Bathurst 1000: First Bulletin
7/10/2004 17:38 (Mark Jones) -
Somewhere in rural New Soth Wales the sun has peeked its way over the
small range known as Bald Hills, bathing the rural centre of Australia's
oldest inland town with light, burning away the final touch of mist.
Winding its way up the picturesque hills, over looking the old town,
winds a ribbon of black. A dozen metres of bitumen and aggregate, just
over six kilomtres long, lined with concrete ripple strips and barriers,
tyre walls, earth banks and rock cuttings. At the bottom of the hill are
three straights, at the top a succession of swoops and dives and bends
and corners and crests and hollows, with names embedded in Australian
sporting folklore. Con-Rod Straight, The Dipper, Griffins Bend, Forrests
Elbow, Skyline, Reid Park and that name which chills the blood more so
than any other corner in Australia, McPhillamy.
It is a place which has its ghosts, men like Don Watson, Mike Burgmann,
Tom Sulman and Bevan Gibson. Men who have paid the highest price here at
the spiritual home of Australian motor racing. And other names will live
forever for their deeds at this hill of dreams. Moffat, Richards,
Perkins, Johnson, Jane, Firth, Geoghegan, Goss, Whiteford, Whitehead,
Davison, Murray, Bowe, Ingall, Skaife, Richards again, Harvey, Waldon,
Longhurst, Murphy and last year 20 year old Rick Kelly joined their
number.
Foremost of them all, the General's most charismatic warrior and one of
Australia's most loved sporting heroes, nine times winner, fifty nine
year old Peter Geoffrey Brock, having one last shot at the big one in
the oh so familiar red, white and black of the official Holden team
which has worn the Brock name and the famous '05' for over three
decades, completing a personal journey that began back in 1969.
For the Mountain truly does not come to you, but it does call you, the
spirit of the Mountain that so many of its disciples believe lives in
the trees, waiting to ensnare rookies and veterans alike and toss their
machines contemptously against the scenery.
Here then is Mount Panorama, home of the Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000.
Today engines fire up in anger for the first time as practice begins for
the other race that captures the nation, the 47th running of The Great
Race.
The news from the first session has not been about who was fastest, but
about defending series champion, Marcos Ambrose has crashed somewhere on
his outlap. There is little indication at this stage how serious the
accident is as first session is always scant on detail, but rear end
damage is the rumour floating around.
Mark Skaife was the fastest in the first session for the Holden Racing
Team with a 2:09.5318 to be two hundredths quicker than Greg Murphy in
the K-Mart Commodore. Steven Johnson in the Shell Falcon was third
fastest with a 10.2 ahead of John Bowe (Ozemail Falcon 10.5), Jason
Bright (PWR Commodore 10.5), Russell Ingall (Caltex Falcon 11.1), Jason
Bargwanna (Orrcon Falcon 11.3), Steven Ellery (Super Cheap Falcon 11.3),
Craig Lowndes (Caterpillar Falcon 11.4) and Steven Richards (Castrol
Commodore (11.4). Peter Brock is down in 27th with a 13.5.
In the Konica session, David Brabham, driving one of Dick Johnson's
Fujitsu Falcons is fastest with a 13.1, a time good enough to be 24th
fastest in the main event so far. Greg Ritter is second ahead of Andrew
Jones, Wayne Wakefield, Kevin Mundy and Matthew White.
In early practice for support categories, Jim Richards took his expected
position at the top of the timesheets in Careera Cup ahead of the
improving Jonathan Webb and Alex Davison with Queensland based Scottish
pet food magnate Tony Quinn fourth. V8 veterans Charlie O'Brien and
Craig Baird were eighth and tenth, with series front runner Fabian
Coluthard a disappointing fourteenth.
Young Queensland racer, Shannon O'Brien (nephew of Charlie) was a
surprise fastest in the Formula Ford trophy ahead of another second
generation touring car racer Justin Cotter (son of John) and David
Sieders (son of Bill). Favourite in the class, series runner up Tim
Macrow (son of Peter!) was only ninth fastest.
In the Biante Model Cars Group Ns it was no surprise to see the long
legs of the two big Chevy Camaros at the top of the timesheets, Paul
Stubber leading Garry Treloar and Jervis Wards Mustang fastback.
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