Thread: Bathurst 1000 Report

Hi Folks,
I just returned from Bathurst on Monday and could not find any reports on the 4 day event - only the big race. Here is my (highly subjective) take on it.

My two brothers and I arrived on Wednesday - camping at the Chase campground.

The most interesting category there was the Biante Model series for Historic cars. There was lots of variety - in rough order of placings - SS Camaros, '69 Mustangs, HO Falcons, one Charger, one Datsun 1600, LJ Toranas, Monaros, '67 Mustang, two Mazda RX2s, one BMW 2002, a swarm of Minis and one Alfa GTV. I am not too sure how original they were mechanically - I suspect the Datto had some major mods to be in front of a lot of V8s!

Aussie Racing Cars (mini cars with motorbike motors) were fun to watch - braked late and throttled through corners.

The Porshe Cup events were ho-hum, as were the Fujitsu Cup.

The main race was fun to watch at times - highlight was Mark Skaife behind left behind on the start line with a slipping clutch. To top that off - being taken out (by driving like a goose on the racing line) was hilarious. The crowd cheered like crazy.

I am not that fussed on the V8 Supercar series - totally irrelevant to what we buy. Using PUSHROD 302 Windsor motors in the Fords - so the GM supporters can't cry "Foul" is a joke. The racing itself was fun - but they could have been driving anything.

The Castrol Aviator stunt plane (560kg with 600HP - as used in the Red Bull Racing series) was a hoot. How the guy can pull 8 Gs without wearing a G suit - and still commentate while doing the stunts - was amazing. I will definitely be looking out for the RBR race in Perth.

The real highlight for me was standing about 3m away from the exhaust pipes of a top fuel rail dragster. At idle, it was loud. When they hit the throttle - it was like a percussion shock wave hitting! The supercharged 8L Chrysler motor uses 10L of fuel every second at WOT and has as much power as the first 12 rows of the V8 supercar grid - it was a real treat.

Well, I had better get back to work. If anyone has any questions or comments - bring them on!

Cheers,
Rob

Originally Posted by spudboy

Sounds like you had a good long weekend.

What was the crowd like? I've thought about going but after going to an Adelaide Clipsal 500 was put off by all the half drunk yobs.

Yes - it was a top weekend. Plus we allocated the food and drinks to perfection.

The crowds... well, this was my first time at a V8 Supercar event - so I can't compare it to other events. I was completely surprised by the lack of police presence: I saw 3 police on foot at the course on Saturday; a paddy wagon patrolled the roads around the course a few times; and 2 highway patrol cars arrived at the course - and the 4 police hopped out to look at the race, then drove away! The campers and crowd were left to their own devices...

At the Chase camp site - there was pretty much the rowdy "Yahoos" here and there, interspersed with the odd fireworks being set off every now and then. After the days practise/racing, there were a few bogans in Commodores/Skylines/Hilux utes doing donuts in the cleared - but unoccupied campsites at the bottom of the site. On this note - there were two really funny situations:

On Friday, someone decided it would be a good idea to see if their Maui campervan could do donuts - not quite - but looked really funny! The other one was on Sunday after the race - when someone in a Hilux had a run up at the clearing at about 50km/h - then tried to do a donut... and rolled it. About 40 people ran down and rolled it over. The driver then tried to start it, but I suspect the inertia switch kicked in and it wouldn't go. Some drunks in the crowd yelled out to "Burn it" - and some clowns decided to throw some burning wood at it. Well, it nearly caught fire - but not quite.

So in short - I do not think camping at the track is appropriate for a family or couple, but no issues with the crowds at the trackside.

Cheers,
Rob