Episode 374 - The Bathurst 1000

Every year, a sleepy New South Wales town gets turned into a pit lane paradise as 150,000 fans descend on Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 1000 — Australia’s most iconic car race. But Bathurst isn’t just about lap times and burnout smoke. Behind the wheelspin lies a deep and chaotic history: from the deadly results of some races, to the Peter Brock legacy, to the legendary Holden vs Ford rivalry that turned race day into a full-blown cultural war.

This episode, Holly and Matthew take a drive through the history of the Bathurst 1000 — the triumphs, the tragedies, the questionable crowd behaviour — and how this race became one of the most defining events in Australian sporting history.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A strange, spiraling white light was spotted in the early
morning sky over Sydney, with even skeptical witnesses wondering if
it was a UFO. They were last seen on the
beach with the tall man and that's the best description
police have ever had of it.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
More than seventeen years after Harold Holt disappeared into raging
surf at Chevy A Beach, his widow has finally revealed
his last romantic words.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Docky, terrifying, mesmerizing. That's the way a number of Australians
have described the alleged encounter with the Yowi. It's time
for the Weird Crap in Australia podcast. Welcome to the

(00:45):
Weed Crap in Australia Podcast. I'm your host. Matthew Sol
joined me for another episode is Holy Soul. This is
episode three hundred and seventy four. Now, before we get
too deep into the weeds, we do have a little
announcement now. As you can imagine, this podcast takes a
lot of work. And don't worry, I cannot really sense
the dread you like they're quitting.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
I can hear a lot of stomachs just drop collectively now.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
We're not quitting, right, but we do have to reduce
Holly's workload. At the moment, Holly is doing fifty hours
a week in her day job and twenty hours a
week on every single episode. It has become very evident
to both of us that that is unsustainable. So something
had to give a little bit. So what we're going
to do, just for a little while until Holly builds

(01:31):
up a backlog of scripts, is at the end of
each month. And this is sort of inspired by last
podcast on the Left Relaxed Episodes, is we're going to
bust out a classic Australian os pluitation film. We're going
to watch it and record a commentary while we're watching it,

(01:52):
and that is going to be released at the end
of each month. Now, this isn't going to be something
that's permanent. This is going to be something that is
there while Holly is able to sort of build up
the scripts again, give her a chance to have some
time off because she needs it. So realistically, all we're
saying is for probably the next year, maybe a little

(02:16):
bit longer, we'll see how we play it. We're going
to record twelve commentary tracks. Now you may turn around
and go, oh, but that's not really the same as
what you've done before, and you're right, it is a
little bit different. But the good thing, especially if you're
living here in Australia, is nearly all of the films
that we're going to be doing a commentary for you

(02:37):
can actually watch on Umbrella's free streaming service which is
called Brolli, So br l l ie dot com dot
Au you can actually sign up to Brollie and you
can watch the film while we do the commentary. Now,
this is the really cool thing about this. You're not

(02:57):
just getting two people who know something about Australian history.
You're not just getting two people who know a lot
about the osplitation film genre. You're also getting two people
who know a lot about Australian history in general. So
we're hoping to take all of our talents put it
all together. I also know a lot about.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Film everything that we learned during our osplitation summer that too.
We're going to put that in there.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
One hundred percent. And what we're going to try and
do is really give you something that is still entertaining,
that can be listened to outside of the film. It's
just while we're watching these movies. It's sort of going
to prompt little bits and pieces. So we're still going
to do factoids, We're still going to do some history.
We're still going to talk about, you know, the broader

(03:47):
social context for how all of these films come together.
But this is a chance for us simply to do
an episode where Holly and I are sitting on the
couch watching one of the films from our Osplitation collection
and talking about not only the film, but filmmaking Australian history,

(04:07):
Australian social history, and then probably tying it back into
a few episodes. We're going to have a laptop with
us as well. No doubt we're going to look things
up or we're talking about we're going to fact check,
but it's just an easier way to still put out
an episode.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Think of it as just changing up the format of
our movie episodes because we kind of what we do anyway.
We just don't do commentary to it, so we might
as well just do it that way.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Absolutely, and they're nice companions to some of those episodes
as well. Ye you know, we are going to watch Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert. We did an episode on that
so it's a nice way to tie those two things together.
We've talked about ned Kelly. We can watch the Ned
Kelly film talk about what's fact and what's fiction. You know, well,
probably the Heath Ledger one, to be honest, not the
met Jagglan, not the met Jaggon one, though we may

(04:53):
get around to it. And we're also going to try
and do our due diligence and make sure that we
are at least give you an idea of where you
can find these films yourself so that you can watch
them as well. Right, so, all we're asking for is
a little bit of patience. We're not giving up, we're
not shutting the podcast down. But again, as I said,

(05:14):
Holly's workload at the moment is just unmanageable. If this
was all Holly did, it wouldn't be a problem. Which
is why I'm going to very quickly spook the Patreon
one more time. If everyone listening today donated, like what,
holy two dollars.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
If everyone who listens to this episode donated a dollar
a month, one of us could quit our jobs, like legit,
one of us could quit our jobs.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
You know, So I would like to spoak that one
more time. If we could do that, you know, if
you do have a dollar to spare, it would help
us out a lot. And that way, Holly could basically
give up what she's doing at the moment. She could
focus on this full time and we could go full time.

(06:02):
Failing that, we are going to do these commentary episodes
once a month for a little while. So it's basically
going to go three regular episodes and then film commentary episode. Yeah,
three regulars, film commentary and we're just going to keep
doing that in a cycle. And we're going to give
you a little bit of an advanced notice as well.

(06:23):
This is the film that's coming up. This is where
you can stream it, and then that way you can
watch the film and listen to the commentary while we're
talking about it.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
We won't break up any serials, So if we end
up doing something that's like five episodes long, we're not
going to do three break and then two. We'll just
do the five and then we'll take the break.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, we can absolutely do that, Holly.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, that way you're not we're not messing with everyone's flow.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
But we're going to try not to do it that
way because we really need to get Holly to a
point where she is getting a week off.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
That in five episode series are very very rare for us.
I think we've done like five in the last eight years.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
So yeah, exactly, Well, without further ado, Ladies and gentlemen,
this is episode three hundred and seventy four, as I
said at the top, and we're talking about the race
that stops the nation. No, we're not talking about the
Melbourne Cup, ladies and gentlemen, and it would be more
fair to say that it doesn't stop the nation. It
just stops Australian dads for two afternoons.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
It's a four day event, Matthew, for.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Two afternoons on a Saturday and Sunday, where they'll probably
set up, have a beer, probably go and do some housework,
maybe go out and do the lawns. Come back, check
the race.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
I can legitimately tell that this never happened in your house.
I can legitimately tell your house is not a motorsport house.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
Crack open a beer, go back outside, come back in
the Hourvelia still going around a circle. And of course
we're alluding to the most famous of all the car
races here in Australia. I'm guessing, and that is the
famous or infamous Bathist one thousand, Bathist five thousand, Bathist

(08:02):
one thousand. Now I'm going to do my best here.
This is going to be basically Holly informing me. So
a lot of the commentary is going to come from Holly,
and I'll try and ask some at least interesting questions, keeping.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
In mind that Holly hasn't watched Bathist in about ten years,
but before that was almost every year.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
So yes, Holly's both Your brother's a mechanic, your father's
an aircraft engineer though really loves his cars. And your
uncle is he works for Ford Wells for since the eighties. Yes,
and your grandfather's a panel beater so yes my family realistically,

(08:41):
dad was an AFL guy. That was it. Very rarely
did we watch any other sports in your house?

