Supercars Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 Mt Panorama Bathurst – 2002

The 2002 race was reminiscent of Allan Moffat’s barnstorming 1971 win in his all-conquering Falcon GTHO Phase III. Not because the 2002 winner was also a Falcon – it wasn’t, instead it was another win for Holden and its factory Holden Racing Team. What was similar about the two races 31 years apart was the blustery wind conditions on race day.

The wind was picking up all sorts of plastic and paper debris from the pit and spectator areas, and some of it was finding its way into radiator intakes. Moffat’s Falcon in 1971 famously had an errant cardboard beer carton wrapped around the Falcon’s grille, causing concern in the Ford team that the engine might be denied cooling air and eventually overheat

It turned out to be not an issue for Moffat, who won as he pleased – but it was a very different story for Mark Skaife’s HRT Commodore VX in 2002. The bits of paper and plastic which had lodged in Skaife’s radiator air intake were causing some serious overheating problems. The temperature gauge was off the clock in the closing stages of the race.

With a string of pursuers challenging him in the run home, Skaife had no choice but to push on, try to not stress the engine too much and simply hope for the best. In the end he took his fourth Bathurst win with only a few seconds to spare. It was certainly well deserved, as Skaife had taken a superb pole position on Saturday, and he and co-driver Jim Richards had had to fight hard all day.

Early on they were locked in battle with the impressively fast OzEmail Ford of Brad Jones/John Bowe, and then against the Kmart Commodore of Greg Murphy/Todd Kelly, the Castrol Commodore of Larry Perkins/Paul Dumbrell and finally the sister Castrol car of Steven Richards/Russell Ingall. Steven Richards pushed Skaife all the way to the flag, but Skaife kept a cool head even though things were getting very hot under the bonnet of the HRT Commodore. It was an epic contest held in trying conditions that included rain, hail and shine – the video highlights presentation of the 2002 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Bathurst is one certainly not to be missed.

This release does not feature the action that occurred during the commercial breaks. Features the Porsche Cup and due to the nature of the footage minor technical faults may appear during the program.

Run Time: Approximately 6 Hours, 10 Minutes