Bathurst 24 hour Race

[Alan Jones]

A question to the forum..............

How do you think a 24 hour Bathurst event would go? Would you guys and gals support it? Personally I would love to see it as a part of our V8 series, maybe ran every 3rd or 4th year.

Or maybe as an All Nations Cup event.This would open it up for the world market and international teams and drivers. Gee,I like this idea Who do I speak to at the Council Mt?

[Ray Bell]

It was explained to me many years ago that it was too difficult a circuit for such a long race, but the 12-hour worked (and worked well!), and times have changed.

I don't think the V8s would be the ideal vehicle, but rather a lightly race-prepared field of touring cars of all sizes and shapes. Maybe Sports Cars as well... production models, Vipers, MX5s, S2000s and the like... going back to the format, if you like, of the 12-hour and the 6-hour of 1962.

[DAVID PATERSON]

I hate to be a party pooper, because it would be an absolutley awesome event, but i can think of so many obstacles to overcome.

1. Mt Panorama is dangerous in daylight.
2. 6.2km is an awfully long circuit to floodlight.
3. How would the circuit commentators have any idea what was happening.
4. I doubt we could get together a big enough field to ensure a reasonable number of finishers.
5. The top teams complain now that there aren't enough good drivers to fill all the seats at a 2 driver race. A 24 hr race would require 3 drivers.
6. Bathurst presently costs about $15,000 in tyres alone, per car, a 24 hour race would more than double that figure, how many teams can afford that?

I guess it will remain a dream, even less likely than the possibility of LeMans getting decent TV coverage or Spa 24 hours getting any coverage at all.

[Ray Bell]

The circuit wasn't floodlit for the 12-hour, David, nor is Le Mans for their 24-hour, or Spa...

The cars would be different (as I suggest) and would therefore consume fewer tyres and they would be road tyres.

Lights illuminating the racing number would help, but you'd be surprised at how good you become at picking the cars in the dark...

Who needs finishers?

[DAVID PATERSON]

Ray, you've answered point 2 so I'll refer you back to point 1. I'm not convinced of the economic beenfits of racing on road tyres. Point 5 remains unanswered, unless the event was refocused to become a amateur/club level event, but then point 6 rears its head again. Now I've just thought of point 7, where on earth would we get enough flaggies, firies etc.?

[Crash Test]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that there was serious consideration to change the race to a 24hrer on a few occasions , probably going back 10 years or more.

I'd like to see it, but it aint going to happen.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by DAVID PATERSON
Ray, you've answered point 2 so I'll refer you back to point 1. I'm not convinced of the economic beenfits of racing on road tyres. Point 5 remains unanswered, unless the event was refocused to become a amateur/club level event, but then point 6 rears its head again. Now I've just thought of point 7, where on earth would we get enough flaggies, firies etc.?

Forget the various points, David, you're shot down in flames by all of them having been addressed with the 12-hour events. Again, I only consider it possible for cars closer to standard production models.

[Crash Test]

The problem is, would people go and watch production type car for 24 hours?

Why not have a 24hr Sports Car race there?

[tickfordchick]

I camp at Mount Panorama for the 1000, so I'd definately support a 24 hour race ... I'm there, anyways

seriously, that'd be awesome

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Crash Test
The problem is, would people go and watch production type car for 24 hours?

Believe me, they'd be there in droves.

[marcus]

I doubt the v8's would do it ..but it would be good to see..but a proddie race or sports car race would be an excellent choice.

the cost would be very big for a team to do it and the bathurst council would need to put alot of work into the place (oh hang on tony might try to get the government involved again)

dont know if it would work or not but i would like to see it...i think a production race would be great ...when the 12 hour was on i wasnt that interested but seeing GTP and nations cup now i think it would be awesome (if thats the proddies you mean of course????)


david you mentioned lemans getting decent TV coverage...well maybe not here but i believe speedvision televised 23hrs of it live ...thats pretty damm good.

one downside ..could you imagine barry sheen ohhing and ahhing for 24hrs ????

lets just drop the whole thing then eh ?

[Airhead]

I think Marcus is right. 24 hours of Barry would put us round the twist. This would be the main reason not to have the event.

He must sleep sometime? But maybe not as he has some strange magnetic pull on females of the species.

I think you have all forgotten one thing. The flaggies. How are you going to keep them working for 24 hours? How are going to feed these volunteers? Remember many are on the inside of the circuit and unaccessable when a race is underway.