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Oh? In one of my arts works for Holden Sore,
you go. When Australians talk about the mountain, they don't
usually mean Kosiosco Hell. I'd be surprised if most Australians
think about that particular mountain at all.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
What they mean, especially wow shot fired at Mount Ksiosco
in Matthew, I'm just a mountain. Holy? Why are you
being so mean to me?

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Because I don't fucking know in.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
New South Wales. It's just up from Truman.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
You sure it's not in Victoria, because that's where I
thought it was. I'm you don't know, now, do you.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
I'm not sure of myself now, thank you very much. No,
I'm pretty sure it's in New South Wales. Mount Kosiosko, Yeah,
I've been there. I'm pretty sure it's in New South Wales.
Victoria is Threadbow, No, it goes New South Wales. Oh fuck. Anyway,
this is off to a great start. Continue, Holly.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
What they mean, especially in the last half of the
year is Mount Panorama, a lump of rock on the
edge of Bathist, New South Wales. Bathist, once the side
of a bush Ranger rebellion, which we covered in episode
twenty two, is a town that houses about forty thousand
people for fifty one weeks a year, and tens of
thousands more for a week fifty two. This is the

(10:03):
race that causes more drunken idiots to hoon around the
town of Bathists than any other, and is thus very
much a controversial topic in its homeland. The Bathist one
thousand isn't just a motor race. It's a piece of folklore,
a rolling festival of speed, stubbornness and noisy tribalism that
turns a cow paddock into the spiritual center of Australian motorsport.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Yeah. I believe they've had issues with Nazis the last
couple of years.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Who hasn't at this point, honestly late they're shown up
in conventions and at concerts and who sup and over had.

Speaker 1 (10:33):
A little bit of a Nazi problem there for a
little while too.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
From motorcycles to V eight utes, through to the classic
cars and the showpiece of the event, the super cheap
V eight supercars. It's part endurance test, part beer garden,
part national ritual we're holding and Ford banners fly from
makeshift flagpoles, name more burnt sausages, fuel debates about lap times,

(10:56):
beer is drunk by the literal truckload.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
Are you sure you're not get confused with someonats here
in Canberra?

Speaker 2 (11:03):
Oh no, this is Bathists. This is a legitimately Bathist.
It was even Eastern Creek when I was a kid,
And Eastern Creek is one of the low level routes.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
On the scale of boobs to no boobs. How many
boobs would you give bathists compared to someats some ofat's
being let's say five out of five boobs.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
I thought you were going to ask how many boobs
you could see, and I just my brain immediately went
to when I was a kid, of all of the
cheerleaders for the four teams and the Holden teams would
just walk past with their push up bras on. Although
they had cheerleaders, they had cheerleaders. It's the same shit
you get at the footy? Is the same shit you
get at the V eight?

Speaker 1 (11:39):
Because I've heard of pit girls? Is that the same
It's the same thing?

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Okay, right, they're just they're not cheerleaders, they're pit girls,
but they still walk around with pond ponds and their
boobs in a short skirt. Crashes are often and spectacular.
The weather changes on a dime, and men and women
risk life and limb for the right to say they
conquered the mountain.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
And unfortunately for all of you, here is a midnight
oil song. Did you enjoy midnight oil? I damn it,

(12:21):
there is one. I'm going to get an email of
Fader Garrot. It's going to be like Matthew, why don't
you like me?

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Why don't you like my music?

Speaker 1 (12:32):
It's fine.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
You're dancing is questionable, but your music's okay.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Mid Night Oil's music is aggressively fine.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
It's amazing how many people you say that about.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
Because a lot of things are aggressively fine. Our mediocre
look and which is unfair of me too, because you
know my music tastes.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
Stupid. Ship in that taste?

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well, what was I like? You came out this morning?

Speaker 2 (12:59):
Morning?

Speaker 1 (12:59):
I was listening to jazz before that, like I have.
I'm trying to get all of James Gunn's LPs from
all of his movies, so I've got like Guardians and
Suicide Squad. I've got Superman on order. He listens to
a lot of weird shit. So yeah, I like my soundtracks.
Soundtracks are fun. You like powder Finger. Let of people

(13:20):
came to your defense on that one too.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
Yes, and I thank every one of them.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
I don't they're also aggressively five.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
There are six civilian circuits on the V eight touring
calendar made of civilian streets, and there are six that
are dedicated circuits. Fifty one weeks of the year. Mount
Panorama is made of normal roads that anyone can drive
on and is the most famous civilian circuit. This, of
course means that every month there's one idiot who's caught
speeding around the track in their shitty, barely street legal

(13:53):
super u just so they can say they did it.
Here's this month's contender.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, happens every month.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
The eighteen year old pea player lost his license for
six months after going over double the speed limit on
Mount Panorama. Batha's Highway patrol officers were conducting speed enforcement
on the public roads of Conrad Strait with the Toyota
Highlux was detected at one hundred and twenty eight kilometers
an hour toys. For those who don't know, a Toyota

(14:22):
Highlus is a is a work person's ut so it's
not really a race card. More than double the sixty
kilometer in our speed limit at approximately one thirty pm
Austray Eastern Standard time on Sunday, the thirteenth of July.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
The driver of provisional he was a red Pea player, so.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
Our provisional license holders that means they're limited to speed
being p one is still eighty kilometers I believe. License
holder was subsequently pulled over simply telling police sorry, that
was a bit silly. He's at least somewhat self aware
when he returned negative results for a roadside breath and
drug test, which is what you would do in that situation.

(15:02):
The Aruanderra resident was issued with a fine of three
fifty four dollars and accrued six to merit points for
exceeding the speed limit by more than forty five kilometers
an hour. In addition to the hefty fine, the excessive
speedman his license was confiscated and suspended for six months
on the spot, while the high Lux's registration plates were
also confiscated for three months. Do you think the license

(15:24):
plates were like fast Boy with A four instead of
the A Maybe?

