Australia’s premier production car race made the move from a rough surfaced Phillip Island to Mount Panorama, Bathurst in 1963 and safety has been a key area of improvement since.
When the Armstrong 500 moved to Bathurst, the concrete walls around the circuit now were but a pipe dream and barbed wire fencing surrounded the track instead.
The most notable change was the deviation splitting Conrod Straight added in 1987 prior to the World Touring Car Championship arriving named Caltex Chase.
It wasn’t until the mid-1970s when major moves were made to increase the barriers around Mount Panorama, which may have helped Tony Roberts when he spun off and rolled down the mountain in 1970.
Another key move was installing the Pit Straight bridge and wall splitting the lane. Previously there was no wall splitting pit lane from the circuit although a line on the tarmac designated each area.
The pit lane entry was also separated from the circuit in 1984, a design still in use today.
Sand traps also appeared during the 1980s including the large one at McPhillamy Park when Group A first came to the Mountain in 1985.
The World Touring Car Championship not only provided the reason to build Caltex Chase, but further concrete walls were added on Conrod Straight and a new pit facility was constructed to replace the wooden shelters used previously at a cost $5 million.
The safety car also arrived in 1987 and debris fencing too, which continues to be added at various circuits to this very day.
A new pit building was built in 2004 as further upgrades continue to be made to the circuit to this very day.
One of the final major changes to the circuit was the removal of The Esses sand trap and a bitumen run off to prevent race stoppages either by safety car or the track being blocked.
Bathurst has changed considerably in 60 years and let’s hope we’ll be racing there for years to come.