Sports Sedans at Bathurst

[profi]

It seems strange that an offer to run at Bathurst has raised some safety issues.
The front National guys were nudging 300kmh at Phillip Island last time.
What would be the difference between an incident at Bathurst to anywhere else?
If we are worried about racing at Bathurst on safety grounds, maybe some need to re-evaluate their current construction?

toranaracer

Walls around 90% of the track.

[MrBoost]

what profi said, phillip island is way safer

[jd yort]

Toyzda if i gave everyone the footage before jd yort id be shot!

Correct.

[Toyzda]

The problem with Bathurst is the high speed blind tunnel through the "park" section across the top. The open cars should be faster through here than the V8SC's and the SS helmet height is lower, impeding more of the road ahead. The last fatality (RIP) in V8SC was in this section. Having raced FF at Bathurst and had a car suddenly appear sideways across the track infront of me in this section, I understand the issue.

That would be my concern if I was in the field. The top speed along the straights is a concern, but as mentioned above, it would be only a few kph higher than PI or EC. A failure into the chase should be no more dangerous than a failure into T1 at PI or anywhere else.

I also believe the V8SC safety inspections and implimentations to prevent accidents should be taken as A1. Australia is known for its safety standards in racing and the quality of its officials and marshals. I can't see the 12hr having any less quality safety measures as the big guys...

[toranaracer]

Yes agreed, every circuit has it's own degree of difficulty.

I did not find Bathurst any "less safe" when we competed at the B24 Hour race.
As with that event, most of us "slower" cars carry similar corner speeds as the "fast" cars.

This event could be the spark the category needs to get some cars dusted off and back out there.
If we all drive with maturity I am sure we can make this something very special and hopefully a annual event.

So come on, lets all get behind this exciting event.

toranaracer.

[msadyno]

If you have no vision at Bathurst, your not going to have vision anywhere else ! The V8 taxi guys are already sitting very low and almost rear of the 'B' pillar.

An example is Mark Larkam with his attempt at building their first supercar as a monocoque, basically laying on the floor. Pretty sure he got around the place ok.

I'd much rather be in a sports sedan than some of the things that came through here for the Muscle car Masters.

Take the opportunity when it's handed out and put these things on the map where they should be !

[Phast Phil]

I have been told the humps would be the problem as the leading cars will do more like 330 there.
Having said that I am OK to go and my car is built like a tank (1295kilos) with lots of safety bars.
With the limited front downforce and the big double plain rear wings you would have to be careful with the front taking off over the humps.
Sneak up on it guys.

[Toyzda]

From what i recall, the hump on mountain straight is quite abrupt and it kicks you to the right (in 96' in the wet in FF, 5 cars ended up on the right wall; bent!) and will most likely cause wheel spin when the rear kicks up. As for conrod, it is not as severe and only halfway down the straight. All the big cars should be approaching 300kph by both of the humps, but V8SC have smaller tyres and less downforce so the SS cars 'should' be more stable. The crosswinds and buffeting from other cars moves the cars around alot too.

But having said that, I would still donate my left one to drive an open SS around there. No matter what concerns I could think up in the pits, by the first hot tyre lap I would have forgotten all concerns and would be way too busy hanging on and enjoying it!

SS are dangerous by nature. There custom built missiles. If anyone has concerns, don't race. The track will be as safe as it can be.

I have compressed the development of my little car (u2L) to give myself every chance of racing at Bathurst. If I am there to race, you could put a school zone section in the dangerous bits and I would still race and love it. The track is THAT good!

[2002 turbo]

I understand the safety concerns that some people have mentioned but I don't think it would be any more dangerous then it was back in 1992. Back then Keith Carling, Des Wall, Brian Smith, Kerry Bailey, etc had very quick cars, in the same season they were lapping Eastern Creek in the 1m30-1m32 bracket which today is still fast.

Since then there have been safety improvements at the Mt Panorama , we have added driver safety devices too and newer chassis have had to meet more stringent standards then back then. I think as long as people prepare their cars properly and drive within their ability there shouldn't be any major issues.

[sedanfan]

Was the last time sport sedans ran at Bathurst in '92?

As mentioned 65 cars attended, it would have been great to see such a strong representation for the catagory, is there ANY footage of the event???? Was there a huge difference in the laps times across the field?

There MUST be a number of cars in garages out there, auto action from that time regularly showed at least half a dozen sport sedans for sale each issue, if this event brought some out that would be out would be a plus.