Speaker 2 (15:28):
I mean it's a tird high Lux belonging to a
red PA play to, so it was probably a work cute.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
It's not the first time a motorist has been caught
speeding around Mount Panorama, which is a public road with
a sixty kilometer hour speed limit most of the year
except for when it's used as a race circuit less
than half a dozen times annually. Quote from p plate
it booked after silly speeding at Mount Panorama. Jordan Malarch
speed Cafe, fourteenth of July twoenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, it was legitimately this month's contender.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Now, Holly, just very quickly, can you explain the difference
between a dedicated circuit and a civilian circuit.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Place, So, a civilian circuit is what happens when they
go through. They cut off section, cut off, they mark
off certain sections of the road. They build barriers, Yes,
public roads, they build barriers, they build sand traps, all
that kind of stuff. And if you watch the race,
you can see it where they've got all the arrows
on the road and stuff where it's normally like the

(16:24):
U turn. That's a civilian road. A dedicated road is
literally a racetrack. It's got the pits, it's got all
of that stuff. One hundred percent of the time, all
the time. Panorama is civilian track. It's only done up
for a week at a time, six or seven times
a year, the biggest one being of course. The bat

(16:45):
is one thousand at the beginning of October.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
I can't remember which video game franchise it is, but
you can definitely play.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
I mean, I don't remember either, because my dad lets
the computer play every single one of them for him. Yes, Dad,
I know you listen to this and I'm still calling
you out on it fifteen years later.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, No, that's definitely I can't. It's an export see the.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
Grand Turismo, or it's something I can't remember.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
What the ol thing it's Grand Turismo anyway, that's not
really important, but yeah, so just to summon all that up.
Civilian track is a track that is using public infrastructure.
A dedicated racetrack is a racecourse that only caters for racing.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
Yeah so I think from memory the Grand Prix is
actually a civilian racetrack over in France when.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
They run that.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
When the first engines brought up Mount Panorama on April sixteen,
nineteen thirty eight, it wasn't yet the Bathist one thousand.
It was the Australian Tourist Trophy motorcycle meeting, followed two
days later by a Grand Prix for cars on the
same public roads that anyone could drive the rest of
the year. Mount Panorama had only just been carved into

(17:58):
a scenic tourist drive by Bathis Cacil. Earlier that year
the Hairpin Bens and cliff Edge strace, designed to lure
holiday makers not racing legends, The.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
Biggest crowd Mount Panorama has known and its whole history,
arrived at the entrance to the new Walter J. Mcphillamy
Park in a great line of motor cars yesterday afternoon
to attend the ceremonial opening of the scenic road with
the Walter Jay mcphillamy Park. It was by this interest
that the importance of this almost completed scheme of work
was reorganized by citizens and visitors, and fittingly picturesque huch

(18:31):
was added to the proceedings by the exceptional beauty of
the countryside spread out in a great panorama beneath the speakers.
Quote from The National Advocate, Friday, eighteenth March nineteen thirty eight,
page three, Mount Panorama opened. What a lovely pros there,
if not a bit grammatically strange.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
During World War II, the swooping Curves and Switchbacks briefly
served as a military training ground, its quiet tarmac echoing
the boots and rifles instead of roaring V eights. It
remained that way, only used as public road for the
most part.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
After a six year layoff because of the Second World War,
motorcar racing was recommenced on the mountain with the running
of the nineteen forty six New South Wales one hundred
mile Grand Prix. The race was won by alf Najar
in a MG special quoting from bathursts Mount Panorama nineteen
forty six to nineteen fifty from Speedway and road racehistory

(19:24):
dot com.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
And while this was taking place, the roads were only
compacted and graded dirt. I actually flicked through a lot
of photos trying to figure out what type of racetrack
it was. It was a dirt racetrack and they were
running at more than one hundred kilometers an hour at
a time.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
Let's just say that safety is not particularly concern of
the early pioneers of pretty much any race that you
could think of.

Speaker 2 (19:47):
And I'm not even sure that seat belts were.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
A thing then they wouldn't have been known.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Especially considering their civilian cars with those tiny little wheels
as well.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
I'm pretty sure in Australia, and I could be wrong
about this, is that seatbelts became mandated around like seat
belts start again, installed it around the late nineteen fifties,
and then it wasn't until the mid sixties, I'm thinking
nineteen sixty six that it actually became illegal to drive
without wearing a seat belt.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Seatbelts introduced into Victoria in nineteen sixty four, so there
you go. They were running around at one hundred kilometers
an hour on a compacted dirt road with no seat.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Belts, surrounded by metal, yes.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Not the fiberglass of modern cars. In nineteen sixty three,
the Armstrong five hundred outgrew Phillip Island's unforgiving surface and
moved north to Mount Panorama. When the narrow climbed through
the cutting and the blind plunged down Conrod straight demanded
a new level of bravery. The Philip Island circuit wasn't
strong enough to withstand the punishment of the five hundred

(20:48):
mile race, and so a new venue was sought. When
the racing surface disintegrated under their tires yet.

Speaker 1 (20:53):
Again, Australia's richest motor racing event, the Armstrong five hundred,
has been switched to the Mount Panorama circuit of Bathist,
New South Wales this year. The previous three five hundreds
had been held at Philip Island, Victoria. The date had
been set at October six for the eight hour five
hundred mile race for standard model cars. Mount Panorama Circuit

(21:14):
is one of the most hazardous racetracks in the world
as expected to provide a ruling test for the competing cars.
The event has been organized by the Australian Racing Drivers Club.
Quote from the camera time Saturday, thirtieth of March nineteen
sixty three, page forty two, five hundred venue switched.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
The relocated five hundred mile contests quickly settled into a rhythm.
Local heroes in e. H. Holden's Valiant's, Cortinez and Minis
tackling one hundred and thirty one laps of the six
point two kilometer public road circuit.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Watching some mini minor racing would actually be pretty fun.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Cheered on by a few thousand hardy souls who braved
the dust and sheep paddocks to watch, it became known
as the Bathist five hundred on its move, and then
when the Gallaher five hundred in nineteen sixty six, when
the Tobacco company took over sponsorship of the event.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
Are you Enjian and that ful me race car action? Well,
if you like shit going into your lungs, pick up
a packet of our cigarettes. That's right, only one in
ten chants of getting cancer. Well, actually it's a lot
worse than that, but we're not going to tell you
that anytime soon. Enjoy the racing.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
I thought you were going to go more along the
lines of love. The smell of those bird tires. Now
you two can take that home in our cigarettes.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
Feeling a little low this morning, pick up a packet
of Balamese cigarettes, the only cigarette the guarantees you'll cough
up whenever's in your lungs from the previous day smoking.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
What's that from? It sounds like Simpsons?

Speaker 1 (22:53):
Uh, The Simpsons never did a lot of though, like
they did a lot of They did a lot of
funny like finger pointing at tobacco companies. The one that
I can think of the most like, there was sort
of two like Troy McClure would often do thetul McClure yeah,
and he'd often do the smoking ones The Great phil Apartment.

