THE MUSCLE OF MOUNT PANORAMA

With duelling banjos in the background, I’ve always liked that bit in the film Deliverance when one of the somewhat-besieged canoeists asks another what he thinks death would be like. After some thought, he comes back with the reply that he is, “Not sure, but it is probably unlike anything that any of them has ever met before.”

So, too, is Mount Panorama, Bathurst. No matter how many times you have seen it on television, and no matter the impression you may have of the place, nothing can quite prepare you for the real thing. The atmosphere and enthusiasm of the huge 200,000-strong crowd over the four days; the providence and tradition of the place; the steepness and narrowness of the top of the mountain; those uncompromising, largely blind concrete walls over the top; and the sheer speed of the cars up the hill and then down Conrod Straight are not for the faint-hearted. If there is a holy grail of saloon car racing, then this is it!

THE INVITATION

This was extended entirely on the handshake of friendship, by the Touring Car Masters (TCM) Series and trusted members on this side of the Tasman, in an effort to keep a trans-Tasman relationship going. As opposed to our visit in 2016, when the event was a stand-alone affair, the