Just to help get you in the mood for the ISI Mt Panorama.
This is an Australian Top gear tribute to the Legend Peter Brock.
If you were a young guy growing up in Australia these saloon cars were all we knew and Brock was our Senna. He won Bathurst 10 times and was simply known as "The King of the Mountain"
Dick Johnson was his arch rival and also hugely successful at Bathurst. I have had the privilege of being a passenger on track with Dick Johnson (at Eastern Creek). He is always the same. Staight talking, laconic, charismatic. The driving sequence and Dicks interview on the mountain are priceless.
Quite amazing that Brock and Senna carried the same livery in the same period. You might detect some other similarities if you transpose Prost for Johnstone in the interview.
enjoy..
And one more for anyone that wants to feel the mystique and history of Mt Panorama and Peter Brock.
This next part was written about a 90 min race we did last year on an unauthorised update to Rf2 of ORSMs great RF1 track. They witheld authorisation to use it so it was never driven again.
Its a bit of fun if you like. Its followed by the full video.
The “Blown Diffuser”
Bathurst Special
On the eve of the Race Department 1.5 hours of Mt Panorama we have had our principal Endurance Car reporter David O’Brundle (previous winner of the Halfords Staff Go Karting Xmas party) to give us the lowdown.
Mt Panorama Overview and background.
The track: Mt Panorama is the heartland of Australian Motorsport. Since when in 1938 the mayor of Bathurst had the vision to camouflage his intentions by calling the track a “Scenic Road” when applying for a budget in the cash strapped post-depression era.
The Bathurst 500 was the biggest thing in Australian Motorsport. The nation (or at least every red blooded male) would stop for the 5 hours or so to watch the telecast. Legends were created by winning even one. Multiple winners became icons. For this race Channel 7 brought us things we now take for granted in international motorsport such as “Race Cam” live onboard shots.
In the late 70s innovative teams started to recruit international stars to co drive with local legends.
In 1977 Jacky Ickx won on debut (not done again until 2011) teamed with Allan Moffat the Canadian born superstar who made Australia home after learning his trade as a junior mechanic with Colin Chapman (rumoured to be for food and board). He came back to Australia having purchased one of Chapmans Lotus Cortinas and the rest is history.Vern Schupan also raced.
It was a two way street and the top Australian drivers saw international events opening their doors. Larry Perkins a 6 time Bathurst winner managed P4 at Lemans.
F1 World Champions: Jack Brabham features in this period and sadly Dennny Hulme lost his life to natural causes on Conrod straight.
The word started to spread about this enormous challenge in NSW Australia. By 1984 and with the help of race cam and the awesome sight of a full grid on an opening, the spectacle of Bathurst started to get more attention internationally. A trickle of internationals began and some famous names that came to race include Franz Klammer the Downhill skiing superstar. Ivan Mueller (Ivan Miller to the announcers!). In 2014 Mika Salo co-drove with local legend and one time team mate of Juan Pablo Montoya in F3000 Craig Lowndes.
The internationalisation of the event reached a peak in 1987 when the World Touring (Cosworth Sierra, E30 M3 etc) cars raced the home grown machines. For a time there was a lull as the V8 supercars dominated but like the US Nascar series whilst followed passionately by the local fans did hold only niche appeal to international audiences.
The germination of the 12 hour was in 1990 when a 12 hour series production race was held. It moved for a time to eastern Creek but returned bigger and better to the spiritual home of Endurance racing in the Southern hemisphere, Mt Panorama. In 2011 the GT3 class 12 hour was first held and Mt Panorama was back on the international stage.
This race........
Drivers comments:
David O’Brundle has been about in the paddock and gathered a few snippets from the gathered internationals. Comments include:
“When I first got here and did 20 laps I saw the lap times the 911GT3 was doing and figured they were super strong here. But it was learning this track and setup and driving technique was the answer. I got on the pace but its super hard to overtake here. The top of the mountain needs so much commitment it’s awesome.”
Frederick Shornstein.
“It was an intense battle with Freddy in the short practice race and one error meant I was down 3 places.”
Aleksi Kivelä.
“I thought I was on it but in the R8 I was +3 sec. I was invited to try the setup from the Figjam racing 05 Marlboro 911 GT3 and within 10 laps had found 3 sec. I thanked the team and found a drive in the 911.”
Yuri Kasdorp
Local in Focus.
David O’Brundle has been granted access all areas to the Figjam Racing teams 911GT3 Campaign. Here is his interview with their driver and team owner David O’Reilly.
Firstly the choice of car? We love the Porsche 911. It was not eligible for the Laguna Seca 1 hour and that’s why we drove the Nissan GT3 there. I reckon it suits the track. It’s got a strong top speed and is agile if not particularly stable down the twisty bits. Some setup and care where you are pointing under brakes minimises its tendency to want to swap ends under brakes.
What about the livery? It’s a tribute to two Bathurst legends. Peter Brock and Larry Perkins and is a replica of their 1984 race winning Holden Commodore. The crowd over the mountain love it and I can hear their cheers as we pass.
Your chances? It’s a very strong field. There are 4 or 5 proper aliens that will head up quali. Even from here in NSW I have heard of Marçal Bonet Andreu, Frederic Schornstein and Aleksi Kivelä. I was hoping Oscar Hardwick would make it too. I know the track well but have to accept that I am 2 sec of ultimate pace of the aliens. If I can get into the top 7-8 in quali it means I will be in a position to take advantage of any problems the quickest may have. We hope for P5 and also not to be lapped by the winner.
What about the story we broke that
Yuri Kasdorp drive your car and changed teams?. Well he didn't change teams as his principal sponsor agreed the deal but yes our "spare car" was purchased and re painted to Yuri's team colours and we agreed a deal to do the engineering to bring it up to our setup specification.
Was that wise? It seemed a lot wiser when I was going 3 sec faster than it did when he matched my lap times.
We hear you got P2 in the LMP1 curtain raiser yesterday? Freddy was toying with me.
We leave David O'Reilly as he prepares for a Breakfast TV interview.
Predictions.
1st lap will see 6-8 cars fall off the tarmac so there is a lot to lose / gain by staying safe as tyres come in and we see some racing room appear.
Cars. Any make can win. The pace is quite equal. Some are easier than others through the twisty bits down the mountain such as the R8, The Aston Martin benefits a lot from setup and is very strong under barkes into Caltex Chase. The Nissan GTR feels very good too. Easy to drive. One or two are stronger into the chase under brakes. But skill, sense and concentration will have a bigger impact.
Strategy Its parc ferme incl fuel. We will see a mix of 2 stop guys going very fast. And 1 stop guys looking after tyres and keeping the car in one piece. Someone may do one long stint and one short one but it’s questionable as the long stint will be slow at first (Fuel load) and slow at the end (tyres).
Our money says the pit lane will look like George street at Xmas shopping time at about 45 mkins race time.
Podium
Marçal Bonet Andreu’s ability to run fast and save tyres puts him in my top 3. It’s a mystery as to his pace here as we haven’t seen him on the server yet. Frederic Schornstein has huge pace anywhere anytime. If he can keep it safe he will be my pick for a podium. Aleksi Kivelä also fast and a good starter. There are several drivers who are new to this series and I’m sure that there will be one or two aliens amongst them.
The one thing we do know.....
Mt Panorama is a cruel mistress and anything can happen.
Welcome to Mt panorama. Enjoy the race
and the race that followed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbLHG2VLEjA
