The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recent incarnation of the Australian Touring Car Championship. In 1987 it was a round of the World Touring Car Championship. The Bathurst 1000 is colloquially known as The Great Race among motorsport fans and media. The race originated with the 1960 Armstrong 500 with a 500 mile race distance at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; it was relocated to Bathurst in 1963 also with the 500 mile distance and has continued there every year since, extending to a 1,000 kilometre race in 1973 as a result of the Australian metrication efforts. The race was traditionally run on the New South Wales Labour-Day long weekend in early October. Since 2001, the race has been run on the weekend following the long weekend, generally the second weekend of October.
Race winners are presented with the Peter Brock Trophy, introduced at the 2006 race after the sudden death of Peter Brock in an accident. Brock was the most successful driver in the race's history, winning the event nine times. He was also known as one of the most popular and fan-friendly drivers during his long career, and was given the moniker "King of the Mountain" for these reasons.
Mount Panorama
The Mount Panorama Circuit was first used on 16 April 1938 for the Australian Tourist Trophy meeting for motorcycles, followed two days later by the Australian Grand Prix for cars.Bathurst (NSW), www.speedwayandroadracehistory.com Retrieved 26 April 2019 The track uses temporarily-closed-public roads and is known for the elevation between its highest and lowest points. The first turn, Hell Corner, is a ninety-degree left-hander. Mountain Straight, a gentle climb where cars reach speeds of , leads into Griffin's Bend, an off-camber right-hander that leads into The Cutting, a sharp left-hander with a steep incline. A complex corner called Reid Park comes next, where a number of drivers have spun after not short shifting at the apex. The course continues down to Sulman Park and McPhillamy Park. Drivers are unable to see the descending road and enter Skyline and the first of The Esses at before The Dipper, one of the most famous corners in Australian motorsport. Cars then negotiate Forrest's Elbow before powering down Conrod Straight, the fastest section of the track where cars can reach . The Chase is a long sweeping chicane where cars are on the rev limiter turning at 300 km/h before a large braking zone to exit at . Murray's is the 23rd and final turn, and also the slowest part of the circuit, before cars return to the start-finish straight. The start-finish straight features an offset start, with the finish line towards the back of the starting grid closer to Murray's Corner.
Spectator areas have spread along the track over the decades, but there are several private properties bordering the track; spectators are therefore unable to access every trackside vantage point. Spectator vantage points have also become less intimate to the track over recent years because of debris fencing and increased run-off dimensions installed to meet upgraded international FIA standards.
Categories and marques During its history, the race has been conducted for production saloon cars,Official Programme, The 1960 Armstrong 500, Phillip Island, Sunday, 20 November, Page 1 Group E Series Production Touring Cars, Group C Touring Cars, Group A Touring Cars, Group 3A Touring Cars, Super Touring, and currently Supercars. Until 1995 more than one class competed in each event. In its early years, the Bathurst 500/1000 was generally a stand-alone event, occasionally becoming a round of a national series such as the Australian Manufacturers' Championship, but never part of the most significant touring car series in Australia, the Australian Touring Car Championship. Since 1999, the race has been run exclusively as a championship-points round of the Supercars category. In 1999 and 2000, it was the final round of the championship and on both occasions decided the championship winner. The race was once again the final round of the season in 2020, with the re-organised season having been cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic, though the championship had already been decided on points.
Many marques — including Morris, Jaguar, Nissan, BMW and Volvo — have competed in and won the event in Bathurst. However, the race is best known for the presence of the traditional rivals of Australian motorsport, Ford and Holden, which have won all but six races. Owing to the magnitude of the Ford-versus-Holden rivalry, for the Bathurst 1000 races from 1995 to 2012 the rules of Group 3A and later V8 Supercars mandated that only Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores were allowed to compete. In 2013, V8 Supercars' rules changed and other marques began to enter the race, including the return of past winners Nissan. Holden has the most overall victories at 34, followed by Ford with 21; Nissan is the only other multiple winner with 2 wins.
Race history
Phillip Island
Originally known as the Armstrong 500, the race was first held on 20 November 1960 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria, over a distance. The organisers, the Light Car Club of Australia, claimed the race was 'the world's premier production saloon car race'. The intention was to determine which cars, across five classes based on engine capacity, had the best combination of performance and reliability. It was also a showcase for the Armstrong company's shock absorbers and related products. Entry was limited to standard, unmodified production saloons built or assembled in Australia. All cars had to complete the first 100 miles without stopping for fuel, oil, or a driver change. Any mechanical problems in that time had to be resolved unassisted by the driver, using only the tools that came with the car. There was no official outright winner, only class winners. Frank Coad and John Roxburgh, in a Vauxhall Cresta, were the first to complete the 500-mile race distance. It was the only Vauxhall in the field of 45 cars including N.S.U.s, Simcas, Peugeots, Morris, Austins, Fords and Standard Vanguards.