(23:15):
And then the episode you're probably thinking of is where
Laramie Cigarettes.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
Sponsors Laramie That's what it is, yep.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
And they sponsor the Little Miss Springfield pageant and Lisa
stands up to them.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, yep, that's what I'm thinking of.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yep. Yeah, Because I think it's the she objects to
a depiction of her in a poster where it says,
you know, sweet little girl says her prayers and it's
got a cigarette hanging out for me.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
Through to nineteen sixty seven, the event of Bathurst evolved
from a long club race into the race. Manufacturers saw
the marketing value in victory, and privtys hung on for
the glory. By the late nineteen sixties, lap times were falling,
kit stops became slicker, and the first hints of the
legendary Ford verse Holden battles began to surface, though it

(24:06):
would still be another year before the Monaro and the
Falcon Gts truly cemented their places in Bathists folklore. And
of course, this wasn't without a little bit of petty
brand fighting.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
A noted rally driver, Colin Bond, drove his Holden Monaro
three p fifty gts to an upset victory in the
annual Bathist five hundred at Mount Panorama Today. Bond and
co driver Anthony Roberts Victoria finished outright winners, thirty seconds
ahead of the Bruce McPhee, Barry mcholland Ford Falcon GTHO.
The win was a triumph of the Holden dealers racing

(24:37):
team and particularly team manager Harry Firth. Firth, a bath
As five hundred winner himself earlier this year left Ford
after many years of success at Bathists for the company.
The Holden team quickly snapped him up and reaped the
benefit of his many years of experience of rally and
track driving. Quote from the Canberra Times, Monday, six of
October nineteen sixty nine, honors to Holden at batht fist

(25:00):
Now just quickly here also a bit of context. Australia
was producing our own cars. We produced our own cars
right into the mid two thousands until the Australian government
decided to no longer subsidize the car industry in Australia
and so all local manufacturing ceased to exist overnight. We

(25:23):
don't manufacture our own cars anymore. So we did have
Ford manufacturers here in Australia making Australia specific Ford models.
Now that was obviously belonging to the Pair and company
which was forward over in America. However, Australian made forwards
were of much better quality to American made forwards. Come

(25:44):
at me, I don't give a fuck. We made good cars.
Now their competitor, the Native born Australian title became Holding Cars,
and then for a long time Holding Cars was an
independent Australian business until they were eventually purchased by another
American company, which is Chevrolet. So essentially the Ford versus

(26:07):
Chevrolet back and forth on cars was imported here to Australia.
The Holden brand is now well and truly dead, with
Chevrolet occasionally being like, hey, we might do another hold
at some point, or we may badge something as a
Holden that is most lightly modeled off for Chevrolet. So

(26:28):
you don't really see those vehicles making their way back
into Australia, especially now in the world of electric vehicles.
There are a lot of Chinese models that are coming through,
there's a lot of European models, and of course the
now infamous Tesla has basically sucked up that market regardless.
But yeah, we don't make any cars anymore. But when
we did, it was Ford versus Holden. One of the

(26:52):
most ridiculous back and forth ever. See. The brilliant thing
about a Ford was they'd often break down, but the
parts cheap.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
Because they were everywhere.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Now the Holden would also break down after about one
hundred k's because the timing chain would warp or give
out or break, which would cost a lot of money.
So it was basically a choice between have something that's
going to frequently break down but it's cheap to repair,
or have something that's going to give you one hundred
one hundred thousand kilometers before it breaks and you have

(27:23):
to repair it and it's very expensive. Those were your choices.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
In nineteen sixty eight, Hardy Fedro took over the sponsorship
of what was the Gallaher five hundred. As part of
the sponsorship deal, every car had to have Hardy Ferretto
brake pads on the cars, with the Hardy of the
Hardy Farreto band being James Hardy, the asbestos company. The
long term safety of this decision may never be known.

(27:49):
As we covered back in our James Hardy saga last year,
there is still a potential exposure of asbestos fibers to
more than a million spectators, mechanics, drivers, pit boys just
in this one race alone. On the Tourka.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
You would use asbestos because it's good for not burning.
That's why they used it.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
The RAC's distance was increased to one thousand kilometers in
nineteen seventy three, in response to the supercharged and specially
manufactured cars ending the race earlier and earlier each year.
If the people are rocking up to spend eight hours
watching a race and it ends after six, they tend
to get a little bit cranky.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
You also going to remember, at certain spots, if you're
watching a race, you're literally watching for the two seconds
the cars go past.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
You, as someone who spent a lot of her childhood
watching those races, unless you are high up in the
grandstand with some modoculars, that is majority of the race day.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah. Look, look the cars are coming.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
All right, they've gone past pit lane. We've got another
three minutes before they come past again. Along with this
change in distance came modifications to the regulations around the cars,
specifically targeting the modification of seats, lubrication systems, camshafts, carburettas,
suspension brakes, and wheel rim sizes to become more durable
for race conditions. As with anything regarding new technologies, these

(29:04):
changes advantage the better resource teams, as a great deal
of testing was needed to optimize the performance of the
race cars and would continue almost up until they stood
at the start line.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
A lot of this stuff would also eventually filter down
in some way, shape or form into your standard carslake.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
Government funding funds and military to come up with stuff
like the Internet, which eventually comes to the civilians. This
race would filter through car modifications that would eventually end
up on the road.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
Yeah, it was a big thing when I was growing
up that you get a V six Holding commodore with
a supercharger attached.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
I remember those fucking superchargers.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, so it wouldn't be as it wouldn't be as
powerful as a VA, but you know it's like, oh,
it's got a supercharger. We are one of those shitty
orange ones.

Speaker 2 (29:51):
Factory teams had the best access to improve components that
were often not readily available to private competitors. This is
why the primary teams of Holding and Bared, their cars
both manufactured on Australian soil, came to rain over the competition.
Things like Toyota and Kia were not manufactured here and
thus it took a lot more.

Speaker 1 (30:09):
The ultimate test of Australian vehicles arrived in nineteen sixty three.
A five hundred mile endurance race was run on an unusual,
fear inducing racetrack that had been carved into a hilltop
near Bathist, New South Wales in the nineteen thirties. Pitched
as a tourist drive, the local man got the Mount
Panorama track built partially with government funds. He was a
motorsport enthusiast. It is considered one of the most difficult

(30:32):
tracks in the world. Who even if you go around
it on a bus, you think, hell, hell do I
do this? Mister Brown says early race rules men only
standard road vehicles were allowed. Cars had to be manufactured
or at least assembled locally too. You could see your
car the car mum and dad dropped you off to
school in racing around, mister Brown said. While many brands competed,

(30:54):
Bathists brought the Ford and Holden rivalry to a head,
and the spectacle has sustained. Quote from Ford v. Holden,
What's behind this uniquely Australian rivalry, Timothy Nickcastre, ABC News.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
At first, the Bathist one thousand was about the cars
people usually drove to work, Corteene's Minis, Valiants, eh Holden's.
But as the sixties turned into the seventies, the speeds
went up and so did the stakes. Car makers realized
that winning Bathists sold cars on the Monday, so they
began sponsoring and pushing for their cars to come out
on top, and no two brands embodied that more than

