Mount Panorama/Bathurst

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Jubby

Jubby

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jubbyboi617
Hello everyone! As I've played through GT6, I've been left with a question I felt would be great to be left to a discussion from our community members, so that I can better understand.

Question for response/debate: What makes the Mount Panorama track that special? Is it the prestige? Is it the heritage? Is it the track composition?

My quick take: It's essentially three sides of a rectangle built for high speed and a windy tight section. It almost seems like the back half of Grindelwald combined with thinner version of Indianapolis speedway. Note: this is not my complete review of the track, so please temper your response to this--- I could write a wall of text, positive and negative, on the track. :D

I look forward to hearing from all of you! :cheers:
 
It's my second favorite track, Spa being first. I love everything about it, but mainly the elevation change. It's also a track that has long straights that you can hit 160+ and very tight corners that you also have to take elevation change into mind.

also, I really like the view when you're driving back down the mountain - especially at night seeing the city lights :)
 
Prestige. Heritage. Composition. It's also something new (Spa and Motegi were DLC for GT5 and not everyone had them at their disposal). It's more technical than Silverstone. It's faster than Ascari. It's not as bright as Willow Springs. As for being a reminder of anything, the general feel of the track makes me think Laguna Seca; elevation changes, elements, road surface, scenery. I'm equal-opportunity when it comes to track choice but when I do get to race on it, I thoroughly enjoy it.
 
It's very fun to drive, because it's
Jubby
[...] essentially three sides of a rectangle built for high speed and a windy tight section.
Click to expand...
It sounds simple but it's very fun. If I'm correct it also has time change and weather change, which is even better.
 
I really like how sections feel like a tight city circuit with the walls but other sections have lots of speed and available runoff like a purpose built track.

Its one of my favorites and has been for years.
 
Get it right and there's some satisfaction, which lets be honest, your not going to get much from the way PD have dished up GT6 to us, bit like getting your Sunday dinner served up, there's no gravy, potatoes, any kind of veg and the cow's sat on your plate chomping on some grass. Get it wrong and it's usually ends up with you facing the wrong way, plus doing 200mph+ back down the hill is a white knuckle ride which can easily lead to missing braking points for that all important left turn......lovin it.
 
I do enjoy the track a lot. I have no emotional attachment to it or anything along those lines as driving it on GT6 is pretty much my first real experience with the track. The mountain section is fun and the straights are, well, all about speed.
Only issue I have with it is that of all the tracks in GT6, Bathurst seems to suffer from frame rate issues.
 
I do love this circuit. I knew it from TV; saw several V8 races on this track and I am glad it s in GT6. Sometimes it s a bit tricky with this aggressive AI opponents. Favourite track is still and will always be Spa Franchorchamps, my home circuit.
 
I think part of its charm is not so much the circuit itself, but the intensity that comes from the races on it. It's a tight track that doesn't leave a lot of room to pass with 2 long, high speed straights for drafting opponents and a tricky back half full of tight elevated turns. The Bathurst 1000 race usually leads up to be one of the most interesting races of the year in motorsport alone.
 
Well being an Aussie, this is the most sacred track. As this track is the track to win on for the V8 Supercars. As it tests your endurance, your patience and your skill and one slip up and your gone. I have grown up watching the V8 Supercars and the cars before that race around this famous track.

I love the fact that it is in GT6 and Forza 5 and you can compare your race times with the actual records.
 
Well most of you won't know that it was originally built as a tourist drive.
The mayor of Bathurst back in like the 1930's wanted to build a race track, but the New South Wales government would not fund a race track, so he suggested a tourist drive.

It only took 1 month after it was built for the first race to be held on it. To this day that mayor has had a turn named after him which is turn 2 called Griffiths Bend.

The thing that attracts people is the extreme conditions of the track. Its fast and hard, how many of you have hit the wall on the left after the overhead red fugitsu sign( turn 5).

There is no room for mistakes you have to be on it for 12 hours or 161 laps.

And as someone has already said we grow up watching it on tv. But its not until you go to Mount Panorama that you really appreciate it for what it is, I still get that feeling of excitement when driving to the track come over the hill and see the sign on the side of the mountain, and last year was my 3rd time.

