Mount Panorama Circuit

Did You Know?

• The track is used as a public road when no racing events are being run, with a 60 km/h speed limit strictly enforced by Bathurst Police.
• The venue's infield and pit parking served as the home of the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships.

Early history

Before European settlers arrived, the Wiradjuri people called this mountain Wahluu, meaning "to watch over," and used it as an initiation site. In the Dreamtime, a warrior named Wahluu was killed by his brother over a woman; the bloodshed angered Baiame, who caused a volcanic eruption that formed the mountain. Racing began in the 1900s when Dr. Machattie convinced two builders to drive a steam-powered Thomson from Melbourne to Bathurst. From 1906, public-road circuits were used: the 20.5-mile Peel-Limekilns circuit until 1913, the 15.5-mile Yetholme circuit from 1914 to 1925, the 62.5-mile Sunny Corner circuit from 1926 to 1930, and the 7-mile Vale Circuit from 1931 to 1937.

Construction of Mount Panorama Circuit started in mid-1936. The first motorcycle meeting was on 16 April 1938; the 1938 Junior Tourist Trophy was won by 20-year-old Les Sherrin on a Norton. The first car race, the 1938 Australian Grand Prix, was won by Peter Whitehead in an ERA.

The circuit

The track has the fastest corner in touring car racing, the kink at the entrance to the Chase. Alexandre Prémat described it as a mix of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca; Kévin Estre said half is the Nordschleife and half is Macau. The pit straight has separate start and finish lines: the start line is 143 m closer to Hell Corner for standing starts. Hell Corner was named after a tree stump on the apex; hitting it was believed to doom motorcycle riders to an eternity of birth. Mountain Straight climbs toward Griffins Bend, where V8 Supercars reach 290 km/h before braking. Drivers once had to lift off the throttle to avoid becoming airborne over the crest. Since late 2022, a campaign has sought to rename Mountain Straight to Moffat Mountain Straight, honouring Allan Moffat.

Lap records

As of April 2026, the official lap record is 1:59.2910 by Christopher Mies in an Audi R8 LMS at the 2018 Challenge Bathurst. The fastest race lap is 1:59.8375 by James Golding in a Rogers AF01/V8 during the 2021 Bathurst 1000. The fastest lap on the original layout was 2:09.7 by Niel Allen in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet in 1970. Faster unofficial laps include Jenson Button's 1:48.88 in a McLaren MP4-23 in 2011, Luke Youlden's 1:58.694 in a Brabham BT62 in 2019, Jules Gounon's 1:56.6054 in an unrestricted Mercedes-AMG GT3 in 2024, and Romain Dumas's 1:56.3247 in the electric Ford SuperVan 4.2 in 2024.

Kevin Bartlett set the first 100 mph lap in 1967 in a Repco Brabham BT11A, earning 25 bottles of champagne, then lowered it to 2:17.4 for another 100 bottles. Allan Grice set the first 100 mph touring car lap in 1982 in a Holden VH Commodore SS, and the first Group A 100 mph lap in 1986 in a Holden VK Commodore SS Group A.

Notable races

The inaugural event was the 1938 Junior Tourist Trophy for motorcycles. Motorcycle racing continued annually at Easter, including nine editions of the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix and the Arai 500 from 1979 to 1988; the event was cancelled after 1994 due to risk and small crowds, with an unsuccessful revival in 2000. The Australian Grand Prix was held at the circuit in 1938, 1947, 1952 and 1958. The Bathurst 1000 has been held since 1963, continuing a 500-mile race that began at Phillip Island in 1960; it became 1000 km in 1973 and a V8 Supercars round from 1999.

The circuit hosted seven ATCC sprint rounds: 1966, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1995, 1996 and 2021. Other endurance races include the Bathurst 24 Hour (2003–2004) and the Bathurst 12 Hour (1991–1994, 2007–2020, 2022–present), which became an FIA GT3 race in 2011 and part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in 2016. The Bathurst 6 Hour is held at Easter. The first motorsport event was a speed hillclimb from Mountain Straight to Reid Park, still a round of the NSW Hillclimb Championship.