After driving mostly in the Amaroo Park based "AMSCAR Series" in 1983, as well as appearing in the Sydney rounds of the ATCC and Australian Endurance Championship, Burgmann made his first Bathurst start in 1983 driving an ex-Kevin Bartlett Chevrolet Camaro with fellow Bathurst rookie (and future dual Great Race winner) Tony Longhurst.
The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was much better for Mike Burgmann, switching to race a Mazda RX-7, and co-driving with veteran Bob Stevens after Longhurst had moved to the JPS Team BMW.
On lap 5, Burgmann was attempting to pass the V12 Jaguar XJS of fellow Sydney racer and close friend Garry Willmington while coming over the second hump on Conrod Straight and traveling at over 260 km/h (162 mph).
[3] Following the 1986 race, and as part of safety upgrades the circuit needed to bring it up to FIA standards for inclusion in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship, a chicane was added to Conrod Straight, eliminating the second hump which had long been seen as dangerous at the speeds the touring cars were traveling (the V12 Jaguar XJS of Tom Walkinshaw was timed at a then fastest ever 290 km/h (180 mph) on the straight during qualifying for the 1984 race).
The Chase was also constructed due to FIA regulations that did not allow race tracks with an international rating (as Bathurst was forced to have from 1987) to have any straight longer than 1.5 km.
On the day before the 1987 James Hardie 1000, a plaque inset on the wall at the spot that his car had come to rest was unveiled by motor racing Chaplain Garry Coleman.
The inscription on the plaque reads: In memory of Mike Burgmann who was tragically killed at this spot on 5 October 1986 As a result of the accident and the subsequent building of The Chase, the race cars now approach the pedestrian bridge approximately 100 km/h (62 mph) less than was possible in 1986.