(31:28):
Holden and Ford.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Holden's have won over half supercar race has staged on
the mountain. Holden's first win on Mount Panorama came in
nineteen sixty eight when Bruce McPhee and Barry muholland won
in their Holden HK Minero, the GT S three two seven.
That was the first of thirty five wins for Holden
under the Marino, Tarana and Commodore badgers. Ford has won

(31:50):
twenty one times, although it does have the edge in
terms of pole positions twenty five to twenty four. Holden
Ford's supercars rivalry comes to an end at twenty twenty
two Bathist one thousand on Mount Panorama.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
The Holden verse Ford rivalry wasn't polite. It split families,
pub conversations, even entire suburbs.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
We'll see. Holden cars were seen as the Australian local
and Ford was seen as the American import. So it
was often what happened in a lot of Australian sports,
be it boxing, horse racing, or in this case, car racing.
Is that you want your Rossies to always beat your

(32:28):
American rivals.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Either you back the Blue Oval, the tough, straight six
falcon gts with their booming exhaust and slab sided aggression,
or you wore the lion badge of Holden, cheering for
the Monaros, the Taranas, and eventually the Commodorees. Each year,
these colors turn the mountain into something close to tribal warfare,
but with a laugh, a handshake, and the occasional throne study.

(32:50):
This was embodied in my own family, where everyone who
followed the v Eights on the side of Ford, except
for my aunt Kathy, who always followed the Holdens because
she worked for them, and later myself as I primarily
followed the Valveling team, which was a Holden team by
the mid nineteen seventies. One.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
No, I didn't care.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
To be fair.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
It just wasn't not in my household.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
To be fair. The only reason I followed Valvelin was
because the first female Vight driver, Leanne Ferrier, ended up
on there and she eventually married one of the other
Valveing guys who became Lean Tander.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
I suppose from my family's perspective, we mostly bought Holden's
So I guess if we were to fall into a camp,
it would be Holden.

Speaker 2 (33:32):
Are the reds you've been You have been thoroughly disinherited
by my father. He's not bringing you your game table anymore.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
I don't really care either way. Well, I want my
game table. I do not give a fuck about which
car badge is on a car to win a race.
It's fine. He knows I'm not first person.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
By the mid nineteen seventies, one man came to personifire Bathist,
Peter Brock. He had nine victories over his career, the
last in nineteen eighty seven. A driver is comfortable with
the microphone as a steering wheel. Brock wasn't just fast.
He seemed to understand what Bathist meant. His nickname, the
King of the Mountain wasn't given lightly. Fans watched him

(34:16):
team the unpredictable weather, the traffic of slower cars, and
the mechanical roulette that could end any race at any moment,
at least until Holden and he parted ways in one
of these stupidest ways I've ever read.

Speaker 1 (34:28):
Holden saved its association with racing driver Peter Brok yesterday
and in the Australia's most successful motor racing partnership, Holden
announced it determinated the relationship because of a dispute over
Brock's new energy polarizer invented by Brock and He's business partner,
doctor Eric Dwoka. The device is said to harness ergon
Oh no, sorry is oh? I can't to talk about

(35:00):
ergon energy in a second? To harness ergon energy in
a vehicle producing a car which runs better is quiet
error more efficient? Brocks Company Holden Dealer Teams special vehicles
built modified road and racing commodores in association with Holden.
Holden's public affairs spokesperson mister John Morrison issues a statement
yesterday saying the decision to part company with Brock had
taken after many months of attempts to salvage the situation.

(35:24):
Quote from the Cambra Times, Friday, the twentieth of February
nineteen eighty seven, page eighteen. Holden access Brock.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
All right, do you get into it?

Speaker 1 (35:33):
All right? So are we talking? I'm not getting confused here, right,
We're talking about ergon energy is in the esoteric magical
energy right.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
As far as I understood it when I went looking.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yes, right, so you couldn't find any scientific not that
I could find that refers to it as ergon energy. Right, Nope, right,
so I was right to laugh.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
As soon as you start laughing like your egos, he noos,
what's up?

Speaker 1 (36:03):
All right? Ergon energy is tied to a lot of things,
depending on which conspiracy you believe in or which New
Age mumbo jumbo you believe in. If you're a big
fan of spiritualism, crystals, all that sort of stuff, you're
going to be talking about ergon energy. You know, it's

(36:24):
something that you tap into the you know, the energy
forces around and you refill your battery with ergon energy
if you happen to be into UFOs conspiracy theories. There
it is speculated that the Nazis were in league with

(36:44):
certain extraterrestrials and those extraterrestrials were helping the Nazis build
flying sources. There are designs for flying sources, but they
weren't powered by ergon energy, and the belief was that
the Aliens were providing the Nazis with ergon energy. I
have theory about this. I have a theory about this,
and it really comes back to pop culture. A lot
of this stuff does. If you believe in the Venusian

(37:08):
aliens from Venus, well, I'm going to break your bubble here.
It was first mentioned in a Godzilla film. Venusians came
down from Venus to mark around with Godzilla. Now, when
it comes to Ergon energy crystals and shit, isn't it
There are sort of two things here. There's Ergot, which

(37:31):
is a derivative mold in which you can go on
a psychedelic trip, or there's ener John. And ener John
became popularized in a little nineteen eighties cartoon.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
Called Transformers Transformers Gold Stuff ali.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
So my personal belief with a lot of conspiracy theories
is that people latch on the things from pop culture,
they forget the origin of it, and they put it
out there. But yeah, look, if they were building Ergon
energy carporators, the.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Energy polarizers were supposedly boxes full of crystals and stuff
like that, for fuck sake, really, and that was definitely
going to make your VA cargo faster.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
You think he was involved in a swing of sex cult.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
I think that his brain was fucked from going at
two hundred kilometers an hour for fifteen years every weekend
and most of the week as well.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
But yeah, when I did read that quote, I'm like, no,
it must be a different it must be ergon energy,
must be an actual thing. That's why I started laughing
a little bit there. But no, we're back to optimist
prime logic, so you know.

Speaker 2 (38:47):
And that's how Bathists one thousand into weird.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
Rap Optimus Prime roll out autobots to the Bathist two thousand,
one thousand. No, if it's autobots versus the Decepticons, it
is far cooler and is called the Bathist two thousand
Extreme roll out Autobots. That'd be fucking I'd watch that.

(39:14):
I would watch that transforming car races.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
I had watch twenty four hours of cars going around
around it, so as if there's a chance that the
truck is going to turn way through.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
Yeah, like as they're going around a corner and they
want to get a little bit of speed, so they
like jump up, transform into a jet, take the corner
a bit better, and then drop back down.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
And you know, the Decepticons, as soon as it hits
a hairpin turn, they're just gonna like jump over the
thing rather than do the turn.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Once again, at the Bathist two thousand. We need to
acknowledge that the Decepticons are being deceitful strange.

