Sunday’s Mount Panorama was the last time, hopefully forever, that the Bathurst 1000 is an insulting day-long procession of two struggling manufacturers in Australia.
For 156 of the 161 laps, it was unwatchable. I’ll freely admit the last five laps of this year’s race were truly gripping, but is it too much too ask for that type of racing for 161 laps?
Next year will see the (re)introduction of a Nissan outfit and possibly even a Mercedes lining up in the V8 Supercar series.
But will the welcome (in most corners) expansion of the series provide some extra spark to the centrepiece event of the motor racing season in Australia?
Probably not.
At best, there may be only four non-Ford/Holdens next year. Therefore for the most part, the V8 series and more importantly Bathurst – the race that gets the attention of enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike – will still be boring.
What solutions exist to make the race more watchable?
1. Remove Bathurst as a Championship race
A priority and necessity. Sunday’s race, the 50th anniversary of the Bathurst 500/1000 no less, had just 29 cars. 29 cars.
Nevermind that Bathurst only has Fords and Holdens, it only has V8 Championship cars. Restricting the race to just Championship participants has all but destroyed the prestige, and certainly the fun of watching the race.
Next year will see no difference, save for one car being a Merc and two being Nissans. We will still only have the Championship entrants, basically a pitiful field of 30 or so.
This must change. Mark Skaife is an eminently sensible (Nissan winning) racer-cum-administrator and must take Bathurst off the Championship calendar and make it a stand alone race once more. If the administrators worry people will not watch the race, they aren’t really trying to improve the race.
The prestige of Bathurst brings people to the gates, not just Fords or Holdens. Besides, those two manufacturers will still represent the lion’s share of cars anyway. It is presently unacceptable that the Great Race can be limited to just 30 cars.
2. Allow the development series teams to enter the race
There has been zero improvement in race pace for the past decade, these cars will easily be competitive in the mid-field, and some may even nab a top-10 finish. There is the added bonus of allowing more of the next generation of drivers to have their chance at the big stage.
With far more seats available, perhaps then the organisers could entice some of the bigger international names (if the price is right) to be lured over for a chance to race at Bathurst as co-drivers for the Championship teams.
3. Bring back the privateers
Privateers should, so long as certain pre-requisites are met, should also be given the chance to compete. Who can forget when in 1986 Allan Grice won as a privateer? Privateers always provided great interest for fans and also provided a little ‘race within a race’ scenario to see which privateer was the best.
4. Bring back multiple classes
Let’s move on, asking for this is like asking for the moon.
As a young boy, who incidentally grew up in Bathurst, I absolutely loved seeing the starting grid continuing around Murray’s corner. It is a sight long missed. The day the redundant back set of starting lights were removed was a sad sad day.
I miss seeing the top-tier cars having to navigate around lapped cars constantly in the afternoon sun.
I loved the thrill of watching two or three separate races in one race. Who would win the ‘A’ class, the ‘B’ class and so on?
Introducing new manufacturers won’t immediately fix the boredom that has beset Bathurst. In all likelihood next year will still be a 161-lap procession of four manufactures spread over just 30 cars, but hopefully the 2013 Bathurst 1000 will be remembered as the year when the seeds of great change were planted.
Joe
Guest
Nick! I kind-a understand your frustration, but why would anyone wanna watch "Class A" Hyundai i30s and Corollas fighting when we can see real race cars with real speed and real sound zooming around the mountain. Another point is that I think you're obviously aren't aware of the costs of building and running a V8 Supercars these days. Obviously you're not aware of the possible speed difference between an Class A car and even the tail-ender V8 Supercar, be it a Ford or a Nissan. You forgot just how many accidents/incidents we used to have in the past solely because of that speed difference and the inexperienced Class A and B drivers. These days when as some repliers mentioned it, Ford and Holden can hardly afford paying their workers let alone funding race teams, who can afford hundreds of G's worth of damage bills should s t hit the fan? I agree with you on the inclusion of the development teams, should any of them put their hands up. They are the mostly the same cars from just a couple or few years ago so at least they have almost the same speed. Nothing wrong with multiple manufacturers provided they enter a car in the same category with almost the same specs. But it would be hard to support a race team which races cars that we've never seen or will see on the Aussie roads. Long live V8 Supercars!
Skinnada
Roar Rookie
Agree, should be a stand alone race! And how the Great Mark Skaife is unable to drive in the enduro races is a joke considering he has many years ahead where he can be competetive. Just because he sits on the board doesnt mean he shouldnt be able to sit in a car and drive two weekends a year. Let the fans watch the best drivers!
