The Bathurst 1000 this weekend marks the 50th running of Australia’s greatest race.
Aussie racing doesn’t get a huge amount of press in Europe, so it is sometimes difficult to convey to a lot of fans in our part of the world just how important Bathurst is. For a start there’s the fiery Ford-Holden rivalry, spiced up on occasion by foreigners turning up to try their hand. Like when Tom Walkinshaw turned up with his Jags in the mid-’80s. Nissan were an intimidating prospect in the early ’90s, with their technologically advanced Skylines dancing around the comparatively agricultural Holdens.
During the latter period, Peter Brock struggled to keep up. For a long time he was Holden’s main challenger, winning at Mount Panorama nine times to claim the title of King of the Mountain. His style was simultaneously workmanlike and extravagant, brutally throwing his huge cars into the Mountain’s tight esses before gliding out sideways, as wide as the track would let him. In 1991, in a fruitless effort to qualify ahead of the Nissans, he produced this lap, summing up why he was so loved in his native country.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/SWOq94g2HB0[/youtube]
From exhilarating laps to heart-stopping moments, Alex Brundle rarely had a dull moment at the 2025 Le Mans Classic. Watch as he races a Ford GT40, battling contemporary rivals, the elements, and the circuit itself
Watch the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed live stream here with coverage of the best action from the hillclimb and rally stage, as motor sport's summer celebration marks 75 years of the F1 world championship
It's the final day of racing at the 2025 Le Mans Classic. Watch the live stream here for coverage of the world's biggest historic race meeting
A final track test for Alex Brundle before heading to the 2025 Le Mans Classic: see how he fine-tunes the legendary Ford GT40 for La Sarthe, and hear how Jackie Oliver won the 1969 24-hour race in one of the cars