FAI 1000 Mt. Panorama, Bathurst
History of Mount Panorama
Although the annual V8 Supercars race at Bathurst as we now know it was officially born in 1963, its history takes us all the way back to the turn of the century.
It was in 1900 that a Bathurst GP, Dr Machattie, introduced his cutting-edge, steam-powered Thomson car to his dumbstruck neighbours, inspiring two local builders to drive the 793 kilometers from Melbourne to Bathurst, the first ever long-distance drive completed in Australia.
It was only a matter of time before Bathurst's hunger for adrenaline was fuelled further when, eleven years later, the first motor racing circuit was set up, the setting for four races before the onset of the Great War.
For the next two decades, however, Bathurst became the premier Australian venue for motor racing of the two wheel variety, with motorcycle riders competing in regular meetings on both the town's public roads and on the Vale circuit, south of the town.
Perhaps the real starting-point for the race was in 1938, with the completion of the world famous circuit which now acts as a magnet for tens of thousands of motor racing fans each year. As a matter of fact, the circuit was originally intended as a tourist road, offering stunning views of the plains from Bald Hills mountain. The Bathurst Light Car Club was quick to realise the potential of this new road for its members (with its wide corners and two escape roads, and sealed with tar in 1939), and ever since then, the tourist route has been host to all subsequent race meetings.
The first such meeting was held on April 18, 1938 and was organised by the New South Wales Light Car Club and the Auto Cycle Union as a joint car/motorcycle race. On that sunny April day a staggering 35,000 spectators came out to watch these speeding machines, a crowd comparable in size to those attracted to today's meetings.
Until the 1960s, the circuit had been witness to a whole succession of international GT car race meetings - the Australian Grand Prix (in 1947, 1952 and also 1958), and all annual Easter and October meetings, including the Bathurst 100 mile event for sports cars.
In 1960 Mount Panorama was host to the first Armstrong 500, Bathurst's pioneering Touring car race, started after safety fears were voiced about racing full-power sports cars on the increasingly perilous track.
Mount Panorama offers everything for both driver and spectator - no driver can honestly say, with his hand on his heart, that they have ever achieved the Holy Grail of a perfect lap. Getting Murrays right is essential, leading to Hell, up the Hill, through the Cutting, Reid Park and the rise before McPhillamy Park, the problems posed by the Esses and the Elbow…not to mention the ever-troublesome pit stops that have plagued so many drivers. Along with the nail-biting Holden/Ford clash, it literally has everything a circuit could offer.
Although the name of the race has now changed to the FAI1000, its place in Australian folklore and the characters it has produced are familiar to us all. It's hall of fame includes such infamous drivers as Peter Brock (with 9 wins), Larry Perkins and Jim Richards (with 6) Allan Moffat, Bob Jane and Harry Firth (with 4), all Australians - in fact, only 4 foreign drivers have ever shared a win in Bathurst's rich 29-year history.
With Bathurst forming the ultimate decider of the Shell Championship season, combined with the awe with which drivers talk of this most challenging of races, its history is certain to provide us with many more years of enjoyment, characters and stories.
As Bathurst legend Allan Moffat once said: "There is only Bathurst. The rest is still waiting."
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