Speaker 2 (39:47):
It's easy to forget watching greeny highlights just how dangerous
the mountain could be. In the days before full safety
cells and modern barriers. Cars slid within inches of concrete
walls and steel posts. They still do now, and quite
a few of them I've watched lose mirrors. Sadly, not
all drivers made it off the mountain.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
The first fatality in the history of the James Hardy
thousand cast a shadow over the running of the nineteen
eighty six race at Mount Panorama. Yesterday, Sydney driver Mike
Bergmann was killed when he's holding commodore went out of
control at two hundred and sixty kilometers an hour on
Conrod Straight, slamming head into a bank beside the track,
the most violent crash scene at the circuit nearly twenty years.

(40:29):
The thirty nine year old Sydney father of six had
qualified in the twenty seventh place for the race, but
few took much notice of his early progress until his
car went missing on the fifth lap. His commodore went
out of control at virtually top speed and ram part
of the earthworks beneath the JPS Bridge near the end
of Conrod. Quote from the Camera Times, Monday, six of
October nineteen eighty six, Bathet's Motor Race claims its first

(40:52):
fatality and certainly not its last.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Sometimes it wasn't even the course that killed the driver.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
Forble. New Zealand driver Danny Hulme died at Mount Panorama
yesterday after apparently suffering a massive heart attack on the track.
Holmes mother, daughter and sister were watching the race. The
fifty six year old New Zealander, affectually known as the Bear,
was driving the Benson and Hedges BWBMWM three car on
lap thirty three when it veered off the track at

(41:20):
some two hundred kilometers an hour, brushed a concrete barrier
and veered to the other side before stopping the circuit.
Chief Medical Officer Bill Croker said Holm was dead when
rescue crews reached him within ninety seconds. The news shock
the pit of the Benson and Hedges BMW team, which
considered withdrawing from the race, but decided to continue after
a crew meeting. Rode from the Canberra Times holmes death

(41:43):
shocks Mount Panorama, So most of us we'll just watch
it for the crashes. Why is lying?

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Look, we do watch as one hundred percent we do,
but we always wait to see if the driver gets
out the car, puts his hands up and says it's
all right. That's when we lose our shit. It's dead
quiet until we see the driver get out, and then
we're like, yeah, that was a fucking awesome crash, dude.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
Woo yeah, yeah, it's either going to be a woohoo
or a ooh.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
It's always a oooh, No, he's all right. Yeah. As
of July twenty twenty five, these are the only fatalities
on the circuit, which is insane considering the speeds they
get up to.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
I thought there are a lot more than that.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
There have only been two. All up, there have been
nine deaths in a straining motorsports circuit since nineteen thirty nine,
across all vehicles, all titles, all tours. Compare this to
the UK, which has suffered at least three hundred in
the same timeframe.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Is it because of our terrain that we train.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
To I'm guessing yes. The UK also has a lot
more water on the road for a lot more of
the year, probably some ice at some points too. When
race day approaches, the city of Bathurst seals off the
access points to the mount Panorama Circuit, and what was
once just Mountain Straight and Skyline becomes part of a
larger hole. The circuit runs for six thousand, two hundred

(43:02):
and thirteen meters, carved into the natural contours of the mountain,
with an elevation change of one hundred and seventy four
meters between the height of the mountain and the lobbest point,
the entry to Hell's Corner, the first turn of the lap.
The track climbs steeply through Griffin's Bend and the Cutting,
a narrow technical section bordered by concrete and cliffs. At

(43:23):
the top, the circuit flattens briefly across Freed Park and
mcphillamy before pitching the drivers into a blind, terrifying drop
down skyline through the Esses and into the corkscrewing Dipper.
These are the two worst places for crashes on the
entire circuit. From there, its full commitment run through Forest's
Elbow into Conrod Strait, where speeds push beyond three hundred

(43:45):
kilometers an hour, before breaking hard into the Chase, a
corner complex added in nineteen eighty seven to stop cars
from going airborne at the end of the strait.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
While those duke bows dumbed again, Well again, do it
any more because we're step but going over that little
dippy bit.

Speaker 2 (44:02):
The funny thing is, if you watch the race now,
those cars are only just sticking to the road.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
I like the little dipy bit.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
I mean, probably doing the race. It would be fun.
It'd be like a roller coaster because you'd be flying
at your seat and rolling it, but you get out
and go. I am never fucking doing that again.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Well, I have very little interest in being in one
of the cars going around a big circuit. I would
really love to be the dude in the side and
doing a rally. But I also don't know how to
really read maps or give directions very well. So maybe
in the backseat.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
I'm pretty sure you'll find that rally directions aren't given
in a map. They're given in a list of what
turns you have to take, so all you have to
do is read out the list.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
I suppose so, but I would I would nearly guarantee
that all of them would actually have real maps just
in case and be trying to use them.

Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah, but the majority of the instructions they're yelling are
actually a list. The map is just in case, so
you need to know how to read a map. The
track has barely changed since its exception in nineteen sixty three,
with the chase adding forty one meters to the course
being the only change. The top speed ever achieved at
Bathurst was reportedly three hundred and twenty seven kilometers an

(45:10):
hour who set by Brad Sheriff in February twenty twenty three. Well,
the fastest lap time was set by Chas Monster in
twenty twenty one top ten shootout, achieving a lap time
of only two minutes, three seconds three seven three six milli.
This puts his average speed at about one hundred and
eighty one point twenty nine kilometers an hour, with top

(45:32):
bursts recording around three hundred and twenty two kilometers an
hour on Conrad Straight.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
Have we ever had any American drivers participating in the race?

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Quite often, yes, okay, yes, NASCAR drivers come over here
to see what are real races like?

Speaker 1 (45:46):
How do they do?

Speaker 2 (45:47):
Not very well? Oh you mean I have to take
a right turn? Oh god, I don't like American race.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
Gud. Just over thirty years after the r thirty two
Nissan sky Line bout out of the Bathist one thousand
in controversial circumstances, a new legend was created at Mount Panorama.
Sheriff posted an on board video on social media after
challenge Bathist, in which the speed readout was covered once
it hit two hundred and eighty kilometers on Conrod, but

(46:17):
at the twelve hour it was there for all to see.
Official timing how the curR at three hundred and twenty
seven kilometers an hour that was easily thirty kilometers an
hour up on its merest rival and believed to be
the fastest speed ever recorded on Conrad straight. Sheriff, though
indicates the actual peak number achieved between the position of
the speed trap and the breaking point for the chase

(46:39):
was three hundred and thirty eight kilometers an hour. Quote
from too Fast question mark three hundred and twenty seven
kilometers an hour plus Bathist Skyline speed secret Stephan Bartholomus,
thirteenth of February twenty twenty three v eight slooth for.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Those out there, such as myself and Matthew who have
traveled to Japan, that three hundred and twenty seven kilometers
an hour is just a few kilometers over the speed
of the shinkansen that we rode.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yes, shinkansen for people who don't speak Japanese or have
been to Japan, holly, which is probably a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
I figured you'd explain this, so I wasn't going is.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
Their bullet train system, so we've been. We didn't even
manage to get on the fastest shinkansen we're on. There
were expresses, but I think we ended up going on
of the scenic ones, which I think the ones we're
on go up to two hundred and ten kilometers an hour.

