Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst
Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst at a glance
- Location
- Bathurst, New South Wales
- Type
- street circuit
- Length
- 6.213 km (3.861 mi)
- Turns
- 23
- Direction
- counter-clockwise
- Surface
- asphalt
- Elevation change
- 571 ft
- Opened
- 1938
- Owner
- Bathurst Regional Council
- Phone
- +61 2 6333 6111
Track map and layout
Mount Panorama is unlike any other circuit on the Supercars calendar: a public road that climbs and drops 174 metres over 6.213 kilometres of genuine mountainside. From Hell Corner the track claws up the narrow, uphill Mountain Straight to Griffins Bend, then threads through The Cutting and Quarry Corner onto the tight, blind crest at Reid Park and Sulman Park. The summit section across Skyline and the Esses, including the notorious Dipper, is barely two lanes wide with concrete walls hard on both sides. Forrest's Elbow tips the cars onto the 1.9-kilometre Conrod Straight, where Supercars top 290 km/h before The Chase chicane scrubs speed for the run home past Murray's Corner. Elevation, narrow margins and no run-off make it the most demanding circuit in Australian motorsport.
Named corners and sections
- Hell Corner (Turn 1). A tight left-hander off the pit straight, named for the tree stump once at its apex, that feeds cars onto the climb up Mountain Straight.
- The Cutting. A pair of blind left-handers cut through solid rock partway up the mountain, exiting onto a brutally steep 1-in-6 gradient.
- McPhillamy Park. A fast, downhill left-hander near the summit that is blind over a crest; one of the circuit's longest-running trackside campgrounds sits alongside it.
- Brock's Skyline. Renamed in 1997 in honour of nine-time Bathurst winner Peter Brock, this sharply descending right-hander gives the visual sensation of dropping off the edge of the mountain.
- The Dipper. The most famous of the Esses sequence below Skyline, a sharp left-hander named for an old dip in the road surface, taken with concrete walls either side.
- Forrest's Elbow. A slow, descending left-hander named after motorcyclist Jack Forrest, marking the last corner before the sprint down Conrod Straight.
- Conrod Straight. A 1.9 km flat-out blast where Supercars reach roughly 290 km/h, named for a con-rod failure that ended an early Bathurst race.
- The Chase. A three-part chicane added in 1987 to satisfy FIA straight-length limits, scrubbing speed off Conrod Straight before Murray's Corner.
- Murray's Corner. The final corner, a 90-degree left-hander back onto pit straight and a favoured late-race overtaking spot.
Configurations
| Layout | Length | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Full Mount Panorama Circuit | 6.21 km | Current 23-turn layout used for all major events since The Chase was added in 1987 |
Events and race weekends
The Bathurst 1000 in October is the biggest date on the Australian motorsport calendar, the Supercars Championship's blue-riband endurance classic and the race every driver in the category wants most on their résumé. The Bathurst 12 Hour in February draws GT3 factory teams from around the world under the Intercontinental GT Challenge banner, run through the night as well as the day. The Bathurst 6 Hour for production-based cars runs over the Easter long weekend, and the mountain has periodically hosted historic and support meetings, including the Bathurst International, across the rest of the year.
| Event | Series | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bathurst 1000 | Supercars Championship | October | The Great Race; Australian motorsport's marquee endurance event |
| Bathurst 12 Hour | GT3 / Intercontinental GT Challenge | February | International factory GT3 teams race through the night |
| Bathurst 6 Hour | Production cars | April | Held over the Easter long weekend |
Getting there and parking
Bathurst sits about 200 km west of Sydney across the Blue Mountains, roughly a 2.5-hour drive via the Great Western Highway. Bathurst Airport has limited regional flights; most interstate visitors fly into Sydney and either drive or catch a coach or rail connection to Bathurst. Race week traffic on the Great Western Highway and Mitchell Highway can be heavy, and locals recommend arriving well ahead of the Bathurst 1000's Thursday practice sessions.
- Bathurst Airport (BHS) · about 10 min drive
- Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) · about 150 min drive
Parking
General on-mountain and town parking is available around the circuit for most events, with premium and infield parking sold separately for the Bathurst 1000; council advises arriving early as roads around the mountain close progressively through race week.
Book accommodation and campsites for the Bathurst 1000 as early as possible, ideally the previous year, as both routinely sell out months in advance.
Hotels and camping near Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst
Bathurst itself has a limited hotel and motel stock for a town of its size relative to the crowds the 1000 draws, so rooms in Bathurst, Kelso and Orange (about 50 minutes away) sell out early and prices rise sharply for Bathurst 1000 week. On-mountain camping is a huge part of the event's culture and is the default option for many regulars, alongside overflow camping around town.
Where to look
Bathurst CBD and Kelso have the closest hotels and motels, including Rydges Mount Panorama Bathurst which sits directly on Conrod Straight; Orange, about 50 minutes west, is a common overflow base once Bathurst itself is booked out.
Camping
Council-run campgrounds including McPhillamy Park, Reid Park and Sulman Park, and the Paddock area sit trackside on the mountain itself; the longest-established sites such as McPhillamy typically sell out to returning campers well before general release.
