OPINION: The Bathurst 1000 is one of the most iconic motorsport events in the world.
Some of the greatest names in the sport have tried, failed and triumphed at the Mountain, since the first race in 1960. The 6.21 km track has conquered more than a few of the thousands who had visions of grandeur when the green flag dropped.
Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Wayne Gardner, Johnny Rutherford and New Zealand’s own world champion Denny Hulme were all bit by the mystique of Mount Panorama.
So who holds a spot in the Bathurst Hall of Fame.
Winning the event isn’t the only criteria. Longevity, speed, competitiveness and impact on the category all play their part.
1. Peter Brock
The legend himself. 'Peter Perfect' was my personal sporting hero as a young petrolhead, after watching him dominate the 1984 race in the iconic red-and-white VK Commodore.
With nine wins to his name, Brock stands alone at the top of the win-list and will more than likely remain there, given the competitive nature of the current series, with only Craig Lowndes (six) a realistic chance of catching him.
'Brocky' won an incredible seven 1000's from 1975-84 in a decade of Australian touring cars dominance. He put Bathurst on the international motorsport map and will forever be remembered as 'The King of the Mountain'.
2. Craig Lowndes
A protégé of Brock, Lowndes is one of the most popular drivers in the history of the sport.
With six Bathurst titles to his name and part of one of the most lethal driver pairings in history (alongside Jamie Whincup), Lowndes will hope to chase down his former mentor over the next three years.With 14 podium finishes since his debut in 1995, Lowndes cements his spot as Bathurst royalty.
3. Allan Moffat
The Canadian native won his first Bathurst crown in 1970, when it was contested over 500km. Moffat would repeat a year later, before engaging in a decade-long rivalry with Peter Brock.
He finished with four titles, including the most famous finish in race history in 1977, when he partnered with the great Jacky Ickx in the Ford Falcon XC.
4. Jim Richards
The first New Zealander to win the race in 1978, alongside Brock, Richards sits alone in second with seven race wins, including 1998 in the two-litre event.
‘Gentleman Jim’, now-71-years-old, raced Bathurst for the last time in 2006, his 35th 1000. His most infamous mountain moment came after the controversial finish of 1992 when he famously labelled the Nissan-hating fans as a 'pack of arseholes'.
5. Larry Perkins
Any fan of the ‘Great Race’ will remember Perkins' last-to-first effort of 1995.
That was the fifth of six 1000 wins for ‘Larrikin Larry’ and cemented his position among the folk heroes of Mount Panorama.
Alongside Brock, Perkins secured a hat-trick of wins between 1982-84, before winning three more between 1993-97.
He lost credibility with Holden fans in 1985, when he partnered Dick Johnson in the Ford Mustang, but saw the light 12 months later, returning to the red team.
6. Mark Skaife
If luck played any part in motorsport, then Skaife may have eclipsed Peter Brock's mark of nine Bathurst titles.
Skaife, won the event six times between 1991-2010, but the now-commentator will be haunted by the ones that got away. He had race-winning cars in 1990, 1997, 2006 and 2009, before the mountain bit.
Most famously, in 2006, Skaife started on pole and was the hottest favourite in race history, but didn't get to the second corner, after his clutch failed at the start.
Skaife also achieved five pole positions, second only to Brock (six).
7. Bob Jane
All four of Jane's race wins came before the event stretched to 1000 km, but the toll on the drivers was arguably more intense pre-1973, given the condition of both track and car.
Jane dominated the early years of Bathurst, winning four on the trot from 1961-64.
8. Dick Johnson
'Tricky Dicky' was part of the golden era of Australian touring cars, racing against the likes of Brock, Richards, Perkins, John Bowe, George Fury, Allan Grice and Tony Longhurst.
Johnson finished his career with three Bathurst wins, but is remembered most for two infamous incidents. In 1980, while leading, Johnson hit a stray rock climbing the mountain, which cost him certain victory.
Two years later, he was gunning for pole, when his car hit the tyre wall at Forrest Elbow, sending him down a bank, where he hit dozens of trees. Fortunately, Johnson survived unscathed, bearing the Ford flag for 22 years.
9. Greg Murphy
The holder of the ‘Lap of the Gods', until Scott McLaughlin showed up 12 months ago, 'Murph' won the race four times in 22 starts.
The former New Zealand Grand Prix winner came of age in 1996, pairing with Lowndes to blow away one of the most talent-rich fields in history.
But Murphy's most famous moment came in 2003, when he not only won the race - pretty much flag-to-flag - but also set the motorsport world alight 24-hours earlier, when his time of 2m 06.8594s set the Supercar lap record.
It truly was the ‘Lap of the Gods'.
10. Jamie Whincup
A four-time race winner, Whincup has actually underachieved, given the machinery underneath him for the last 12 years as part of the Triple Eight team.
Regarded by some pundits as the greatest touring car driver in Australian history, Whincup scored a three-peat of Bathurst wins alongside Lowndes between 2006-8, before winning again in 2012, this time with Paul Dumbrell.
But the current Supercars champion has thrown away at least two other wins, most famously in 2014, when he ran out of gas on the final lap with a 30-second lead.
Join us for live updates of the Bathurst 1000 from 11am Sunday.
Brad Lewis is a digital sports reporter for Newshub.
