Mount Panorama Circuit

The Mount Panorama Circuit (aka Bathurst) is legendary in the Southern Hemisphere. It is located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, and is the site for the Bathurst 1000. Australian V8 Supercars take to the 4 mile long track which is technically a street circuit.

The very first race held here was the 1938 Australian GP, and it played it's host on three other occasions. The endurance race Bathurst 1000 has been run here since 1973. The track is unusual by modern standards and has a 174 meter (this is three times our Juliana bridge) vertical difference between its highest and lowest points, and grades as steep as 1:6. I guess the fact that it is nestled on top of a mountain helps.

Generally, the track can be viewed in three sections: the short pit straight followed by 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.

Below you can watch a lap on Mount Panorama onboard a Lotus Elise. This is no ordinary lap! I think the Stig is behind the wheel!



What sets this track apart, is that it's one of the oldest racetracks around that is still in active use. However, the factors that make the track so unusual, along with tighter safety standards, make it unlikely that major races (such as F1, MotoGP) will ever be held here again, and as such, it has become near-exclusive to closed-bodied racing cars, such as the V8 Supercars.

I you are thinking of ever visiting Mount Panorama and doing a hot lap in a rental, forget about it. Even though it is a public road with cars driving in both directions around the track, there is a strict speed limit of 60km/h enforced by the police.

For a detailed layout of the track, visit: http://bathurst.v8supercars.com.au/Portals/v8/RadEditor/Documents/Bathurst/Track%20Maps/V8SC_11_Bath_MAP.pdf or http://www.hopkin.com.au/T/racetrack2.jpg

Source: V8 Supercars.com.au, wikipedia

V8 Supercars

It was a grey and cloudy Saturday afternoon on the paradise island of Curacao, not the great day usually reserved for boating. I decided instead to make use of my favourite couch and enjoy some SpeedTV, where I was unexpectedly met with the Bathurst 1000, live from Australia.

Below, I've posted a video of 3 time Nascar champion, Daytona winner, and a hall-of-famer, Darrel Waltrip who was there covering the event. The Aussies offered the legend a ride in a V8 Supercar...much to his dismay. Watch him freak out!

This video illustrates the extreme speeds and cornering abilities of a V8 Supercar. Of course, it is not fair to Darrel, having been cornered into taking a ride on one of the most challenging tracks in the world. He's considerable older now and prefers to take things easy, besides, he's just not used to right-hand turns. But enough about Mr. Waltrip's ride along side Jason Brigh.

The Australian supercar that humbled the american have actually less power than an unrestricted Sprint Cup Car - but they also weigh some 200 pounds less, and their shorter wheelbase and modern suspension make them quite fast. Most cars are based on the Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore, and although they bear some resemblance to the production models, on the inside they pure bred racing machines.

Technical details on a typical Supercar: 5 liter fuel injected V8 / est 650 bhp at 7500 rpm / six speed sequential Holinger gearbox / triple plate carbon 7 1/4" clutch / front suspension: double wishbone with coil over adjustable damper and cockpit adjustable front anti roll bar / rear suspenion: four link with adjustable watts link, coil over adjustable rear dampers, also with cockpit adjustable rear anti roll bar / front brakes: Alcon 6 Piston Monobloc Caliper with removable bridge bar 375 mm ventilated discs / rear brakes: Alcon 4 Piston Monobloc Caliper 343 ventilated discs / Rimstock control wheels 17 inch by 11 inch magnesium alloy / Dunlop tires / 1345 kg minimum weight excl driver / top speed 182+ mph / 0-60 mph 3.8 seconds.

The V8 Supercars series is run as an International Series under the FIA. Race formats include a variety of race lenght's, from 300 km (sprint) spread over Saturday and Sunday, to one 1000 km (enduro) race on Sunday. Accordingly, it uses a single driver format (sprint) as well as multiple ones (enduro). The series is very popular in Australia and New Zealand and is steadily increasing around the world, especially since it goes to the YAS Marina Circuit and Bahrain.
I believe that soon we will see it competing stateside as well.

Below, a promotional video about this series' stop at the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi.




Source: SpeedTV, www.v8supercars.com.au, wikipedia
For more info: http://www.v8supercars.com.au/