowndes / Greg Murphy (Holden Commodore VR)
- 1997 – Geoff Brabham/David Brabham BMW 320i
- 1997 – Larry Perkins / Russell Ingall (Holden Commodore VS)
- 1998 – Rickard Rydell/Jim Richards Volvo S40
- 1998 – Jason Bright / Steven Richards (Ford Falcon EL)
- 1999 – Steven Richards / Greg Murphy (Holden Commodore VT)
- 2000 – Garth Tander / Jason Bargwanna (Holden Commodore VT)
- 2001 – Mark Skaife / Tony Longhurst (Holden Commodore VX)
- 2002 – Mark Skaife / Jim Richards (Holden Commodore VX)
- 2003 – Greg Murphy / Rick Kelly (Holden Commodore VY)
- 2004 – Greg Murphy / Rick Kelly (Holden Commodore VY)
See also
External link
Categories: Auto racing