Speaker 2 (47:37):
So no, they're three hundred and ten I think is roughly.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
Did we get up to three hundred and ten.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
Three hundred and ten as roughly as I as they
go the ones that we were on in Europe he
at the two sixties, two seventies.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
Yeah, right, So next time, like a lot of the
strains are going over to Japan, one full place. Please
be respectful of Japanese when you go over there. But
if you go over to Japan, have a look out
the window to see how fast you're going, and imagine
you're doing that in a V eight in a V
eight car.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
Yeah, lots of sharp corners. While this event is the
highlight of the Australian V eight calendar, if not motorsport
as a whole, six different racing codes occupying the track
between Thursday and Sunday. The Super Two's which are the
future supercars, the Super threes which are the retired supercars,

(48:23):
the Porsche nine to eleven GT threes, the Toyed eighty six's,
and the Masters, which are the classics. You know, your
Mustangs and your gts and all those things. The super
Utes also used to run, as well as muscle cars
and the S five thousands. Basically, no matter when you
rock up, there's lots of racing to watch. But Bathist

(48:46):
isn't without its controversies, not all of them to do
with the fact you're burning thousands of leaders of fossil
fuels for every race. Mostly the controversies are either sports
specifics such as noise and air pollution, or track based
controversies things like.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
Well, every now and again, you know Peter Brock driving
around collecting all that ergon energy, you know the transformers rocket.
I better not keep making that joke.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Nine time winner Peter Brook's nineteen ninety two Bathist trip
began with a disaster when the tail shift on his
new Commodore broke on the starting line Youch. Despite repairs
and rejoining the race, he suffered a second tail shaft
failure was pushed into a spin by Alan Grice, who
was part of the Castrol team eventually finish, eventually finishing

(49:30):
twenty seventh with co drival manual router Grys ended up
finishing fifth. The rain caused numerous crashes near the end
of that race, forcing the race to be stopped and
results rolled back a lap which caused a lot of
cars to finish in different positions. The Richards' Gafe Winfield
Nissan team was declared a winner in a heavily damaged

(49:51):
Nissan Skyline, but many fans were upset that a crash
car had actually managed to take victory. Richard's car had
hit the wall, suffering extend of damage, just barely driveable,
and had then slid off the track to join several
other cars that had crashed about two hundred meters past
Forrest Elbow and onto Conrad Straight. Because his car was

(50:12):
the closest one to the finish line, he was declared
the winner. Nobody liked that Richards, with booed loudly on
the podium by Ford and Holden supporters, leading to a
rare emotional outburst.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
I'm just really stunned for words, he said. I just
can't believe the reception. I thought Australian race fans had
a lot more to go than this. This is bloody disgraceful.
I'll keep racing, but I tell you what, this is
going to remain with me for a long time. You're
a pack of assholes. Quote from You're a pack of
assholesz He Sports Steam was he sport still hasn't seen

(50:47):
a crowd spray quite like this quote from Jack Austin
October fourteen, twenty two, twenty twenty Fox Sports. I mean, look,
sometimes shit happens, man like you. You know, sometimes the
winner of the race to be the closest to the
finish line.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
His teammate driving the second Winfield Nissan Carr, who was
Neil Crompton, actually gave the crowd the finger as they
walked off the podium. On another note, nineteen ninety two
was the year the Ford Falcon returned to Bathist and
the last year Nissan Skylines and Ford Sierra's would be
allowed to run and of course, there's always a reality

(51:23):
show story accompanying things nowadays, so Matthew go for it.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Some reality shows offer the prize of love, others for
significant sums of money. But in twenty eleven, unlucky young
driver would receive the ultimate primes of a lifetime drive
in the bath As one thousand run by legendary racing
duo Reck and Todd. Kelly Shannon's Supercar Showdown was finally
whittled down to do drivers in the final Andrew Jordan
and Cameron Mortars Cameron Waters. It was Waters who ended

(51:50):
up winning the show and a chance to drive the
twenty eleven edition of the Great Race alongside Grant Daniel
A then seventeen year old Waters sadly hit the wall
at Forest Elbow, bringing Antoy's debut Bathist appearance. But what
has has since gone on to win nine supercar races
throughout his career has finished on the podium for at
least three Bathists one thousand events. Quote from Stars All Time, Meltdown,

(52:11):
the Flapping Door and Balaclava Gate. Top ten Bathist controversies
Alex Conrad, October Foyle twenty twenty three, Fox Sports.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
All Up, The Four Days of Bathists one thousand bring
in about seventeen million dollars to the town in twenty
twenty two, with a lot of fans making a tour
of it.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
That's really low. I would think there's.

Speaker 2 (52:36):
Only a quarter of a million people who are there,
so spending seventeen million dollars is a lot of money.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
But I suppose like when you compare it to some
of our other big sporting events, it's quite low.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
Yes, places late Dubbo, Orange and the Woolamine National Park
around it gained visitors around that time, so it actually
spreads out into the area whereas the AFL people come in,
watch the game and then fuck off home again.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
To a certain extent, I think if you're local to
Melbourne you would But so they also have a public
holiday for the Grand Final, so it does end up
generating quite a significant amount of money for the city
of Melbourne, as does the Melbourne Cup.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
From memory, Bathist runs the weekend after the Long Weekend,
so you go, you usually end up going AFL, NRL Bathist.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
Yeah, I'd say that's fair.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
So by tiving get to Bathist, no one's got any
money left. In twenty twenty four, Bathist attracted one hundred
and ninety three thousand, two hundred and nineteen attendees over
the four days, though one can surmise that at least
some of those were multi day visitors. The lack of
visitors during the beginnings of COVID, restricting tickets to four
thousand people per day in twenty twenty and achieving only

(53:41):
sixty to sixty five percent capacity in twenty twenty one,
led to a lot of fear in the country town.
Quite a number of businesses rely on the Bathist one
thousand to supply an injection of sales and tourism that
assists in keeping them afloat the rest of the year,
especially as many visitors extend their stay by a few
days either side and explore the area around it. At

(54:02):
its heart, the Bathist one thousand is more than just
a race. It's a relentless test of skill, strategy, and
endurance that captivates fans and drivers alike. Each lap around
Mount Panorama pushes machines and men to their limits, where
every second counts and fortunes can change in the blink
of an eye. It's this high stakes drama combined with
the electric atmosphere of the crowd and the amazing crashes

(54:25):
that keeps the race burning bright year after year, proving
that Walderstown may thrive off the event. It's the race
itself that truly drives Bathists pulse.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our brief look into
the history of the Bathist Race. Now we do plan
to cover Peter Brock in the entirety of his very interesting,
controversial career.

