Mountain Moments

Brodie Kostecki, Erebus, Sydney SuperNight, SMSP.

    Early morning fog rolls down forming a shroud. As the rising spring sun mercilessly burns off the fog to atmospheric oblivion, something menacing, yet inviting is revealed. The Mountain! This weekend, Supercars marquee event, the Bathurst 1000 is on at Mt Panorama, Bathurst. If the mountain could talk, what tales of triumph and heartache it could regale.
    This year celebrates 60 years of The Great Race with the distance changing from 500 miles to 1000kms in 1973. We always wax lyrically at this time of year, as we love the intrigue of endurance racing, and we make no apologies for that.         
    Remember when Peter Brock and Jim Richards scored pole position, led every lap, fastest lap on the last lap and won by a mammoth 6 laps? What about Allan Moffat and Colin Bond's emphatic formation finish in their Ford XC Falcons? Perhaps you remember Kevin Bartlett's highly fancied Nine's Wide World Of Sports Camaro rolling at Reid Park? Or Tomas Mezera's or Fabian Coulthard's dramatic barrel roles at The Chase? Paul Radisich's violent incident at the exit of The Chase forced a reprofiling of the fence for future races, or John Cleland sliding to a race ending stop on the roof of his Falcon after crashing into a limping Jason Plato at the same spot. The internationals have certainly left an indelible mark.
​    One poignant moment was Jim Richards lambasting booing and baying punters with , "You're all a pack of #@*%" on the podium with a youthful Mark Skaife looking on. This was after the race was red flagged after multiple crashes in atrocious conditions including the Richards/ Skaife car, so the winner was declared from the previous lap, plus they just happened to be in a Nissan GTR, affectionately known as Godzilla. The Ford and Holden fans were unimpressed. This was also the same race we sadly lost 1967 F1 world champ Denny Hulme, of which Richards was only just informed of moments before the podium. What about the bust up between Greg Murphy and Marcus Ambrose after their coming together approaching The Cutting? Jamie Whincup attempting to redress after botching an overtake on Scott McLaughlin at The Chase with Garth Tander sensing an opportunity to pass resulting in a race changing incident that saw McLaughlin and Tander out and Whincup copping a penalty is one moment that stands out. What about Red Bull frantically telling Whincup over the radio to save fuel as he won't finish, only to be passed by Chas Mostert in his Falcon on the last lap to win the race. They started last and only led on the lap that counted. The image of Mostert's co-driver and renown hard charger Paul "The Dude" Morris reduced to tears is still with us. Craig Lowndes' 7 victories including 3 on the trot with Jamie Whincup impresses. Perhaps Peter Brock's record of 9 victories is the only statistic that matters. For us, the most evocative image is a highly emotive Craig Lowndes claiming the inaugural Peter Brock trophy in 2006 shortly after the passing of Peter Brock.
    This year sees the first race for the new Gen 3 supercar at Mt Panorama. 161 laps. Camaro vs Mustang. What's interesting is there are no compulsory pit stops, thus freeing up strategies. The tyre on offer is the soft compound. With the larger fuel tank capacity, tyre management is paramount as the soft compound won't last a full fuel tank. Championship leader, Erebus' Brodie Kostecki would love to open his Bathurst account. Plus it's Mt Panorama! You race the track as much as the other cars. It's a challenge all Supercar drivers can't resist. Come Sunday night, The Mountain would have revealed more and undoubtedly added more mountain moments. Settle in and enjoy The Great Race.
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