BATHURST 1000: Day 6 Saturday Notebook
Happy Bathurst Eve everyone, tomorrow is the big dance.
And thank you for playing along at home this week with The Race Torque’s Bathurst Notebook – the next stop is a return to our post-race Doric Power Rankings – so stay tuned for all the Hot/Not/What from what promises to be a massive 1000!
As always, hit us up on the socials @theracetorque with any hot tips, takes and social media gold.
Inside the Commentary Box
Ever wondered where Neil Crompton and Mark Skaife work? Here you have it!
Stay tuned to The Race Torque, where we will soon take a deep dive into exactly how the commentary box operates.
How the Other Half Live
Ever wondered how the corporates live the high life at Mount Panorama?
Clearly, it’s the biggest event on the calendar, but correspondingly, for the many sponsors involved in the sport, it is critically important from a business sense.
We caught up with friend of The Race Torque Tom Arciuli, the Marketing Manager at Doric, to find out how the trade makes Bathurst work for them.
The Debris Field was Large
Any keen souvenir hunters should head directly to The Chase, where there are various bits of blasted race cars and track signage awaiting collection.
Bogan Christmas
Satirical internet sites have called the Bathurst 1000 ‘Bogan Christmas’, and they are finally right.
Thanks to it being after December 1, the campers at McPhillamy Park have gotten into the Christmas spirit and have whipped out the special decorations for this year’s festive season.
You cannot accuse motorsport fans of not taking recycling seriously.
Life Inside the Circuit
For the most part on race weekend, for the residents located within the centre of the Mount Panorama circuit, life is somewhat idyllic.
There are some campers scattered around some properties, but there is also a winery, farm animals and much wildlife.
The final pic in the above sequence is of a ShuRoo, which emits a constant buzz that apparently deters skippies, with several of the devices found around the venue.
Elsewhere On The Hill
Thanks to the rain early in the week, event organisers have had to bring in a massive quantity of chip wood (first photo in sequence) to help sure up the bog below many of the campsites around the precinct.
Although numbers are well down on top of the hill, the guys and girls are still involving themselves in plenty of fun and festivities.
In the whole scheme of things, the entry process for patrons is more focused on vaccine status rather than credentials, with visitors to the top of the Hill also having to be drug-free…
The Big Dipper
Remember in the olden days when cars would spear through the wooden paling fence and travel vast distances down the side of the hill at the Dipper?
It’s difficult to describe the sheer scale of the climb from Forrest’s Elbow to Skyline if you have never been to Bathurst in the flesh, but this image kind of demonstrates the sheer drop on the outside of the Dipper.
This pic may have been captured when the photographer required a mid-hike rest…
Jibbed
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Dipper, the camera on the jib crane has returned for 2021.
It’s a two-man job, with one swinging the jib, and the other sitting in the tent operating the motion of the camera, who has two screens – one displaying what the camera sees, and the other with the live broadcast.
Commitment To The Cause
Dirk Klynsmith was the undisputed champion of early risers and first to arrive at the media centre.
Now that he has retired from the circus, it seems that The Race Torque has picked up task of getting to the race track WAY too early…
As of today, Craill/Walker have been the first to sign on at the media centre for five straight days, which is frankly sad.
Today also marks nine straight days of visiting the venue for team TRT.
I guess you could have a real job…
A Sign Of The Times
Has the Peter Brock Trophy been replaced by hand sanitiser and face masks?
Compare and Contrast
Left: The literal panorama from the viewing platform that has been installed in recent times at McPhillamy Park.
Right: On the far side of Mount Panorama, i.e. the side that does not feature “Mount Panorama” in massive white letters, features the region’s garbage dump.
Therefore tourist bus passengers are strongly advised to keep looking left when they complete a lap of the track.
Tru-Blu 4
It’s always great to see the fans turn up to the track with their tribute cars.
This one is an absolute classic, although we are unsure if Dick Johnson’s original article was fitted with a tow bar.
On Your Bike
On the far side of the camping grounds on the top of the Hill sits the Panorama Motorcycle Club motocross track, which sadly looks a bit worse for wear following the pandemic years.
Warning, Warning
Bathurst is clearly a tough track, and in an effort to keep things safe, a series of advisory yellow lights are placed around the top of the Mountain to warn drivers of incidents.
This example at Skyline very clearly stands out.
Supercars meanwhile also have onboard warning lights for drivers.
Camp with a View
How’s the serenity? We end this year’s Notebook with these campers, who no doubt had a pleasant weekend, waking up to an epic view each day.
Well played.
From the Internet
Not Behd
Missed it by that much…
TRT at work: pizza and photography
ICYMI: Bathurst on TRT
Today:
Friday:
BATHURST 1000: Day 5 Notebook
BATHURST 1000: Friday Photo Gallery
Thursday:
BATHURST 1000: Day 4 Notebook
BATHURST1000: Thursday Photo Gallery
Wednesday:
BATHURST 1000: Day 3 Notebook
BATHURST 1000: Wednesday Photo Gallery
BATHURST 1000: The Co-Driver Class of ’21
Tuesday:
BATHURST 1000: Day 2 Notebook
BATHURST 1000: Tuesday Photo Gallery
BATHURST 1000: Trucks at the Track
Lead Up:
BATHURST 1000: Day 1 Monday Notebook
PODCAST: Bathurst Track Walk
BATHURST 1000: First Look Track Walk
BATHURST 1000: Gurus, Hoodooes and Trivia Tidbits
Bathurst’s Other Astonishing Motorsport Museum
BATHURST 1000: Be An Armchair Expert Strategist
PODCAST: The Massive Bathurst 1000 Preview
The ‘Race that stops a nation’ is yet to happen
HOT
That Top Ten Shootout
Chaz Mostert
NOT
Struggling to sleep on the night before Bogan Christmas
MEME
Mark Walker (administrator)
A vastly experienced Motorsport Public Relations operator, journalist, commentator and photographer, Mark brings his unique angle to The Race Torque in both words and imagery. As well as serving as our key photographer on the ground at major events around Australia (and overseas), Walker will often chime in with his unique and pin-point sharp viewpoint of the racing world via the keyboard too.
