The Great Race

[Mad Aussie]

The Great Race or The Bathurst 1000 as it's also called is the premier motor race in Australia. The race history is 50 years long now and this ends an era in the race. For many years now the only cars allowed to compete have been the two Australian marques, Ford Falcon and GM Holden Commodore, both sister companies of the US giants, in the form of what we call V8 Supercars. Next year, other marques such as Mercedes, Toyota, Chrysler etc will be allowed to compete as well.

The following are a small sample of the photos I took in October during a very cool weekend at one of the worlds most exciting and revered motor racing circuits.
Although in the Legends and Masters categories there are US cars like Camaro's, Mustangs etc I've chosen to feature the Aussie made metal as I figure it might be of more interest to you North American continent types.

YouTube - As an extra bit of fun, here's a cool vid of Nascar Champion Darrell Waltrip going for a lap of this race track in a V8 Supercar last year ... Waltrip's Ride Of A Lifetime - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkLtBkUVuo)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/8070048262_bb14047f08_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8070048262/)
The Great Race 2012 - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8070048262/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/8069877768_ce8500e1b8_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8069877768/)
The Great Race 2012 - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8069877768/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

2001 Ford Falcon AU V8 Supercar -
"The Green Eyed Monster"
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8091636032_d098ecb848_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8091636032/)
The Great Race - The Legends (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8091636032/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

more in a sec ...

[Mad Aussie]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8332/8096525236_dc4d87277a_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8096525236/)
The Great Race - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8096525236/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

1972 ChryslerCharger E55 in the Touring Car Masters
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8101740708_79365e094e_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8101740708/)
The Great Race - Touring Car Masters (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8101740708/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

1971 Ford Falcon XA GT
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8472/8101250411_2e9ee38fcf_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8101250411/)
The Great Race - Touring Car Masters (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8101250411/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8100972811_1dff308b8d_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8100972811/)
The Great Race - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8100972811/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

1971 GM Holden (GMH) HQ Monaro
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8045/8102188987_f34095dbc8_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8102188987/)
The Great Race - Touring Car Masters (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8102188987/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

1971 Ford Falcon GTHO - The 351 Clevo powered 'Phase 3' was, at the time, the worlds fastest 4 door production car.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8065/8213192338_59a9545101_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8213192338/)
Touring Car Masters (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8213192338/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

more in a sec ...

[Mad Aussie]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/8072121874_9ce0e1931e_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8072121874/)
The Great Race 2012 - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8072121874/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8478/8222249568_eb3bb5f4ca_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8222249568/)
V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8222249568/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8221173135_7d56b4592f_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8221173135/)
V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8221173135/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8221170839_a8d64571e8_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8221170839/)
V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8221170839/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8096517537_6880a280d2_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8096517537/)
The Great Race - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8096517537/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

more in sec ...

[Mad Aussie]

Porsche RS Spyder ALMS - 2006 American Le Mans Series LMP2-winning Porsche, the first ever RS Spyder in competition, doing demonstration laps at Bathurst driven by Dutch sports car ace and former RS Spyder driver Jeroen Bleekemolen, four years after taking LMP2 class victory at the celebrated 24 Hours of Le Mans, also aboard an RS Spyder.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8094792887_6a43224cf7_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8094792887/)
The Great Race - The Legends (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8094792887/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

What we call a 'Ute' (pron. You teh) for 'Utility'
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8473/8080994589_d0a55ff31e_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8080994589/)
The Great Race 2012 - V8 Utes (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8080994589/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8081056827_88f3e186d7_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8081056827/)
The Great Race - Carrera Cup (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8081056827/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8192/8099458201_58092a55b1_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8099458201/)
The Great Race - V8 Supercars (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/8099458201/) by AstroVisual (http://www.flickr.com/people/astrovisual/), on Flickr

There are many, many more on my flickr (and more to go up yet) for those interested

[Runmonty]

Nice work MA - Looks like great weekend.

[theantiquetiger]

I liek the 72 Charger!!!

Great shots, but FYI, you must have had your film in backwards, all the drivers are on the right side of the car!!! :thumbup:

[Mad Aussie]

Cheers RM ... it was ... do it at least once!

AT ... look closer at the Porsche ;)

[Realist]

Great set! Great detail in these photos even though the cars were driving so fast.

[Mad Aussie]

Great set! Great detail in these photos even though the cars were driving so fast.
You're right there. Many of these shots are the cars doing 200 kph+ ... they are capable of 290 - 300 kph down the long straight on this track.

