I look forward to the annual Bathurst 1000 motor race and have done so since I was a teenager – and that was a fair bit ago now!
I’ve been lucky enough, despite living most of my time in Western Australia, to have actually been to the race. The first time was in 1978 and the company I worked for was sponsoring Allan Grice (who came second driving with John Leffler) and the race was won by the famous Peter Brock with Jim Richards as co-driver.
Over the years I managed to fit in a few more trips, including the first 24 hour and a couple of 12 hours.
What has always fascinated me is the quality of the TV coverage, and Bathurst has set a few firsts along the way.
For example, I wonder how many know the in-car coverage was initially a dirty great TV camera bolted to the roll cage with the signal being sent to a helicopter above to be relayed back to the OB van. That car was a Toyota Celica driven by Peter Williamson and the technology was developed right here in Australia by a group of Channel 7 engineers.
Another moment was in later years when Peter Brock broke down with an electrical fault and the camera crew managed to angle the camera remotely to show the components to the engineers back in the pits to identify the issue.
Dubious that one, and sort of smacks of outside influence which is not allowed.
Expanded Technology
Telemetry can be broadcast to viewers in real time.
(c) Ross Gibb Photography
The technology has expanded to what we see today with multiple mini cameras in every car, not just pointing through the windscreen but set up in wheel arches to show suspension stress, in the footwell showing the driver’s feet on the pedals, in rear spoilers to get footage of the following car and bolted to the side of the car just to name a few.
And there are in track cameras showing the cars driving over them, drones that track the cars around the circuit and a special fly-cam that is on a wire that hurtles the camera up and down the pit lane.
There are cameras above each crew’s pit too, so we get to see wheel changes and refuelling in real time. Some pit crew also wear cameras so the viewer can get a feel for what it is like to bang a new wheel and tyre weighing around 25Kgs onto a car in under 4 seconds.
And its all recorded and broadcast in 4K.
Additionally, all of the telemetry from each car is available for broadcast; this shows not only a car’s speed, G forces, where gear changes are being made, brakes applied, fuel usage and much, much more, all available to transmit to your TV screen at the flip of a switch including comparison’s between cars – all again in real time.
Audio wise we can hear the conversations between drivers and pit engineers, and of course commentators can also chat to the drivers while they are blasting down Conrod Straight at close to 300 km/hr.
Putting the whole show together is a mind-boggling effort. Just consider this fact alone; there is apparently 57 kilometres of cable and fibre links alone to lay and monitor and 175 cameras to keep track of!
Conclusion
Back in 1977, I was involved in a live broadcast from Wanneroo Park Raceway here in WA, of an enduro called the Forlife 300. The same company I worked that sponsored Allan Grice the following year sponsored this race, and it was broadcast by the ABC in Perth and the TV director who kindly allowed me to go inside the OB van to see how it all worked was a gentleman called Rex Henry.
Off memory there were5 cameras used, all spaced around the track and probably one extra roving camera in the pit.
Seeing that gave me no inkling of the enormous technical steps we would take to get to where we are today. It is especially mind blowing to know that the DJI SDR 2 wireless transmission system I reviewed a few weeks back, technically could be used to transfer footage shot from the top of Mount Panorama to the broadcast room back at the pits (and may well have been for some of the live commentator-in-the-crowd shots). And that costs under a grand!
Where will we be in another 20 years I wonder?
Footnote:
There is one thing that has changed, and not for the better in my opinion. The personality has been lost from the sport, and not just this one either. For fans of Aussie motor sport, names such as Brock, Moffat, Grice, Richards, Bond, Morris, Seton and so on are legendary and those of us around at the time can always pluck out of the ether some story or another about these characters.
If you get the chance, have a look out for drawings by cartoonist John Stoneham. These give you a “feel” for the time too.
Today though, I could barely be able to identify any driver if I walked past them in the street, or indeed, even saw them in the pits. The sport has become too much of a business, and the main players, the drivers, seem to be pretty much buttoned or cocooned up by their teams.
I for one could never imagine, say this year’s winner, Brodie Kostecki, being carried by a rickshaw down the pit straight throwing Cadbury chocolates into the crowd like Captain Peter Janson did for example. (Guess who his major sponsor was).
Or any of the drivers having a fake red kelpie in the back of the car as Allan Grice did in the 12 hour (he was sponsored by Akubra, Driz-a-Bone and Fosters).
Back in the 70s, any Aussie kid could name the entirety of the Australian cricket team. Today I reckon anyone would be struggling to name three players. This is another sport where the business has well and truly taken over the sport I feel.
Main Photo: The Bathurst 1000 Pit Lane 2025. Photo by (c) Ross Gibb Photography