Seriously. How good was the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 race – indeed the whole meeting – at Mt Panorama this year?
You’d think that after 40-something years religiously watching the TV coverage I’d be getting a bit sick of (as various ignorant people say from time to time when they want to take a cheap shot at our fantastic sport) ‘watching cars go round and round.’
But nope. Even when I’ve thought I had ‘better things to do’ (one year I seem to remember it was a crucial points-carrying club kart race meeting at Mt Wellie) I’ve made sure I was never far from a TV screen so I could keep ‘up to speed’ with what was happening at Mt Panorama.
What really struck me about this year’s meeting, however, and what prompted the musings which turned fairly quickly into an idea for this week’s column, was what I can only describe as the sudden ‘Kiwi-fication’ of what up until now anyway, has been a singularly Australian event.
Obviously, Kiwis have been competing in The Great Race and various support categories therewith for over 50 years now. Two in fact, former World F1 champion, the late Denny Hulme, and four-time Bathurst winner and now TV pundit Greg Murphy, were even inducted into the circuit’s ‘Legends Lane’ on Friday this year.
Other Kiwis are just as well known in Australia for supporting roles in the Great Race as well, father Jim Richards (a 7-time winner) and son Steven (with 5 wins to his name) arguably the most successful.
Jim Richards was actually the first Kiwi to share the top step of the podium at a ‘Great Race,’ claiming his first win (behind the wheel of a Holden Torana A9X he shared with nine-time winner Peter Brock) in 1978 then repeating the feat (in an A9X) in 1979 and (in a VC Holden Commodore) in 1980.
Richards the won The Great Race twice more sharing Nissan’s infamous BNR32 GT-R Skyline ‘Godzillas’ with Mark Skaife (In 1991 and 1992) before Greg Murphy became only the second Kiwi in put his name on the race trophy in 1996 when he shared a Holden Commodore with Peter Brock protégé Craig Lowndes.
Murphy would not only go on to win The Great Race again three times, in 1999 (for the first ever all-Kiwi with Steven Richards) then again in 2003 & 4 with Aussie Rick Kelly.
Since then many Kiwis – amongst them let’s see, Bruce and Wayne Anderson, Leo Leonard, Graeme Crosby, John Billington, the late Rod Coppins and the late Denny Hulme, Robbie Francevic, Andrew Bagnall, Craig Baird, Paul Radisich, the late Ashley Stichbury, the late Jason Richards and the late Mark Porter, Angus Fogg, Johnny McIntyre, Jonny Reid, Matt Halliday, Daniel Gaunt, Shane Van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Chris Pither, Ant Pedersen, Andre Heimgartner, Richie Stanaway and Scott McLaughlin) – have been called.
Few have actually been chosen, however. In fact, by my calculations this year’s emphatic winner, Scott McLaughlin, is only the fourth Kiwi-born driver to make it to the top step on the podium at ‘The Great Race.’
Despite that I sensed a real ‘sea change’ as I enjoyed host broadcaster Fox Sport’s seamless coverage of this year’s event.
It started with young West Aucklander Peter Vodanovich’s spectacular roll in Saturday’s Toyota 86 race (which you can watch for yourself on the Supercars dedicated YouTube channel and which by Sunday morning alone had clocked up over 100,000 views!) and continued throughout the weekend.
Say what you like about crashes but – and I’m sure he didn’t intend it to happen that way – young Peter gave what sponsors he had absolute gold as his crash at the Chase was replayed and replayed in real time, then again and again and again etc etc etc on social media.
The Kiwi presence continued with the multi-talented (car builder, engine builder, set-up guru as well as driver) Angus Fogg leading what can only be described as a Kiwi rout of the Paynter Dixon Historic Touring Car championship races in his gorgeous, flame-trailing Ford Mustang fastback.
Then there was young Tom Alexander giving us all a lesson – several actually – in car control and grace under pressure in the ECB SuperUte races.
Had the in-car camera been given to any of the other drivers in the category I fear we would have seen first-hand how NOT to hustle a big, tall turbo-diesel double cab ute round the Mt Panorama circuit.
Fortunately, wise heads obviously prevailed, and we were treated to a master class of quick, efficient driving which saw the young Ken Smith protégé regain his lead in the 2019 series title chase with the minimum amount of drama and maximum effectiveness.
Then there was the clincher, a mad last lap sprint to the chequered flag of The Great Race itself between two of our finest contemporary wheelmen, Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang driver Scott McLaughlin and Red Bull Holden’s Shane Van Gisbergen.
By now we all know the result with Kiwis first and second.
While I’m not sure you can read too much into that going forward, I do think Kiwis have hit some sort of critical mass as far as the annual October ‘Great Race Weekend’ in concerned.
Since its inception – at Bathurst – in 1963 it has always been considered ‘Australia’s’ Great Race.
Now that so many of our youngest and brightest are following the lead of the likes of Shane Van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin and considering the Virgin Australia Supercars championship as an end in itself (rather than a means to graduate to other series further afield) I think the Aussies are going to have to accept some sort of ‘joint custody’ scenario.
Because?
Because, going by the results across the weekend this year I think that us Kiwis have every right now to claim it as ‘our’ Greatest (annual) Race (meeting) as well!
Comments