v8 supercars

[Bushmiller]

I was going to come straight out and say that the Bathurst race which evolved into a Holden/Ford duel lost it for me when they restricted the race to those two marques. I completely lost interest because the variety had gone.

At some point, which I missed, because I had lost interest, they brought the cars even closer together with the runnin gear being the same. Perhaps support has forced them to revert to more diversification.

I would like to see the organisers revert to the original concept of the bathurst style race and the cars bear more resemblance to the vehicles we buy for the road: Modifications strictly limited to safety and stability.

Having said all that, there are many one marque races around. Minis used to do it. Porsche still do it, Lamborghini I think sponsor a race. There again I don't watch those either!

Regards
Paul

[Geoff Dean]

Paul,

they tried that about 15yrs ago at Bathurst. There was a blowup over the TV rights, C7 held them for the traditional Bathurst date of the NSW Labour Day long weekend. C10 held the rights to the touring cars broadcast.

What transpired was 2 bathursts, C7 covered the 2litre series which included BMW's, Audi's, Fords, Holdens, Nissans, Toyotas etc.

The traditional V8's ended up 1 week later, where they still are.

The 2 litre series lasted about 2 yrs from memory with crowds and TV ratings of around 30% of the V8's.

Of bigger concern to me is the obvious manipulation of the races through enforced pitstops when not required and the intervention of the safety car (which is known as the entertainment car) with around 30 laps to go, so that all the front runners can be bunched up, fuel up and fresh tyres for the final sprint to the end.

Cars that leave the track before this point and represent absolutely no danger to anyone or anything will bring out a safety car almost before they stop spinning, but within the last 15 or so laps it almost takes a total track blockage to bring it out.

I haven't been to Bathurst for the race for about 7 or 8 yrs now, previous to that I went every year. If it ever returns to being a true motor race, rather than a television event with the final result determined by the entertainment director, then I might venture back.

[Yonnee]

Why is it that racing car drivers and footballers are always branded as disloyal or traitors if they move to another brand/team. It is only employment for them and if they are out of contract and can get a better $ elsewhere they would be stupid to pass it by.

That's exactly my point. Gone are the days of a bloke going out and buying a car that he was passionate about, prepping it for racing, and entering it in the Australian Touring Car Championship, and ultimately, Bathurst. Now it's all about the dollars. And I dont mean just the drivers, the whole circus is a multi-million dollar business. A good driver might have his choice about who he drives for, but with so many good young drivers in this country, they can't be too choosy about where their next pay packet is coming from. Hell, even the late Peter Brock drove a Sierra for a bit, and you couldn't get a more passionate Holden man.

[chambezio]

What about bringing back the old Reddex style Rally?
There was a good mix of makes and models and terrain that tested man and machine. Remember too the London to Sydney Marathon in the early 70s? There were 3 (I think) GT Falcons that really didn't do too well until they got to the Australian leg where they showed the world what "we" ca do.
OK they are not the "audience" race spectical that Bathurst offers but they are a true test of a car that you might be considering to buy
I remember that a European driver was approached to race at Bathurst to which he didn't think much about. Driving around a 3 odd mile track for 6 hours? He reluctantly did drive and was so wrapped because it offers everything .... tight corners hills and of course the famous Conrod.
That Utube that Cliff posted featuring sitting in the back seat of a GT Falcon havint to race against othwer smaller and slower cars was the way Bathurst should be done again

[BRADFORD]

I was going to come straight out and say that the Bathurst race which evolved into a Holden/Ford duel lost it for me when they restricted the race to those two marques. I completely lost interest because the variety had gone.

My thoughts exactly. It is time to stop making it a promotional video and make it a race again

[Bushmiller]

My impression of the original race was that it was entertainment pure and simple. There was a diverse range of vehicles and sometimes this created issues such as top speeds that could be 50km/h or more apart. However for the most part this was part of the mix and it was the essence of racing.

Then the likes of Ford and Holden seemed to be losing out to other marques with the biggest loss, to my mind, when the Ford Sierras blitzed the field. There were two problems. Firstly they weren't sold in Australia and secondly they were only two litres (I hope my memory hasn't failed me there) albeit turbocharged. The V8 brigade were seriously pi55ed off.

There was something of an outcry at that point. I would be interested to know if the push towards the Holden vs Ford formula came from these two manufacturers or the race organisers. Did the General and Henry dislike losing so much or did the race organisers anticipate crowds dwindling?

Anyhow we saw the emergence of the revised and heavily restricted V8 race and the doomed small category race as Geoff Dean pointed out.

For me any contest that is restricted or weighted in an unfair bias diminishes the kudos of a win. You just know in your heart that it is meaningless. It is better to lose gracefully and know you tried hard rather than rig the result.

Regards
Paul

[Bob38S]

Aah the old Bathurst - all cars racing albeit in their own classes - fabulous to see the big cars racing the Mini etc.

They really were the good old days for me.

[Geoff Dean]

Aah the old Bathurst - all cars racing albeit in their own classes - fabulous to see the big cars racing the Mini etc.

They really were the good old days for me.

And just to add another dimension, throw a couple of slow moving flatbed trucks into the mix as well.

[Bushmiller]

And just to add another dimension, throw a couple of slow moving flatbed trucks into the mix as well.

I know what you mean, but I deliberately mentioned the disparity in performance as it was often bemoaned by the drivers of the more powerful vehicles. However I still stick to the muti marque mix. In reality some of the slower V8s were not as quick around the track as the faster smaller engined cars,

I was fortunate in the mid 70s to watch the Le Mans 24hrs on two occasions. The difference in performance there was even more exagerated. The cars to beat were the Porsche 917s. They had a longtailed version and a short tailed model. The short tailed car was quicker around the track, but would only hit 220mph down the Mulsanne straight, while the long tail could do 240mph but was a little bit on the uncontollable side through the twisty bits. Not bad speeds for around 35 years ago!

I was always amused when watching the race on TV to see the choppers start the straight well ahead of the cars but fall behind like they were standing still.

Some of the smaller cars probably had a top speed of only160mph. In that situation they did get in the way, but equally they were expected to get out of the way. I suspect most of the small car drivers spent half their time looking for Porsches, Fords and Ferraris in their rear view mirrors. Add the extended fatigue factor and with the top speed difference of around 140km/h, you may have a case for excluding the teenies.

Not quite the same at Bathurst.

Regards
Paul

[Geoff Dean]

They were the days - 55 cars on the start grid, instead of 28.

They were backed up around Murray's Corner about halfway to the Dunlop bridge.

About 8 laps in, the quick cars were starting to catch them................and then it started to get interesting.
Ahh for the good old days.