The race was held twice more at Phillip Island. In 1961 Bob Jane and Harry Firth, sharing an Australian assembled Mercedes-Benz 220 SE, were the first drivers to complete the 167 laps. They were over a lap ahead of the Studebaker Lark driven by David McKay and Brian Foley, which in turn was a lap clear of the Vauxhall Velox of Frank Coad and John Roxburgh. Class wins were achieved by Studebaker, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot and Renault. In 1962 the class structure changed to one based on price. Jane and Firth switched to a Ford Falcon and once again completed the 500 miles first. Class honours went to Studebaker, Ford, Renault and Volkswagen.
In those days the Phillip Island track was surfaced with a "cold mix" bitumen which could not stand up to the pounding of dozens of race cars going flat out for 500 miles. The track surface broke up and became unsafe during races.
Early years in Bathurst
In 1963 the Armstrong 500 moved to the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst in New South Wales. The Bathurst 500 was organised and promoted by a consortium of the Seven Network, the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC), and Bathurst Regional Council; this arrangement continued until 1998. Its popularity grew rapidly, chiefly because it became a means for car manufacturers to showcase their products: the race cars had to be identical to those on the showroom floor. The first years on the Mount Panorama circuit were dominated by swift and agile small cars, such as the Ford Cortina and Mini Cooper. Although the class structure was retained — with many "races within the race" — the emphasis on achieving first outright increased. In 1963, Bob Jane and Harry Firth again triumphed, this time in a Cortina GT. In 1964 the pair drove competing Cortina GTs; Jane won with George Reynolds as co-driver. Barry 'Bo' Seton was second with Herb Taylor. Harry Firth was third with John Reaburn.
The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport introduced new Group E Series Production Touring Car regulations in 1965 but the Armstrong 500 continued with its own regulations.
1965 brought victory for the first overt "Bathurst Special", the Cortina GT 500. Bo Seton and Midge Bosworth completed the 130 laps first. Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland were second in an identical car. Third outright and first in Class C were Brian Foley and Peter Manton in a Morris Cooper S. The Geoghegan brothers, Ian and Leo, famously drove the race wearing business suits supplied by McDowells.
In 1966 and 1967 an Irish tobacco company sponsored the race, which became known as the "Gallaher 500". 1966 was the last four-cylinder victory for more than two decades. Rauno Aaltonen and Bob Holden drove their Mini Cooper S to a hard-fought win against stiff competition mainly comprising other Coopers. Mini Coopers filled the first nine places in Class C and outright. Class D was won by a Chrysler VC Valiant V8 that completed 124 laps. Class A was won by the Nissan Factory backed Datsun 1300 of Moto Kitamo and Kunimitsu Takahashi. Class B was taken out by an 1100cc version of the Mini Cooper.
1967 rule changes mandated a minimum number of pit-stops to negate the advantage economical smaller cars had of requiring fewer stops. This change favoured the larger, thirstier Fords and Holdens. The Minis handled the corners well and could, theoretically, run the entire race on a single tank of petrol, but the larger-engined cars were faster in a straight line. Ford's development of the 289 cubic inch V8 Ford Falcon GT signalled the end of small cars as outright contenders. 1967 was also the first year that starting grid positions were allocated according to practice lap times rather than by class groupings. This was also the first year that an official trophy was awarded to the first team to cover the 500 miles.
The 1967 victory of the XR Falcon GT over the smaller Alfa Romeo 1600 GTVs and Mini Coopers surprised many pundits as the Falcon GT was unproven. The highly regarded, and more expensive, Alfa GTV had been seen as the emerging force in touring cars. However, the Falcon GT's V8 power was well suited to the Mount Panorama circuit, particularly on the long straights. Thus was forged the adage that "there is no substitute for cubic inches", which became synonymous with racing at Bathurst. Initially the Geoghegan brothers' Falcon was awarded victory but some hours later Harry Firth and Fred Gibson were declared winners. During the race the Geoghegan car had entered the pit area through the rear access lane off Mountain Straight and erroneously accumulated an extra lap on the ARDC timing board. Third place in Class D fell to the venerable Studebaker Lark of Warren Weldon and John Hall. Class E was won by Doug Chivas and Max Stewart in an Alfa GTV. Classes B and C were won by variants of the Mini, and Class A was won by a Datsun 1000 piloted by John Roxburgh and Doug Whiteford.