Bathurst

What do you say about Bathurst? It’s breathtaking, terrifying and brutal. Somehow, those three words don’t quite do it justice. It’s a track with a rich history, with incredible stories from the Bathurst 1000 and, in more recent times, the Bathurst 12 Hour.

In 1968, Holden won its first race at Bathurst. Now 50 years later GM is celebrating the anniversary of its Australian company’s success with a new concept vehicle.

Australian Touring Car racing is quite simply some of the best racing you could ever watch. The V8 Supercars series features four-door, family sedans packing naturally aspirated, five-liter V8 engines. These send 645hp straight to the rear wheels. With some of the closest and most intense white-knuckle racing in the world, there’s little wonder it’s so popular.

The racing season is continuing to heat up for Nismo. While last weekend’s tough Dubai 24H race saw the GT Academy team finish 8th in the SP3-GT4 class, the next event will up the pace for a once-around-the-clock run around Mount Panorama.

As one of the most famous circuits in the world, Mount Panorama has been a daunting challenge to drivers from around the globe since it opened 78 years ago. Unlike modern auto racing complexes, it runs a single layout, with the current 6.2 km (3.8 mi) circuit hosting major events like the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in February and the Bathurst 1000 in October. That will be changing in the future, with a second layout being added to the East of the existing circuit.

Australia’s prime racing circuit hosted an absolute thriller over the weekend which saw Tekno McLaren take the title, despite harsh competition from defending champions Nissan and a few issues faced along the half-day event. The driver team of Shane Van Gisbergen, Alvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb faced a car break-down and drive-through penalty, which threatened their chances of domination by pushing them down to 3rd in the closing stages of the endurance race.

Round 3 of GT Academy’s online qualification round officially kicks off today, bringing us one step closer to the final time trial which will ultimately determine who moves on to the national finals.

Gran Turismo Drive is the newest street in Bathurst City, home of the famous Mount Panorama roadcourse featured in GT6. Named in honor of Polyphony Digital’s work in recreating and promoting the proud landmark of the city for GT6. Officials from the city, including its mayor Gary Rush and racing driver Shane Jacobson were on hand to open the road to the public in ceremony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCk_5pBthts

Gran Turismo 6 was on display last weekend at the EB Expo in Sydney, Australia, and the demo included the just-announced Mount Panorama circuit.

Australia’s Mount Panorama Racing Circuit, widely known as one of the most challenging circuits in the world and home to the Bathurst 12 Hours and Bathurst 1000 races, has been officially confirmed for Gran Turismo 6.

While helping out with the Polish GT Academy 2012 finals, Lucas Ordoñez made an interesting comment about Gran Turismo 6’s development, which he’s reportedly involved in.

Following on from the GTPlanet blog post late last week, GTP members have been back to the famous Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst to catch the Polyphony crews at work.

Some new rumours have been hitting the GTPlanet forums, as Polyphony Digital have been reported to be scanning another real-life track – the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst, Australia.