Give this youtube clip a look. Turn it up and listen to what Russell Crowe has to say.
 
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The more real world tracks the better :D I really enjoy Bathurst because of the speed of the tack and because the Aussies need more representing in the game! 👍 I just wish the track didn't look so bad, it takes some big hits with the flickering, ugly shadows that plague GT6
 
It's a great race track for many reasons.
Here's a few of them :
The Chase
No wait...Flat out on Conrod Straight and then The Chase..:)
The Cutting..The Dipper... Hells Corner, Murray's Corner and the Esses.
Pure and simple its a drivers track.
 
I te
noshog
For me it's when you get around Forrest Elbow and enter Conrod Straight and you realise you have been holding your breath for the 30 odd seconds over the mountain :lol:
There aren't many tracks in the world (of sim racing) that do that to me :)
Click to expand...
I tend to have breather at skyline then again at conrod.
 
fastboysmith
Well most of you won't know that it was originally built as a tourist drive.
The mayor of Bathurst back in like the 1930's wanted to build a race track, but the New South Wales government would not fund a race track, so he suggested a tourist drive.

It only took 1 month after it was built for the first race to be held on it. To this day that mayor has had a turn named after him which is turn 2 called Griffiths Bend.

The thing that attracts people is the extreme conditions of the track. Its fast and hard, how many of you have hit the wall on the left after the overhead red fugitsu sign( turn 5).

There is no room for mistakes you have to be on it for 12 hours or 161 laps.

And as someone has already said we grow up watching it on tv. But its not until you go to Mount Panorama that you really appreciate it for what it is, I still get that feeling of excitement when driving to the track come over the hill and see the sign on the side of the mountain, and last year was my 3rd time.

Give this youtube clip a look. Turn it up and listen to what Russell Crowe has to say.
Click to expand...

Great clip. Loved seeing it again.
 
Before GT6 I knew only it's name and fame. Took me one lap to fall in love with it. Straights are meh, but the upper part has many awesome corners, such a nice rythm. The corners are also straight forward, not trying to fool you, but still not easy. The races are very intense too, great track for online racing.
 
One of my top 3 tracks without a doubt it's full on from start to finish you really have to work to get the car round it's full on adrenaline
 
They should have got rid of the fujitsu sign with Stephen Fleming on it at the top of the mountain. He is a 🤬.

Other than that best real world track in the game. I still love Trial Mountain more than any other though.
 
Love it because it is fast track with a lot of altitude difference, few tricky turns on downhill and long straights for maximum sped + It Looks wonderful at night and sunrise/sunset :D
 
I've been lucky enough to go to the Bathurst 1000 - Being there for the great race in 2004 was truly something special; waking up well before dawn in the suburbs of Sydney, driving to Bathurst in an FPV GT through the tight roads that weave their way through the Blue Mountains and finally getting into the town of Bathurst, seeing the massive "Mount Panorama" plastered on the face of the mountain and finally getting there yourself and being surrounded by tens of thousands of motorsport fans really is something special, not to mention experiencing the 1000 in person!

I've also been lucky to drive around the circuit myself a few times, along with being a passenger and while GT6's rendition of Bathurst is extremely accurate, one thing a video game (or even TV, for that matter) can't show is just how extreme the elevation changes are. Even though I was only doing the legal speed limit, driving over Skyline and especially The Dipper and experiencing those massive drops in elevation was just incredible! That's what makes Mount Panorama so special!
 
Jubby
Is it the prestige? Is it the heritage? Is it the track composition?
Click to expand...

All of the above! Mt Panorama is the pinnacle of Australian motorsport and is only raced on twice a year for the bathurst 12 hour and the bathurst 1000. It spends the rest of the year (save for a few club days and promotional events) as a public road.

The track itself is very fast and features a lot of elevation change (TV and video games don't do it justice, you need to drive it in real life to really appreciate how steep it is). It's also very narrow and has a lot of fast off camber corners with no run off which leaves very little margin for error.

Anyway, obviously I'm a fan :) it's certainly one of the most unique circuits in the world and I would rank it my equal favourite alongside the Nordschleife
 

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