Bathurst 1000 – The Fastest Five Decades

When race fans talk about the greatest racetracks of the last 50 years many are spoken about with reverence and nostalgia because they are no more -- killed off for economic reasons; decommissioned due to safety concerns; or simply outgrown as the cars that raced on them got quicker.

A few of the immortals remain, largely intact and still used, like the Nordschleife, Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone, Le Mans and Monza. They are inhabited as much by the ghosts of drivers who perished there as by the thousands who flock there today to watch the spectacle of man and machine versus racetrack.

Mount Panorama, Bathurst, is 'our' Nordschleife, 'our' Le Mans. It is the most iconic racetrack in Australia, it’s where our racing legends earned that status and where some of the greatest rivalries, both personal and mechanical, began and still continue.

Bathurst too has ghosts but after five decades hosting one of the world’s greatest races, the track is more alive than ever.

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mount Panaroma's signature long-distance race – now known as the Bathurst 1000… And over the next five weeks, as the 2012 race looms, we will look back on the event decade by decade.

To fit in all that has happened at Bathurst since 1963 is impossible, it has more stories than the Bible, but we trust this whets your appetite.

The Souped Up ‘60s
In 1963, a diverse grid of 58 cars lined up for the first Armstrong 500 (miler)on the Mount Panorama Circuit, a narrow scenic public road overlooking the country NSW town of Bathurst. Back then, few of the drivers or spectators there could have predicted the phenomenon Australia’s greatest racetrack and race would become.

Fifty years on, the Bathurst 1000 is THE touring car endurance race on the planet and on the bucket list of all local racers, and international stars as well. The race -- still on a public road but now built to international racing standards -- ranks with Germany’s Nordschleife and the 24 hours du Le Mans in France as one of motorsport’s toughest challenges.

“The daunting thing for me was going from a Cooper S to a Falcon V8 and not having driven the Falcon before I got to the track on the Friday… That was a big step.” – Fred Gibson, winner 1967 Gallaher 500

The Armstrong 500 had begun at the new Phillip Island circuit in Victoria in 1960 but after three events the track had deteriorated so badly the race was moved to Bathurst. It was an inspired choice. Only standard Australian-made vehicles could enter and there were four price-based classes – from under £900 up to £2000 – which allowed manufacturers to show the reliability and speed of their cars.

The entry ranged from nimble Morris 850s to lumbering Studebaker Larks but first across the line was the Class C (£901-£1200) Ford Cortina GT driven by Harry Firth and Bob Jane. In doing so, the pair completing a ‘hat trick’ of 500 wins. No outright winner was declared and the 500 miles took 7 hours 47 minutes.

Small cars would dominate for the next three years, Jane taking his fourth 500 with George Reynolds in 1964, again in a Cortina GT.

Lighter, better handling, more fuel efficient, and easier on tyres and brakes, the small cars might have been blown away by V8- and six-cylinder Studebakers, Holdens and Valiants going up and down the Mountain but they creamed them ‘across the top’.

As a result, grids were dominated by small cars and in 1966, when the race was renamed the Gallaher 500, the first nine places were filled by Morris Cooper Ss and was won for the first time by an international, Finnish rally driver Rauno Aaltonen, with local ace Bob Holden.

But the big cars were coming.

In 1967, Fred Gibson and Harry Firth won in a Ford factory-entered Falcon XR GT – the first V8-powered car to win at Bathurst – in a race time of just 6 hours 55minutes, and the sister car of Leo and Ian Geoghegan was second.

“When I met Harry at his motel at Bathurst I said, ‘What chance do you think we’ve got, Mr Firth?’ He said, ‘Cock, a Falcon GT will win the race because there’s no substitute for cubic capacity.’” – Fred Gibson, winner 1967 Gallaher 500

Although Gibson and Firth battled for the whole race with a pair of rapid Alfa Romeo GTVs, the era of four cylinder dominance was now over, especially as manufacturer-supported teams were now building Bathurst ‘specials’ fitted with performance and handling upgrades to not only allow them to go the distance but to do it quicker than ever before.

The price class structure was still in place for 1968 race – now known as the Hardie-Ferodo 500. For the first time the Holden factory got serious about winning after seeing how the ’67 victory had boosted Ford’s XR GT sales. But it was the privateer Holden HK Monaro GTS 327 of Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland that would claim the spoils. McPhee drove all but one lap).

After 130 laps, Monaros filled the top three places and the first Falcon home was back in seventh, five laps adrift. War had been declared and up on the Mountain fans now lined up in battle colours: you were either Holden red or Ford blue.

And for most of the next four decades no other colours or brands mattered. The power race had also started but tyre and braking technology had not yet kept pace meaning all that grunt still had to be treated with respect for a V8 Falcon or Monaro to go the distance.

Bathurst's first decade ended with the rise of the Holden Dealer Team, managed by Harry Firth, with Colin Bond and Tony Roberts triumphing in 1969 in an HT Monaro GTS350 from McPhee and Mulholland who had switched camps to race the new Ford XW Falcon GTHO. Three Monaros and four GTHOs filled the top seven places and two drivers from those ranks would go on to dominate the ‘70s.

Peter Brock finished third in an HDT Monaro (with Des West) and Allan Moffat fourth in a factory-backed GTHO (with Alan Hamilton)…

A golden era beckoned…

Bathurst Turning Points: The ‘60s
“That ’67 race was the turning point, it was the start of the V8s dominating. Our Falcon GT was reliable and we had the most power. It was the first production big car at Bathurst with a GT engine and it was built to be a race winner. And Ford had Harry Firth, who was the guru in the those days, and motorsport-oriented guys running the company, like (president) Bill Bourke. It was an unbelievable break for me because that’s when I got involved with the Ford Motor Company. To put it on the front row of the grid in my first time there in a big car was an achievement, I was pretty happy with that.” - Fred Gibson

Next weekend we will wind back the clock again and take a tour of the 70s as we celebrate 50 Years of Bathurst.

Images supplied by www.autopics.com.au

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