Speaker 2 (54:45):
Matthew now has a vested interest in reading that one.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
But I thought, you know, first and foremost, that we
should take a look at the track in general. And
we have another sports one for a little while, and
Holly's very knowledgeable on it, so I hope you enjoy.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Yes, I spent a lot of my childhood at either
Orn Park or Eastern Creek. None of the tracks that
I went to as a kid now exist. They closed
down Goldbn, they closed down Ourn Park, and I believe
they've converted either Urn Park or Eastern Creek into housing
commission now or housing estate, so none of the tracks
that I ever went to exists anymore.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
Fair enough, that's the sort of side. It's like a
lot of the old institutions, man, they're shrinking and disappearing. Yeah,
you know, it's just very very difficult. Well, ladies and gentlemen,
before I let you all go, this is going to
become again a new little thing that we have to
mention before we move on with the new state of things.

(55:46):
So this is week one. You're going to have two
more episodes as normally scheduled, and then we're going to
do a commentary episode, So you have a little bit
of homework to do, or you can wait till the
episode comes out. But our first movie that we're going
to be doing a commentary for, I'm going to pick them.
Holly has no say, going to be a surprise everything.

(56:09):
The first movie we are going to take a look
at is the nineteen eighty seven classic Helling three The Marsupials,
Oh God, the only werewolf film to ever feature marsupial werewolves.
It is an osploitation gem. It fits nicely into the

(56:32):
weird nineteen eighty spin off franchise of The Howling. So
we get to talk about some film history. We're going
to talk about musupial biology as well. There are scenes
where we can talk about it very much. Looking forward
to that. Going to talk about you know, Sydney, how
these sort of films got made, all of that sort
of stuff. So if you would like to check out

(56:55):
that film, flicks dot com dot au is going to
be where they're going to have all the streaming services listed,
so you can watch it with a Foxtel subscription, you
can watch it with a Prime Video subscription. You can
rent or buy from the Prime Video store, or rent
or buy from the TV Apple store. That is Helling
three the mass soupls. That's what we're going to cover

(57:18):
after the next two episodes, So either watch it before
a commentary comes out, or you can listen to our
commentary while watching the film. If you've never listened to
a fan commentary before. I'm gonna give you a little
countdown one, two, three and start your movie and then
you hit play and then we'll be watching the movie together.
It's like where are your friends, We're there with you

(57:41):
and yeah, Holly's really looking forward to watching this movie.
You can also pick it up on Blu ray as
well from Umbrella, which is our Australian cult film company.
They're fantastic if you do end up watching any of
these films by an Umbrella, Blu Ray or by watching

(58:01):
it on their streaming service Brolly. Just let them know
that we're sending you there. We might be able to
work out some sort of sponsorship if we can prove
that we're sending people towards them, which would also help well.
A couple of ways that you can get in touch
with us. Maybe you have a ospilitation movie or just
a general Australian film that you would like to suggest

(58:21):
for a commentary track. You can find us on all
of the social medias of choice. Just type in week
crap In Australia into the search bar. You can also
send us an email weekrap In Australia at gmail dot com.
If you would be so kind to give us a
hand as well with contributions to the show, there are
three ways you can do that. First and foremost is Patreon,
as I mentioned at the start of the episode, for
only five dollars USD a month, you get access to

(58:44):
bonus minisons as well as these episodes released to Uncut
and add free. You can also help us out by
checking out our book series Week Crap In Australia. Volume
one to five are available now and you can pick
those up from our great mates at Impact Comics, and
just quickly I want to say as well well, Impact
Comics is located here in Canberra, in the center of
the city at Gromena Place, Grimea Place, Gromena Place, Grimea

(59:09):
Gromina Mal always gives me shit for not pronouncing that correctly.
Right now, they are building another hotel in the center
and it is affecting retail terribly in that area, some
of the retail that still exists there and have existed
for quite some time. You've got our mates at Impact Comics,

(59:29):
you have land Speed records, you have good game. These
businesses have been in civic since as long as I
have been here. In the case of Impact Comics and
land Speed, you're looking at early nineties and even earlier eighties.
These businesses are absolutely desperate for foot traffic at the
moment due to the mass disturbance that is this giant

(59:53):
construction site. I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.
No government gives two shits about small businesses being affected
by large scale construction projects. They look at the economic
benefit regardless of who gets fucked over, and it is
up to literally the people to make sure that these

(01:00:13):
businesses survive. If you have been considering picking up our books.
Impactcomics dot com dot you if you want to think
about Christmas as that is readily approaching. Impact Comics dot
com dot Au. For the nerd in your life, they
have statues, graphic novels, they've got manga, they've got single
issue floppies. If you still collect your single issue comic books,
they can order things in for you. There are lots

(01:00:36):
of things that you can do with Impact Comics as
far as gift giving goes, So please please, if you
have a couple of dollars to spare, please send them
their way. If you're an international listener and you like
to pick up the Paperbacklulu dot com is your place
to go, and if you'd like the digital version, you
can pick it up on the Amazon at Kindle store.
And as you can hear, producer Jokie has some thoughts

(01:00:59):
on that as he wanders around being king of the castle,
he's king of the mountain. You can also check out
our Red Bubble and Tea Public stores for all your
wee crap in Australia merch including mugs, cups, coasters and
T shirts. That's just typing we crap in Australia into

(01:01:19):
the search bar as well, and as our custom, we
give Holly the final words.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
I was trying to lift Joky up so that he
could actually speak into the microphone, but now he's decided
he doesn't want to speak, so you don't get any
closing words from Jokie.

Speaker 1 (01:01:31):
I'm sorry, what about you?

Speaker 2 (01:01:33):
That's pretty much all that I was thinking.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
For. I thought you were a Ford family.

Speaker 2 (01:01:39):
No, well, we're a Ford family, but I always went Valvelin,
which is a Holden team. So well, when I was
a kid, mum bought a palette of T shirts that
she would just resell at markets, and one of the
shirts was always, you know, Ford's piss on Holden's and
the other shirt was holding shit on Fords. And it
depended on which parent got us dressed which shirt we

(01:02:02):
ended up worrying because Mum always did a towinoid dad
and Dad's like, no, it was the best.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
It reminds me again in that episode The Simpsons when
they're shooting the T shirt Cannons when Mod dies and moored,
I should say where maud Flanders dies? And Hibbert gets
one of the T shirts and it's a Chevrolet pissing
on a Ford and his wife says don't you always

(01:02:30):
don't you typically laugh at everything? He goes, yes, yes
I do. I just thought that was funny. I really
had nothing to add to this episode. I'm so sorry everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:02:43):
You asked at irrelevant questions allowing me to go on
slight tangents. It's okay. I got to do the tangents.

Speaker 1 (01:02:48):
This episode fantastic. Well that's it from us. Leadies and gentlemen,
Please be safe, be kind out there, and we'll see
you next week. From all we Crept in Australia. Until then,
bye for now. They The Weird Crap In Australia podcast

(01:03:27):
is produced by Holly and Matthew Soul for the Modern Meltdown.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please rate and review on
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