Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race, held each October. The track is 6.213 kilometres long, and is technically a street circuit, as the Mountain is home to a number of residents.
The track is a very unusual design by modern standards, with a 174 metre vertical difference between its highest and lowest points, and grades as steep as 1:6.13. From the start-finish line, the track can be viewed in three sections; the short pit straight and then a tight left turn into the long, steep Mountain straight; the tight, narrow section across the top of the mountain itself; and then the long, downhill section of Conrod Straight, with the very fast Chase and the turn back onto pit straight to complete the lap.
Historically, the racetrack has been used for a wide variety of racing categories, including everything from open-wheel racers to motorcycles. However, the factors that make the track so unusual, and tighter contemporary safety standards, make it unlikely that major race meetings in these categories will be held there again, and as such it has become the near-exclusive province of closed-bodied automobile racing cars.
On non-race days, Mount Panorama is open to the public. Cars can drive in both directions around the circuit for no charge. However, a strict speed limit of 60km/h is enforced, and police regually patrol the circuit.
The Circuit
The Main Straight
The main straight of Mount Panorama, which is adjacent to the pit complex, has a different start line and finish line. The start line is 293m closer to Hell Corner because 161 laps would otherwise be 1000.293 km, it also has the added benefit that traffic does not go too far around Murray's Corner, while the finish line is underneath the overbridge.
Hell Corner
Aptly named because of the crashes it has seen, Hell Corner is the first bend that drivers meet on their way up the Mountain. It is a 90 degree left hand turn.
Mountain Straight
Mountain Straight is a long straight that begins the climb up the hill towards Griffins Bend. V8 Supercars reach speeds up to 250 km/h as drivers race over the crest immediately prior to braking for Griffins Bend.
Griffins Bend
Also known as GTX Bend (the corner's first sponsor), Griffins Bend was named after the Mayor of Bathurst whose vision it was to create the scenic road/race-track. Drivers heading around this right-hander have to be careful not to drift too far out of this negatively-cambered turn and hit the wall upon exit.
The Cutting
Referred for many years as "BP Cutting", this is a pair of left hand corners, leading into a steep 1:6 grade exit. Overtaking is virtually impossible here, and it is very hard to recover from a spin here because of the narrow room and steep gradient. This corner was the location of the infamous "race rage" incident between Marcos Ambrose and Greg Murphy, after Murphy collided with Ambrose, while Ambrose was attempting to make a pass around the outside during the 2005 Bathurst 1000.
Reid Park
After exitting the Cutting, drivers have a right hand turn, heading up, then into a left hand turn. This is Reid Park. The most famous incident in the history of the Bathurst 1000 was here when Dick Johnson crashed his Ford Falcon in the early laps of the 1980 Bathurst 1000 race avoiding a large rock that had fallen from the spectator area. The car was destroyed, taking with it Johnson's means of supporting his racing ambitions. An emotional public appeal followed during the race's telecast which re-launched Johnson's career and restored flagging public interest in touring car racing.
Sulman Park
After Reid Park, drivers brave a steep drop, flowing into a climbing left hand turn, heading back towards the highest point of Mount Panorama. This is also the location of Sulman Park and its Nature Park. Jason Bright crashed here in his Ford Falcon in practice during the 1998 Australia 1000, then saw the car rebuilt in time to scrape into qualifying in the dying minutes before Bright and Steven Richards went on to victory. This corner was also the scene of a shocking crash in a support race in 2006 that claimed the life of Mark Porter.
McPhillamy Park
McPhillamy Park is a downhill, deceptively fast left hand turn which is guarded by a crest prior to turn-in, rendering the corner blind to approaching drivers. Drivers have to stay close to the wall while turning so as not to go out wide upon exit. To go too close however may cause the car to clip the inside kerbing, which Allan Moffat famously did in practice for the 1986 Bathurst 1000, crashing heavily, head on to the concrete. McPhillamy Park is the home of the 'McPhillamy Mob' a group of die hard enthusiasts who return year after year to watch the 1000 km race. Other campers around the area should expect little sleep after this group have had a few beers.
Brock Skyline
A short straight connects McPhillamy to the next corner. Now named 'Brock's Skyline' after the legendary Peter Brock, Skyline is a sharply descending right hand corner which signifies the beginning of the descent from the top of the Mountain. The corner acquired the name from the visual effect of looking upwards at the corner from below, such is the sharpness of that initial plunge. During the 1970 Bathurst 500 Tony Roberts launched over Skyline backwards after losing control of his Ford Falcon, before tumbling down the hillside.
The Esses
The Esses are the series of corners which begin at Skyline and stretch down the Mountain towards Forrests Elbow.
The Dipper
The most famous of the Esses, the Dipper, the fourth in the sequence, is a sharp left hand corner, so named because, before safety changes, there was quite a dip in the road surface and then a steep drop not far from the edge of the road. Many cars used to get two wheels off the ground in the pursuit of getting 11 tenths out of their car, sometimes having their left front wheel dangling off the side of the track before the concrete walls were put up.
Forrest's Elbow
'The Elbow' – named after Jack Forrest, a motorcycle racer who scraped his elbow away after laying down his bike – is a slow, descending left-hand turn that leads on to the long Conrod Straight. The corner's line drifts towards the outside wall on exit and drivers have to be careful of getting too close. It was here, during the Hardie's Heroes qualifying run prior to the 1983 Bathurst 1000, that Dick Johnson clipped a tyre barrier just after exiting the corner, which sent his Ford Falcon careening into a grove of trees, totally demolishing it.
Conrod Straight
Formerly known as Main Straight, Conrod Straight was so named because of a con-rod failure that ended the race of Frank Kleinig in his Kleinig/Hudson race-car. Conrod Straight is the fastest section of Mount Panorama, with today's V8 Supercars just reaching 300 km/h. The straight is a roller-coaster ride featuring two distinct crests, the second of which was rebuilt in 1987. It has been on Conrod where all five car-racing deaths on the circuit have occurred – Bevan Gibson, Tom Sulman, Mike Burgmann, Denny Hulme and Don Watson. All except Hulme (heart attack) died in high-speed accidents.
The Chase
Known for many years as 'Caltex Chase', this three turn sequence was added in preparation for the World Touring Car Championship round in 1987 as Con-Rod Straight exceeded the FIA's length for an un-broken straight. The section was dedicated to Mike Burgmann who had died in an accident at the chicane's spot the previous year. It interrupts Con-Rod Straight with Australia's fastest right hand bend, descending to the right away from the dangerous crest prior to the spectator bridge, before a sharp 120 km/h left hand bend then second right hand corner returns the competitors to Con-Rod Straight for the blast down to Murrays Corner. This corner was the scene of Peter Brock's only rollover in his motor racing career in a Vauxhall Vectra in practice for the 1997 Bathurst 1000.
Murray's Corner
Murray's Corner is the final corner before Pit Straight and the lowest point of the circuit. It is a 90 degree left hand turn, and is a favourite overtaking spot as driver's hold braking duels for the corner.
Racing deaths at Mount Panorama
Four drivers have died during touring car competition associated with the Bathurst 1000 going back to the 1960s.