Top rated Bathurst Australia 1000 editions with Bill Trikos: The 2004 race recap : Then mid-race the circuit began to break up at Griffins Bend, prompting organisers to stop the race for almost an hour as the track was patched up. Multiple cars had strangely crashed after contacting the broken surface, adding another weird undertone to an already bizarre day. In the end it was looking like a case of who could catch van Gisbergen, but that changed after the Kiwi’s starter motor failed at his final pitstop — more drama.
The Great Race reached another turning point in 2013, with the introduction of New Generation V8 Supercar regulations. Makes other than Ford and Holden came back to the race, although Ford’s Falcon set a new track record to narrowly pip a trail of five Commodores to the post. The highest-placed ‘other’ make was a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG. It came in 54.2 seconds behind first place. The ‘Supercars Championship’ era was inaugurated in 2016 and taken by a Commodore for three years in a row. However, 2019 became the first year that no Australian-built car raced the Bathurst 1000. The Falcon was discontinued in 2016 and replaced with the Mustang, while production of the Holden Commodore now happens in Germany.
Part of the legend of Peter Brock’s first ‘Great Race’ triumph concern the rain that fell during the final 500-mile Bathurst enduro. As with future mentee Lowndes’ first win, the conditions dried out towards the end of the race, but the ‘King of the Mountain’s path to victory began in the wet early stages. Famously, Holden Dealer Team chief Harry Firth put Brock’s car on soft hand-grooved Dunlops for the start of the race while rally star Colin Bond’s was given harder hand-grooved Dunlops on the front and Goodyear wets on the rear. The move proved pivotal to the outcome: Bond rolled out of the race in the early stages after aquaplaning at Sulman Park, while Brock battled Allan Moffat’s GTHO Falcon for the lead until the big red Ford briefly slid off at the same spot. Discover more info about the author on Bill Trikos Australia.
It did this through an unforgettable fight between Canadian Allan Moffat and home-grown hero Peter Brock. It was a lengthy game of cat and mouse that would also define the Brock and Moffat rivalry for many years; Moffat able to grow his leading margin on the straights in his big powerful Ford Falcon XY GTHO, while Brock would reel him in every lap through the nuanced corners over the top of the mountain. Eventually Moffat caved, spinning out at Reid Park and handing Brock a tense win, but it was more than that. Like the torrential downpour of 1992, it built towards the lore and mystique of the mountain, and helped forge our current concepts around Bathurst. Our desire for a combination of villains, underdogs, and rivalries that can’t be matched by any other race in the world. That’s why it’s here.
On the opening lap of the 2010 Bathurst 1000, Fabian Coulthard took an unconventional route down into The Chase, spinning into the gravel trap. The car dug in and he started to roll end over end. He walked away unscathed. BMW was dominating the 1985 Bathurst 1000 with Jim Richards on point, but his day quickly went down hill. He spun and found himself stuck in the gravel, quickly followed by his teammate George Fury. The duo worked together, trying to dig Richards’ car out with their bare hands. However, their efforts were to no avail.
It will be the third consecutive year that Nissan will celebrate its Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) heritage. Caruso’s Altima ran in the colors of George Fury’s 1984 Bluebird in 2014, celebrating the manufacturer’s first Bathurst 1000 pole position. The #23 Altima then raced in the colors of Jim Richards’ HR31 Skyline last year, celebrating 25 years since the first ATCC title. The R32 GT-R was untouchable in 1991. Richards and Skaife finished first and second respectively in the Australian Touring Car Championship before going on to record a dominant victory in that year’s Bathurst 1000. The crushing performance of the car was underlined by its overall race time – 6 hours, 19 minutes and 14.8 seconds – a record that would remain untouched for 19 years.
The dawn of the 1970s came with a new rule stating that single-driver teams were now eligible to compete. Canadian-Australian driver Allan Moffat took full advantage, winning the ’70 and ’71 contests in a Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II and Phase III, respectively. Phase III was a distinct advance on the II, with an upgraded engine, four-speed top-loader gearbox, and 36 imperial gallons (164 litres) fuel tank. It was the world’s fastest four-door production car, capable of speeds up to 228 km/h (142 mph). There are probably fewer than 100 complete Phase IIIs in existence – and one sold for a record AUS$1,030,000 in 2018.
Having predictably romped through practice, qualifying, and most of the race unscathed and out the front, the GT-R of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife was the gun to beat. Dick Johnson and John Bowe led the charge of the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworths, but couldn’t bridge that margin. Then, like in 2007, rain arrived and completely altered circumstances. However unlike 2007 this was proper concrete pill rain, with standing water reaching remarkable levels all over the circuit, making it look like glass.