AUSSIEPICS

Ok, wow.. condensing all the photo's taken at Bathurst this year has taken some doing. We could have been here all day but I've decided to encapsulate the whole weekend as a single merged sequence of events. This kept the number of photo's down to a workable minimum.



Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Lets start the story at the main gate, this is Friday morning, it got a bit busier as the weekend progressed.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Ok, it was practice, but pretty much the first thing I saw after walking in was Mr Loundes falling into Hell corner. Normally I'd be cruel and have a bit of a laugh about that but for the whole weekend I never saw him bump anyone out of the way, so for once I'll give him the credit his driving skills entitle him to.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Bathurst is of course not only V8 Supercars in the main game, there's also the entertainment provided by various groups so I'm going there next. The first thing that probably happened on any given day was the chaps from the army pinking up the sky.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Still on the non-car entertainment, absolutely nothing in Australia is an "event" unless the Roulettes turn up and show off. I have so many photo's of the Roulettes they are about to get a page of their own.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

In fact, lets have a couple of shots of the Roulettes, I took rather a lot so why not. These guys are pretty cool and they certainly gave a good performance over the three days I was on track, both with their acrobatics and by remaining around for a while so we could all get a good look.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Moving on, slightly, some other aerial entertainment was provided by a chap with an (I think) FA-18. Someone will correct me if that's the wrong plane. No Dump-and-Burn as only F111's were capable of doing it so this guy was doing power turns and making fog with his wings.
I'll give you this shot though because it's wrong in so many ways I hope you'll find it interesting, even scaled down to 700px (not cropped) you can see the visual disturbance behind the plane, caused by the jet engine. You also get for free the dust on the lens as a reminder that the mountain can be cold and dirty, and water spots because it also rains, and .. despite the evidence of your eyes, this *is* an un-edited colour image, but I guess it would look perfectly at home in a monochrome exhibition.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Preceeding the main game are a couple of other classes; for V8 Supercars the up-and-coming usually run through the Fujitsu series first, frequently in ex-cars from the main game, often the car that won last years V8 Supercars is in the pack in the Fujitsu series, and just as often these cars are worked on by the guy that built it in the first place, I saw the Assialit Fujitsu car in our shop just today. Whoever painted this car though, deserves to have it up on as many sites as he can, that's cool. No idea what NDD stands for, it used to stand for Norton's Disk Doctor back when Nortons was Peter Norton's and before Symantec bought that out and wrecked everything.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

And.. just because I'm a bit of a fan (and who isn't) of Grand Denyer, Here he is, also negotioting Murrays corner. I do hope that gearbox isn't full of the grease from those KFC sponsors though, that would be a smelly ride.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Next up, if you're following the book (Official 2009 event program) is the Australian GT Championship series. This is where the Lambo's, Vipers, Porches, DB9's, Ferrari's, Lotus' and a garishly painted GT-R get involved. What's a Mosler?, I don't know either but here's a picture of one. Certainly looks like a supercar.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Here's a DB9, well, a DBRS9 actually, because nothing can beat an Aston Martin for sheer Cool-Wall presence.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Lots to get through so moving on, here comes the Yokohama V8 Utes.I'm not going to stay on the utes very long because we got distracted and I missed the best shots.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

If you were wondering, this is the sort of thing that can distract you. No that's not me, that's Dan, and it's not his best effort either, his best was all eight of the ethanol girls.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Other things you might see in the paddock are .. Rick and Todds attempt to get on the Cool-Wall.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

and .. evidence that writing "driven by fine form" on a car is no guarantee of fine driving. Someone google that purple pig bit and send me an email will you.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Still another support category, the Biante touring car masters. These are the guys that took to the limit what we all did back in the day with our own cars. Massive response from the crowd as always. This chap (Michael Acheson) gets first pic simply for leaving a bonnet pin undone. But it's a Charger, and that's cool enough to qualify anyway.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Pretty much no event on the mountain is complete without Jim Richards, so here he is with his Falcon.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

.. and nothing like this is complete without a kingswood. Go the Q!..
Just to save your bandwidth, I've forgone photo's of the Datto, a gaggle of the usual Porches, a couple of Camaro's, the Torana's, the Alpha and the Escort. You had to be there to hear them anyway.








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You would think that would bring us finally to the V8 Supercars, but first I'm going via some of the other things to see around the track.






Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Inflatable couches: saves bringing your own, and you don't have to set fire to it afterwards.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Helicopters:
Large numbers of them, and I can vouch that some fancy flying is involved to bring you all those cool shots on the telly.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

These guys:
Hitachi Stunt Team.. I think they could have put a bit more effort in to be honest, this was the only pass from where we were that anyone actually did more than roar past and slide into the corner.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Armageddon: First saw this thing at Townsville, it's a bit neat eh.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Things on the Hill:
Camp Cuntox. New shirts every year and stubby holders to match. Start collecting now.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Photographers:
Hi Justin .. plug here .. www.inetpics.com .. he has more and better photo's up (and they were up far earlier than this page), but then, he gets paid for it.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Ok.. LOTS of Photographers..
and that's just one spot. Admittedly a very good spot at the time but there were heaps everywhere. It is after all the crown in the jewell for Australian motorsport (Hmm, Philip Island motorcyle GP.. ok, lets just gloss over that bit for now).








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Then before the drivers parade:
That's Frosty, characteristically in a beanie, doing a good job of hiding Richo from our side of the track.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

And finally, the racing starts. This is so wet, I suspect it's the warm-up lap before the green.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

All the familiar faces of course. Russell in this one.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

I wouldn't go for crowd favourites here this time but definately everyone expected these two to be standing on something at the end of the day.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

This is what I mean by not neccesarily crowd favourites. Appeared overnight on Saturday, someone took the time to do a professional job of it too.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Tander and Davidson. More on these guys later.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Dean Canto and (or) Luke Youlden, succesfully defending against the Whincup/Loundes car.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

Not going quite as well as expected here.








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Aussiepics' Bathurst 2009 images

And finally, Garth and Will, doing what you do when you are reigning champions on the Mountain








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Out There 4x4 Warragul Mark A. Biggs, Author