..and the car just explodes into a 1000 pieces

2015 Supercheap Bathurst 1000 qualifying,  defending champion Chaz Mostert turns in just a touch too early in the downhill messes section at Mount Panorama...

It does not end well for his Prodrive Ford Falcon and for Mostert who had to be taken away by ambulance after complaining of pain in his legs.  ON the onboard you can clearly see his left leg is broken after impacting the shifter.  Regulators might want to have a look at how seats are installed and designed.

No word on the two marshalls who dove for their lives and the Ford smashed into the top of their post yet.  Hope they are OK,  hope Bathurst will have a look at the fence design there.

Bathurst Onboard with Six GoPros

Because 6 GoPros are always better than one!

Around Mount Panorama onboard with James Courtney of Holden Racing ahead of this week end's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Live stream HERE

V8 Supercar Of The Future In Action.

T-Bone MacDonald/Flickr

Aussie Attractions

Busy week end of racing this one, 12 hours of Sebring on this side of the world, , Formula 1 and V8 Supercars on the other.

The Clipsall 500 in Adelaide was the debut for the V8 Supercar "Car of the Future".   Moving to something between DTM and FIA GTE, V8 Supercars have dropped their live axles and gained two new manufacturers with the addition of Mercedes and Nissan. The Merc, with it's awesome sounding flat plane crank V8 is a crowd favorite already.



Here are some race highlights



If you want more, check out those amazing V8 Supercar shocks working the high curbs.

V8 Supercar attacks Porsche Panamera

And can you blame it really?

Shane Van Gisbergen was at the wheel of a directionally challenged V8 Falcon during the Telstra 500 in Sydney on December 1st when steering completely failed just as the Panamera medical car was passing on the left. You got to love how the Panamera gets a round of applause driving down pit lane!
(thanks Gordon!)

V8 Supercars 1997-2005

It's NASCAR with Australian accents and right turns.
"The Kid", "The Enforcer" sounds familiar, right? (AMFForum)

Jenson Button smokes Mt. Panorama

In one of those ultimately meaningless but still awesome events, Mclaren ran their F1 car on the famed Bathurst/Mt. Panorama track today.
What makes this cool is it gives a tangible measure of a Formula 1 cars performance: presumably driving well within himself, Jenson Button pulled off an unofficial 1:48 sec lap. Compare that with the already blistering fast qualifying times for the V8 Supercars driving 11/10th and tuned specifically for the track, they group about the 2:07 mark. Now that's impressive.

I'm sure a nice polished video will be released soon, in the meantime, youtube offers some fan clips (after the jump) and a news report





.t

V8 Supercars+3 title contenders+Slicks+Rain=

Final Race week end of the Australian V8 Supercar series in Sydney. Three title contenders, James Courtney, Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup are running in the top three spots when rain starts at the end of a safety car period, what do you do?

Taking a page out of Mark Webber's book, the three leaders choose to go for it...



Somehow James Courtney's crew ( the Jim Beam car) managed to get him back out on track so he could score enough point to allow him to win the championship in race 2, Sunday. If you ever doubted racing is a team sport, check out this crews heroic efforts after the jump. (thanks Julian Melville!)

12 Minutes of Badass Racing

The 2010 Gold Coast V8 Supercars race started with guest driver Jacques Villeneuve setting what may be a new record, hitting five cars in one accident!

It may have started with a clown show but it had a sublime ending: 12 minutes of some of the best tin top action you can imagine on this fiendishly difficult track between veteran Jamie Whincup and rookie Shane Van Gisbergen. The ending, I won't give it away but I'm sure will spark some discussion in the comments.
Twelve minutes well spent, thanks to Jamey Price for the clip!




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2010 Supercheap Bathurst 1000

The annual dodging of the kangaroos on Mt. Panorama. Enjoy. Thanks to Ruben D'Arco for the video tips!



Start and huge crash on the fastest part of the track



After the Jump: laps 1 to 52 and more...


race highlights



Laps 1 to 52



Some of the best camera coverage in all of motorsport



RACE REPORT on Motorsport.com

Jenson Button in a V8 Supercar

Grand Prix build up has started, this was just on Australian TV. Jenson Button and fellow Vodafone sponsored driver Jamie Whincup swapped cars. Unlike Juan Pablo Montoya, I can't see Button ending up on ovals...

Listening to his answers about who's the better driver, him or Hamilton, does Jenson have that killer instinct or is he the Hugh Grant of motorsport?



In Australia and want try a V8 Supercar? Check out the V8 SuperChallenge at Calder Park.


home

2009 Bathurst 1000 Highlights

300 km/h side by side on a track that is maybe 3 cars wide. About 12 minutes of highlights including the restart for the final 3 laps. Time well spent.




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Thunder on the Mountain, the 2009 Bathurst 1000 Shootout.

The Bathurst 1000, one of the world's most incredible races. Australian V8 Supercars are a mix of golden era DTM and what NASCAR could be if it wasn't afraid to turn right more often. The Mount Panorama circuit is unique and has got to be one of the scariest tracks on the planet. These guys are all over it with 100% commitment, millimiters from the concrete walls, it's just amazing.

All of this makes for a great show and the way the Australians cover this race is amazing. Australian TV was the first to incorporate onboard cameras and have developed and exported the technology ever since, they are masters at it. A motorhead's delight they have cameras everywhere, even on the car's suspensions, other racing series should study and learn.

So here is the complete top ten qualifying shootout divided by driver and continued after the jump.

That's not a close call, THIS is a close call....

How does this happen? You are racing along and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a car comes at you going in the opposite direction in reverse...A true WTF? moment.

Check out how this, one of the most amazing close calls of all time, went down after the jump!

Amazing. Cameron McConville's Holden Commodore had a brake line severed in the first shunt with Steve Owen. Amazingly there is no barrier at the end of the gravel trap, just a straight shot out to the racing circuit as it folds around.

Sure enough the car just sails over the gravel trap, onto the grass, across the tarmac and finally comes to rest on the far side, narrowly missing a terrifying crash with David Besnard's car. I'm sure both Mr Besnard and Mr. McConville needed a change of undies after that one. Philip Island circuit safety designer instead could use a spanking!.

Australian GP Support Races

Support races in Melbourne this week end will include V8 Supercars, let's take a look at what happened in that series last week end during the Clipsall 500 at the old Adelaide Circuit. Can't miss the Supercars or the driver with the coolest racing name ever; Gaaaath Tendaaah!

More videos after the jump

2008 Bathurst 1000 Part 3: the Race

The final instalment of of our Bathurst epic starts with a circuit walk with Neil Compton, a former driver and now commetator with Australia's 7 Sport. The broadcast coverage of this race is simply fenomenal, everything from cameras inside th cars to Helicopters chasing racers down the mountain...just great. And we have to thank Darcy in Australia for making these clips available to the rest of the world.
After the jump, the final 12 laps of the race, a final strint from behind the safety car.







Care to have a go at the Mountain yourself? It's possible if not exactly convenient for most:
Drive Bathurst.com
And of course you could enter the Bathurst 12 hour race for Showroom stock cars too!

2008 Bathurst 1000 Part 2: Shootout

C'mon how can you not love a series that has drivers with names like "Gaaath Teendah" and Jason Bargwanna?

Here is the top ten shootout....balls out by yourself on the mountain. More than you can possibly want, enjoy.





The others are after the jump:

Axis giant Bathurst 1000 post: Coming soon!

On the only track in the world might make the Nürburgring look easy, monster V8 behemoths millimeters from concrete walls at 295 km/h....need we say more?