[Crash Test]

When I said Sportscar I was thinking ALMS. Although, would enough people go to that? Adelaide had a decent crowd but still lost $8mil...

Re- feeding officials- shouldn't be too be a problem. They could easily fit an esky to the back of a quad bike, and run it around the area between the wall and the spectator/property fences. They could also have a marshal's headquarters on top of the hill. Judging by the numbers which turn up to Bathurst, if there was a 24hr sports car race, I'm sure plenty would turn up. How do they work it in France? Do they have shifts?

Also, because it is only 6km long, and the track density is 55, I'm not sure how you'd go squeezing more cars onto the track.

I like to see you on a quad on the inside of Skyline at three o'clock in the morning! Its almost a sheer drop behind that concrete wall.

[Crash Test]

I'm sure whatever obstacles there are, they could be overcome, some how...i know, they could get their midnight snacks thrown to them from the top of the Castrol tower

[Ray Bell]

Marshals would work in shifts... crossing the track is really no problem in a race like that, probably three hour shifts would do it... access down the straight is actually harder, but it's not impossible.

It would never get a 24-hour coverage, I wouldn't think... probably if you started at 4pm they would start coverage at 10pm or so, then bring it progressively up to date...

But the start in the dark they used for the 12-hour would be preferable, very spectacular.

Who is going to organise and pay for all this. Besides nobody went to the 12 Hour races, so what would make them go to a 24 hour event. Bathurst isn't exactly the warmest place in the world you know. When would it be held? They can only have two events a year, the 1000 in October and one other, and I believe there are moves afoot to lock in another date in the first third of the year so that leaves nothing.

[Ray Bell]

It could fit in the Easter date with the other event. Ideally it would be at New Years, when nothing else is on and the weather is warm enough for it...

The spectators would come if it was properly promoted, after all, this is just another version of what started the popularity of the 1000, it grew as a race for unmodified cars.

[racer69]

Why noy have a 12 hour GT-P race with the bikes at Easter, the Bathurst 1000 for Touring Cars, and then have a 24 hour Nations Cup style race, maybe slightly modifying the cars a bit more so more international teams could compete, that would be great and the track would get more usage out of it.

On other stuff mentioned, Barry is bad enough for one race, let alone 24 hours, and on the Spa 24 hours getting no coverage, they are showing a one hour highlights on FOXTEL in September.

[Ray Bell]

Actually, racer, you'll find a better rollup of International entries when it's more restricted, closer to standard.... and I doubt your 12-hour GTP race would get sufficient interest or support to be worthwhile.

When you have standard cars, Honda, Nissan, Audi, Mercedes, Volvo and many more will be keen to display their wares, even at great cost... the worldwide significance of the race in today's setting would be greater than the 1000 ever was.

Spa, you say? Let me see, I have a picture around here somewhere... 1977, I think, on the old circuit, when a certain Australian partnered an Englishman and excited a Dutch member posting in another place... so much so that he mentioned it just this year... he almost recalled it as one of the great scenes he's ever seen, when he camped at Stavelot and this car was coming through sideways every lap...



Recognise the driver?

[mac]

I'd love to see a 24 hour race in Australia. But, I don't think Bathurst is the right place for it. I also don't think we have any tracks that are suitable for hosting such an event.

[RaceTime]

Look at it logically. A long distance race needs a track at least 3.5 km in length - purely because of lap times. A 3 km track will usually give lap times around 1:15 to 1:30 - depending on the type of track (ie few corners, log straights or many corners, short straights) this is not a long enough lap time for the 40+ cars you would need in an enduro of this type.

Ideally, a min length of 4.5 km would be needed - so which circuits measure up to this already (and forget street circuits at this stage) - only Ph Island and Mt Panorama.

Add any street circuits - and on ly theoriginal Adelaide F1 track and the current Melb Albert Park track come in.

Why the high number of cars required? Retirements...there is NOTHING worse than having an enduro event and seeing car after car drop out and only 6 or so still circulating competitively at the 3/4 distance mark and then wondering which ONE will actually finish.

[Ray Bell]

They actually worked out reasonably well at Surfers Paradise... that was 3.1kms... and fairly easy running at Endurance pace.

But hard on tyres... which could be addressed, of course.

[racer69]

Driving the Vauxhall is Peter Brock and Gerry Marshall.