WhatUsername
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately, unless changes are made, point number 2 won't be possible sadly. Sad, because a few of those cars (Percat, Mcglauchlin, etc) had good enough pace for the main game.
onside
Guest
I posted this on another section ,but it was the wrong area. Over the past ten years, Governments in Australia have propped up Holden and Ford with taxpayers money to the tune of about one thousand million dollars EACH !! That's roughly a couple of billion dollars in the tin shared between two USA manufacturers. Would the Bathurst 1000 survive without this largesse http://afr.com/p/national/bn_handout_puts_car_makers_in_black_vtZ0rl3Mgh0nikVOpXuOcK Another point; the racing authorities make sure brands of cars are seemingly competitive.In other words the race is an automotive handicap system. If a manufacturer develops something that gives it a noticeable advantage over the other, it is instructed to offset this advantage by adding say more weight.The reason is that one manufacturer cannot be seen to be a long way in front of the other ,or the race would be, ,well not a race.It must be close for television. So next year, with Nissan and Mercedes in the mix,what will the 'handicaps' be if either they or the others come up with something new. Remember the need for a close finish on TV. Close racing and finishes between brands are no coincidence. It doesnt 'just happen' Reply
Paul Roach
Roar Guru
Stand-alone race....you read my mind. As someone who these days just tunes into Bathurst each year and that's it - not sure what went wrong there, I used to conduct my social calendar around the tin-tops 15 years ago - I really don't give a fig for the championship. And I don't want a driver's pursuit of the greatest prize in Australian motorsport, winning Bathurst, to be compromised by championship considerations. The series is like the Premier League, Bathurst the FA Cup.
Rhys
Guest
I heard Skaife say in interview over the weekend that there are 4 Nissan's running (across two teams) for the entire championship, whilst AMG (Mercedes) will be running three cars. Assuming next year's Bathurst field will be around the same in total entries as this year (29 - 17 Holden, 12 Ford), there should be a decent representation of the new manufacturers. Say 30 cars - 14 Holden, 9 Ford, 4 Nissan, 3 Mercedes. Last I read about it Chevy is still a possible for 2014.
josh
Guest
Glenn, they already are to an extent, very very little of a road going Holden or Ford is in the V8 Supercar.
BernieTB
Roar Rookie
Multi-class endurance racing with a decent sized field and a number of manufacturers at Bathurst in a stand along race? They have that already - the Bathurst 12 Hour in February. The problem with the V8 Supercar series is just that - it's a V8 supercar series. The cars are unique and don't fit into a GT2/GT3 class structure. Personally, I'd much prefer the Australian GT Series become the premier motor racing series here.
kapow
Guest
I think that is why the V8's are trying to get more of an international audience n more brand name cars because its just become boring its either Holden or Ford which is just plain boring to watch.(coming from some who grew up in Bathurst) I dare say in the near future they will bring in a lot of the points above ^^^ I do like the concept of class A n B for Bathurst it'll bring much need competition back to Australian motor sports.
glenn
Guest
Couldnt agree with you more, there is only one way to truly make it what it once was, go back to what it was!!!!! street cars available from the manufacturer, this will entice privateers, weekend warriors and the like, and also make it interesting, some cars handle, some dont, some are fast some are not, each driver and his individual qualities in his particular car brings diversity and interest. V8 Supercars are just that "V8 Supercars", V8 Supercars are a money making machine or enterprise and they market themselves extraordinarily well; Bathurst is not what it once was purposely, its a V8 Supercar race. In two or 3 years there will be no more holden commodore / ford falcon cars, there will be brand name race chassis's and kit bodies with chev ford toyota engines, just like the good ol US of A
Midfielder
Guest
Just three things.... If rumours are correct within two years Ford will no longer make cars in Australia... Who can afford to run a V8 today.... The guy who set up the V8 Super cars just left....
wMc
Guest
Agree all - and wouldn't it we good to have some Drivers who could entertain us a bit - all this PC stuff all they say is "nice " things. Oh for Brock commentating while driving (what happened to talking to the drivers?), Johnson moaning about bricks (Volvos) blocking the road & Richards telling the crowd what he really thought. All these new ones might be good drivers but they all' so nice and boring as hell.- obv. not allowed to say much.
Ken
Guest
I'm with your 4 bullet points - although 3 seems even less likely than 4 to me, these days the cars are minutely tuned race cars rather than massaged road cars, I guess they could buy one? You also mentioned a number of times that having more manufacturers will make it better, I'm not so sure about this one. The cars are already nothing like road cars and will be basically a shadow series under next years regulations. Next years Mercedes or Nissan race cars will be almost identical under the skin to the Fords and Holdens. What I'm saying is that badges aside, there's only really 1 car out there. The logic of good racing comes from equal cars has some merit but motor racing fans love cars too, and if the cars are all identical it takes some of the fun out of it