Bathurst Part Two: The 1980s
What made Bathurst’s Easter races the most important motorcycle destination in Australia? In the second feature of their two-part series, HAMISH COOPER and PHIL AYNSLEY go back to the Eighties to find out.
The bikes got faster, the track stayed the same and the fans lapped up the ensuing carnage. It was a time to revel in the majesty of the Australian event that delivered some pretty impressive action.
Greg Pretty sits inside the concrete wall at Bathurst’s GTX Bend, sipping reflectively on a steel tin of Carton Draught while he fiddles with the ring-pull clip. Moments earlier he had been on target to claim second place in the 500GP on the Yamaha-pitmans TZ500. But as Pretty started the last lap, his fuel tank ran dry. After he had dismounted and pushed the bike behind the newly-constructed barrier, a local sitting with a few mates at the top of a driveway ran down and handed him the beer. This photograph, taken by Phil Aynsley in 1981, is a powerful image that sums up a golden age of motorcycling. It shows the connection fans had with riders at Bathurst. It was a bond similar to that experienced
today between Isle of Man TT racers and spectators. For decades Bathurst was the most spectacular motorcycle weekend in Australia. Fans fed off the raw emotion of the racing and the hedonistic bonding that campfires, the consumption of cheap alcohol and a shared experience of riding to the event could concoct. Pretty was one of Australia’s rock ’n’ roll racers of the period. Off the track, his impish good looks and sense of humour gave him more than just a touch of the Bon Scott rock-god invincibility. On the track he was often unbeatable. This was a time when youngsters could make a living doing what they loved. And for
Pretty that was racing motorcycles, driving fast cars and generally living the dream. Pretty had been the Aussie sensation of 1979, winning the Australian Unlimited (1300cc) Road Racing Championship, along with the $A13,500 Swann Series. The next year he flew to the UK with fellow South Australian Jeremy Burgess. While Pretty struggled as a privateer and returned home, Burgess went on to forge a career as a GP kingmaker crew chief. Back at Bathurst in 1981, Pretty had plenty to prove. Had the ‘gap year’ in the UK blunted his talent? Did he still have the fire in the belly necessary to conquer The Mountain? It was a typical Bathurst script that brought out the fans in huge numbers. At Pretty’s disposal was old crew chief Mal Pitman, a Yamaha TZ500, TZ750 and a secret weapon, an XS1100 converted to chain drive. Two months earlier Pretty had taken this XS1100 to victory in the Coca-cola 800 at Oran Park. Although it was Australia’s richest road race, it was a sideshow to the main event on The Mountain. Pretty had started the weekend with determination and skill. He had won the 60km Unlimited GP by seven seconds on the TZ750 and then the glamour Arai 500 Endurance race by a lap on the XS1100. The Arai victory, over 81 laps, hadn’t been easy. Pretty had to nurse his worn rear tyre home over the final stages and was lucky that his main challenger, Rob Phillis, was delayed when a rag got caught in his rear wheel during a fuel stop. The 500GP race was the feature event of the final day but its 120km race distance caused fuel concerns for both Pretty and Continued on page 88