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Mount Panorama: Bathurst - the Stories Behind the Legend
There's no other motor racing circuit in Australia that holds the same magic as Bathurst's Mount Panorama. It's been home to the Australian F1 Grand Prix, The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the world's greatest 1000km touring car race, the Australian Hill Climb championship, and now a round of the world GT championship. To win on the Mountain is still the pinnacle of Australian motor sport achievement.
John Smailes, co-writer of Allan Moffat's autobiography, and author of Race Across the World, has been at the Mountain for some of its greatest and infamous moments. His book tells the stories behind the champions and legendary races that have made Mount Panorama so famous. With extraordinary access to all of Australia's leading motor racing names, both past and present, John's book is full of color, anecdote, and true inside knowledge.
John Smailes, co-writer of Allan Moffat's autobiography, and author of Race Across the World, has been at the Mountain for some of its greatest and infamous moments. His book tells the stories behind the champions and legendary races that have made Mount Panorama so famous. With extraordinary access to all of Australia's leading motor racing names, both past and present, John's book is full of color, anecdote, and true inside knowledge.
- GenresNonfiction
368 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2020
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October 4, 2019
Just in time for The Great Race!
MOUNT PANORAMA
John Smailes
There were apocryphal tales in the early 1980s about a young Tasmanian dairy farmer driving for the first time in the Bathurst 1000km classic. Keen as mustard, he spoke to experienced drivers about what gear to use in a particular corner, what braking points, turn-in cues, and dozens of key questions on the daunting circuit. With little to fear from a bloke who ought to be back home on the farm tractor, most were probably fairly condescending and happy to oblige.
Factually, David "Skippy" Parsons managed to outperform his team-mate in qualifying. That was the only time in his brilliant career that nine-time Bathurst champion Peter Brock was out-qualified by a team-mate. After that, if Parsons tried to garner information from others, he was generally told to "Push off, son!"
That's all very well, for motor racing is nothing if not for its personalities, but John Smailes' newly released Mount Panorama is much more than a book about races and drivers, it's a comprehensive history of the track and how it came about. In the early days, there was a fair amount of toing and froing between Bathurst and Goulburn to see which city would establish a track for the running of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, or the Australian Tourist Trophy. In the end, through fair means or foul - there was a good deal of conjecture over how Federal funding was acquired and used - Bathurst had the money and established Mount Panorama, a 'tourist road' that proved perfect for motor racing.
Walter McPhillamy, landowner and former Mayor, donated land at the top of the mountain. Council minutes recorded it as a 'children's playground' but, as we know, it was and is used for camping and parking access. Over Easter 1938, motorcycles and cars would compete on this first purpose-built track, on successive days. No one seemed aggrieved by secondment of the public purse.
Many changes have been made to the circuit over the years, including the installation of ever improving pits and parking, spectator facilities, safety fencing, a sealed surface (the original was gravel) and arguably the most important aspect from a safety perspective, the elimination of the second hump in Conrod Straight by installation of The Chase. Motor racing is unavoidably dangerous. There were a number of deaths at Mount Panorama over the years, with the greatest number due to cars and motorcycles becoming airborne over the humps.
Obviously, the book features a diverse range of people and activities through the ensuing 81 years. There are stories including that ofGregg Hansford, the only man to win at Bathurst on two wheels and four; the first appearance, post-war, of a Leading Aircraftsman named Brabham; Jensen Button's visit, with Craig Lowndes driving the atmospheric McLaren MP4-23; Leo Tobin winning the 1938 TT race by using knobbly tyres for added traction on the gravel track; and Peter Brock winning the 1979 1000km race in an A9X by no less than six laps, even setting a record on the final lap of the race.
Smailes is a highly respected automotive journalist. His book, Mount Panorama, provides a beautifully written insight into every imaginable facet of the true home of Australian motor sport, not least the entrepreneurial families without whom the sport would never have grown so well. Those who buy it for a greater understanding of motor sport will be well pleased; those who have a greater interest in its historical perspective perhaps even more so. Thus it was with your reviewer.
Highly recommended.
MOUNT PANORAMA
John Smailes
There were apocryphal tales in the early 1980s about a young Tasmanian dairy farmer driving for the first time in the Bathurst 1000km classic. Keen as mustard, he spoke to experienced drivers about what gear to use in a particular corner, what braking points, turn-in cues, and dozens of key questions on the daunting circuit. With little to fear from a bloke who ought to be back home on the farm tractor, most were probably fairly condescending and happy to oblige.
Factually, David "Skippy" Parsons managed to outperform his team-mate in qualifying. That was the only time in his brilliant career that nine-time Bathurst champion Peter Brock was out-qualified by a team-mate. After that, if Parsons tried to garner information from others, he was generally told to "Push off, son!"
That's all very well, for motor racing is nothing if not for its personalities, but John Smailes' newly released Mount Panorama is much more than a book about races and drivers, it's a comprehensive history of the track and how it came about. In the early days, there was a fair amount of toing and froing between Bathurst and Goulburn to see which city would establish a track for the running of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, or the Australian Tourist Trophy. In the end, through fair means or foul - there was a good deal of conjecture over how Federal funding was acquired and used - Bathurst had the money and established Mount Panorama, a 'tourist road' that proved perfect for motor racing.
Walter McPhillamy, landowner and former Mayor, donated land at the top of the mountain. Council minutes recorded it as a 'children's playground' but, as we know, it was and is used for camping and parking access. Over Easter 1938, motorcycles and cars would compete on this first purpose-built track, on successive days. No one seemed aggrieved by secondment of the public purse.
Many changes have been made to the circuit over the years, including the installation of ever improving pits and parking, spectator facilities, safety fencing, a sealed surface (the original was gravel) and arguably the most important aspect from a safety perspective, the elimination of the second hump in Conrod Straight by installation of The Chase. Motor racing is unavoidably dangerous. There were a number of deaths at Mount Panorama over the years, with the greatest number due to cars and motorcycles becoming airborne over the humps.
Obviously, the book features a diverse range of people and activities through the ensuing 81 years. There are stories including that ofGregg Hansford, the only man to win at Bathurst on two wheels and four; the first appearance, post-war, of a Leading Aircraftsman named Brabham; Jensen Button's visit, with Craig Lowndes driving the atmospheric McLaren MP4-23; Leo Tobin winning the 1938 TT race by using knobbly tyres for added traction on the gravel track; and Peter Brock winning the 1979 1000km race in an A9X by no less than six laps, even setting a record on the final lap of the race.
Smailes is a highly respected automotive journalist. His book, Mount Panorama, provides a beautifully written insight into every imaginable facet of the true home of Australian motor sport, not least the entrepreneurial families without whom the sport would never have grown so well. Those who buy it for a greater understanding of motor sport will be well pleased; those who have a greater interest in its historical perspective perhaps even more so. Thus it was with your reviewer.
Highly recommended.
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