Bathurst: Great Race, great moments (+video)

Moffat and Bond head to the finish side by side in Ford Falcon XC GTs in 1977 - one of the most memorable moments of the Great Race. Photo / Supplied

Few sporting events anywhere in the world are as steeped in tradition as the Bathurst 1000. Many of Australian motor racing's most memorable moments have occurred on the 6.2km public road course around picturesque Mount Panorama. Click on the titles to view each video.

1971 - Bill Brown's barrel roll: Veterans still rate it one of the most spectacular crashes ever seen. Those who weren't around can marvel at it on YouTube. Brown blew a tyre approaching Reid Park and barrel-rolled his car across the safety armco, slicing his GTHO Falcon across the roof like a sardine tin. Amazingly, he escaped with only minor injuries. Two years earlier, Brown had also been involved in a 15-car pile-up atop Skyline.

1977 - Ford's 1-2 finish: The aerial view of Allan Moffat's No.1 Falcon GT and Colin Bond's No.2 crossing the finish line with an inch between them in the 1977 race was as spectacular as the result was dominant. The team had ordered the pair to set up a grandstand finish to rev up Ford fans - and for those of the Blue Oval persuasion, it remains a shiver down the spine moment.

1979 - Peter Brock's finest win: Of his nine Bathurst wins, the King of the Mountain was at the height of his powers in 1979 as he won by six laps. His A9X Torana was unstoppable that year, and just to underline his dominance, he went for broke on the final lap despite no danger. He broke the lap record. A typically Brock mix of bravado and brilliance.

1980 - Dick Johnson hits a rock: Few outside Queensland knew of Johnson until 1980, when the privateer led the Great Race. Then he hit a rock which had rolled on to the track. He broke down on television while being interviewed, causing an outpouring of public support. Sentimental favourite the next year, he won. Johnson was told two years ago two drunken revellers had accidentally dislodged the rock, solving a near 30-year-old mystery.

1983 - Dick Johnson's horrifying qualifying crash: Hardies Heroes was the traditional run-off for pole on the Saturday, and Johnson totalled his XE Falcon in an horrendous crash. He was unhurt, but his car was wrecked. Remarkably it was rebuilt by the local TAFE in time to race. Johnson's quip ahead of the race was priceless: "We'll be using the warm-up lap to dry the paint."

1992 - Jim Richards/Mark Skaife's Nissan win: The duo won the race amid controversy after crashing while leading in the rain. The race was cut short by the carnage caused, and they were awarded the win. The Nissans were unpopular among Holden and Ford fans, and the pair were booed on the podium. It prompted Richards, one of racing's gentlemen, to lambast the fans during one of Australian sport's most famous victory speeches, saying: "You're a pack of arseholes".

2004 - Jim Richards hits a 'roo: In a freakish crash, Richards' Holden ploughed at high speed into an unsuspecting kangaroo which jumped onto the track. The roo was killed instantly, Richards was unhurt, but his car was seriously damaged. Kangaroos, a dog and even a horse had wandered onto the track in previous races, but this was the first time an animal had been hit.

2006 - Remembering Brock: Peter Brock's death in a Targa rally car crash in Western Australia just a month earlier meant his memory hung heavy over the event . 194,000 fans created an attendance record - many just turning up to pay their respects to Brock. Fittingly, Craig Lowndes, for whom Brock was an important mentor, won the race alongside Jamie Whincup. Their prize? The newly-named Peter Brock Trophy for the Bathurst 1000 winners.

2008 - Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup's three-peat: Peter Brock had twice won three Bathursts in a row. Co-drivers Jim Richards and Larry Perkins did it once each alongside the Holden great. But in a new era of super-competitive racing, few thought a three-peat could be done again. Until Whincup, Lowndes and modern V8 racing's benchmark team, Team Vodafone, added to their 2006 and 2007 wins. Rules now prevent regular V8 Supercar drivers from pairing up at Bathurst, meaning Lowndes and Whincup now must drive in separate cars.