RV
Powered and unpowered RV/caravan sites are offered within the official campgrounds for major events, allocated through the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12 Hour ticketing sites.
Track days, driving experiences and lap records
Mount Panorama is a public road for most of the year, open to any licensed driver free of charge at a strictly enforced 60 km/h, which makes it the one Australian circuit the public can simply drive themselves without booking a track day. On selected non-race dates, commercial operators run passenger hot laps and instructor-led drive experiences in V8 race cars at racing speed; these run under event permits rather than as regular open-lapping days.
Who runs days here
Lap records
| Category | Time | Driver | Car | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supercars Championship | 2:04.7602 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Mustang GT | 2019 |
| GT3 (unrestricted) | 1:59.2910 | Christopher Mies | Audi R8 LMS | 2018 |
| S5000 | 1:59.8375 | James Golding | Rogers AF01 | 2021 |
Spectator guide
Vantage points on the mountain range from grandstands on pit straight to free public hillside viewing right around the lap, and Mount Panorama is unusual in that fans can walk or drive much of the circuit itself between sessions. The high points around Skyline and McPhillamy Park are prized for their views back down across the Esses and the Dipper, while Conrod Straight and The Chase let spectators see cars at their fastest before they brake hard for Murray's Corner.
Seating
Grandstands line pit straight and the start/finish area; general-admission hill viewing is available for most of the lap, with McPhillamy Park and Skyline the most popular free vantage points.
Best places to watch
Skyline and McPhillamy Park give sweeping views across the top of the mountain and down into the Esses, while the top of Mountain Straight and The Chase are favoured for the sound and speed of cars at full noise.
Weather
- February (12 Hour): warm summer conditions, highs around 30°C, low around 15°C, with the risk of a hot afternoon on the exposed mountain
- October (Bathurst 1000): mild spring weather, highs around 21°C and cool mornings near 8°C; rain and wind on the mountain are common
History of Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst
From goat track to Great Race
Mount Panorama was built as a scenic tourist drive around a hill above Bathurst, with racing use added from the start: construction began in 1936 and the circuit opened on 17 March 1938, hosting a motorcycle meeting weeks later and the Australian Grand Prix that same year, won by Peter Whitehead. Unlike almost every other major circuit in the world, it has remained a public road for most of the year ever since, open to any driver at 60 km/h when no event is running.
Danger and evolution
The mountain's severe gradient and lack of run-off made it genuinely dangerous, and six of the seven fatalities in car races here happened on Conrod Straight, including 1967 world champion Denny Hulme, who suffered a fatal heart attack during practice. Dick Johnson's infamous 1980 crash at Quarry Corner, when a rock dislodged from the crowd wrecked his Falcon on the eve of the Bathurst 1000, became one of Australian motorsport's most retold stories and helped fund his comeback. Safety works reshaped the McPhillamy Park barriers in the mid-1980s, and in 1987 The Chase chicane was added to Conrod Straight to meet FIA limits on flat-out straight length for the World Touring Car Championship round held that year.
The Great Race today
Since the 1960s the mountain has been synonymous with Australia's great enduro, evolving from the Armstrong 500 through the James Hardie 1000 to today's Repco Bathurst 1000, the Supercars Championship's showpiece and the race that defines careers. The Bathurst 12 Hour, added in 2007, has turned the circuit into an international GT3 destination each February. Trackside camping, the National Motor Racing Museum at the base of the mountain and the ability to drive the lap yourself outside event weeks keep Mount Panorama central to Bathurst's identity year-round.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Mount Panorama circuit?+
The current layout is 6.213 km (3.861 mi) with 23 turns, run counter-clockwise.
Can you drive Mount Panorama yourself?+
Yes. Outside race meetings it is a public road open to any licensed driver, free of charge, with a strictly enforced 60 km/h speed limit.
Is Mount Panorama the same as Bathurst?+
Mount Panorama is the circuit; Bathurst is the New South Wales town it sits within. The two names are used interchangeably for the track and the Bathurst 1000.
What is the lap record at Mount Panorama?+
The outright closed-wheel lap record is 1:59.2910, set by Christopher Mies in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 in 2018; the Supercars Championship race lap record is 2:04.7602, set by Chaz Mostert in 2019.
Where do people stay for the Bathurst 1000?+
Trackside camping on the mountain is a major part of the event and the longest-running sites sell out early; visitors who prefer a bed generally base themselves in Bathurst, Kelso or Orange, and should book many months ahead.
What are the Dipper and Skyline?+
They are two of the most famous corners on the mountain: Skyline (officially Brock's Skyline) is a sharp descending right-hander near the summit, and the Dipper is the tight left that follows it in the Esses sequence.
Other tracks nearby
- Catalina Park · 75 km · historic circuit (defunct)
- Oran Park Raceway · 125 km · historic circuit (defunct)
- Sydney Motorsport Park · 128 km · road course
- Amaroo Park · 130 km · historic circuit (defunct)
- Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit · 147 km · historic circuit (defunct)
- Wakefield Park · 155 km · road course
Facts checked against 6 sources including the official circuit website. Last reviewed 2026-09-09.