THE father of Thor, the god of thunder, being afraid of a mountain?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
No, it’s not the plot of the latest movie featuring Chris Hemsworth, but it does involve him and Bathurst as well.
The father of Chris Hemsworth, the Australian actor who plays Thor in the Marvel movies, was one of the men who braved the slopes of Mount Panorama during the golden age of motorcycle racing.
Craig Hemsworth joined a host of others in the 1970s who pushed the limits around the famous circuit each Easter, leather-clad warriors who tested the line between thrill and risk.
His story is just one of those told in a new book penned by Darryl Flack and Don Cox called Race Across The Great Divide.
While the book reflects on the sport in Australia as a whole during the 1970s, Flack readily admits that Mount Panorama played a vital role in the transformation of motorcycle racing.
“It was the Everest of Australian racing, it was the meeting that you wanted to do, it was a challenge,” Flack, who witnessed the action at Mount Panorama firsthand said.
“It’s like a big – just not a race meeting – but a get together of mates from around the country because not all of the riders would go to the national meetings. Most would, but Bathurst was big.
“I think at one point it had 200 C graders entered, 200 rookie riders would enter Bathurst because they were allowed to and they had to split the qualifying into two groups, that how big it was.
“The young guys were very keen to go there … the mountain was the centre of racing in Australia.
“Bathurst was incredibly important, it helped launch the careers of guys that went to Europe in the ’50s and ’60s – Kel Carruthers and Jack Ahearn and a whole bunch of other riders.”
The riders of the 1970s faced numerous dangers – Flack and Cox telling many sorrowful tales from on and off the track – but Mount Panorama did rank highly in terms of risk.
It was something that had Craig Hemsworth feeling dread.
“I wrote a bit about the smell of fear in the pits in the morning, Craig did say to me ... you wake up in the morning, you’ve had a big night, you’ve got to go to practice and you are full of dread,” Flack said.
“He said ‘Your eyes are full of dread, and when you did your last lap it was like thank God for that’. But they still went out and did it and that was the conundrum. Even the guys that went well there, even the guys that kinda liked racing there, they were always kinda relieved when it was over.
“There were a few riders who raced there once and never went back, it wasn’t for them, as one rider said, Bill Horsman, it was a track you either loved or couldn’t stand. I loved it.”
Just as the Mount will host an influx of international drivers later this month for the Bathurst 12 Hour, in the 1970s the riders lured to its slopes were not just Australians.
“New Zealand had races around towns and things, but not a mountain course like Isle of Man or Bathurst. Bathurst isn’t as long as the Isle of Man, but it is a mountain course and people wanted to race there,” Flack said.
While motorcycles no longer race on the famed circuit, Flack understands why that is the case.
READ ALSO: Bathurst swimmers get advice from the best
However, the news that a second track which will cater to various forms of motor sport such as bikes, has Flack excited.
“We can’t race bikes on the mountain anymore because the track doesn’t meet the regulations now with safety, on run off,” he said.
“It was very hard for me to look at the Supercars and accept bikes weren’t racing there, but the Supercars are going so fast around there now I’m just as much on edge as I was when the bikes were going around.
“It is pretty nerve-wracking watching those guys.
“When the new Bathurst track is built, it will certainly help the local club, it should enjoy a real boost.
“From what I hear the track is going to be quite good, it’s built on the side of the mountain, so it’s still a mountain course which is very important.”
| Race Across The Great Divide is available for purchase at the National Motor Racing Museum, Books Plus Bathurst or can be ordered online at www.bellbirdpublishing.net/order