[Marko]

wow what a fun set - nicely captured!

[Andrew]

Good selection of photos and from doing a couple of races myself, you've got good panning skills as well. I do like watching the Super8's when we get them on the television here. Lots of power on a road race. Great fun and far more entertaining than the usual turn left circle track stuff we get out of the US. Now if we could only get more of your river boat racing,,,,,

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Marko.

Andrew ... you are getting the V8 Supercars in Texas next year. They are good to watch ... when the Indy was here at the Gold Coast the Indy teams used to line the pits to watch the racing. And as Darrell Waltrip expressed in that YouTube vid ... they are impressive.

[asnow]

Great set MA. Very sharp considering the speed of the cars. Just had to check your exif data on a couple of pictures and noticed that they were at 1/640 sec. Interesting that you were still getting a blurr in the background. I tried this at Mosport with the vintage cars and I was trying to take them at 1/100 in order to get the blurred background. Mind you the vintage cars weren't as fast as these cars would be.

[Yisehaq]

Very nice set MA!

[Mad Aussie]

Great set MA. Very sharp considering the speed of the cars. Just had to check your exif data on a couple of pictures and noticed that they were at 1/640 sec. Interesting that you were still getting a blurr in the background. I tried this at Mosport with the vintage cars and I was trying to take them at 1/100 in order to get the blurred background. Mind you the vintage cars weren't as fast as these cars would be.
Ignore my exif data mate ... It's bogus due the frame I made. I shot at anything from 1/200th through to 1/8000th from memory.

Thanks also Yisehag

[Hillbillygirl]

Some amazing action shots there MA, and with so much sharp detail, and beautiful contrasty punch to them all. Love it.

[QuietOne]

I held a flagging and communications license with the San Francisco region SCCA for a while. Tracks were Sears Point, Laguna Seca, and the last year I did it, Thunder Hill, which was built by the region. Did my share of driver's schools, as well as races. I also got to flag Nascar and Indy once each. Those are some familiar looking angles, MA.

[Mad Aussie]

Some amazing action shots there MA, and with so much sharp detail, and beautiful contrasty punch to them all. Love it.
Thanks HBG ... glad you like :)



I held a flagging and communications license with the San Francisco region SCCA for a while. Tracks were Sears Point, Laguna Seca, and the last year I did it, Thunder Hill, which was built by the region. Did my share of driver's schools, as well as races. I also got to flag Nascar and Indy once each. Those are some familiar looking angles, MA.
Wow, very cool Q1 ... not many people can lay claim to doing that! Can't say I'm familiar with Thunder Hill but I know Laguna Seca and Sears Pt.

[QuietOne]

Thanks HBG ... glad you like :)



Wow, very cool Q1 ... not many people can lay claim to doing that! Can't say I'm familiar with Thunder Hill but I know Laguna Seca and Sears Pt.

http://www.thunderhill.com/

It's grown since I saw it last. I flagged the opening event. The course and paddocks were done, but not much else. The parking for everything but the race cars was dirt. The first night there was a pretty bad windstorm. It knocked over several porta-potties. A number of people who had tents loaded every ice chest they had inside to keep the tent from blowing away.

The next day was clear and calm, though. The event was mostly an opening celebration. There was a vintage/touring event in addition to the more usual races. The equipment truck was decked out with a pair of cow horns on the front and a cow bell, and the horn moo'd. They also decorated the entrance off the track into the pit lane with the tackiest pink flamingos they could find stuck into hay bales. It was quite a weekend.

I don't think I did much more than a year after that. Work and other things in life kinda demanded my time, and I never got back to it.

[Mad Aussie]

http://www.thunderhill.com/

It's grown since I saw it last. I flagged the opening event. The course and paddocks were done, but not much else. The parking for everything but the race cars was dirt. The first night there was a pretty bad windstorm. It knocked over several porta-potties. A number of people who had tents loaded every ice chest they had inside to keep the tent from blowing away.

The next day was clear and calm, though. The event was mostly an opening celebration. There was a vintage/touring event in addition to the more usual races. The equipment truck was decked out with a pair of cow horns on the front and a cow bell, and the horn moo'd. They also decorated the entrance off the track into the pit lane with the tackiest pink flamingos they could find stuck into hay bales. It was quite a weekend.

I don't think I did much more than a year after that. Work and other things in life kinda demanded my time, and I never got back to it.
Very cool to have been in at the ground level of the circuit!