The track has an unusual design by modern standards, with a 174 m (571 ft) vertical difference between its highest and lowest points, and grades as steep as 1:6.13.

[7] The first car race, the 1938 Australian Grand Prix, was held two days later and was won by Peter Whitehead[6] driving an ERA.

French sportscar driver Alexandre Prémat, who later raced as a Supercars regular, once described the circuit as "A mix of the (Nürburgring) Nordschleife, Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta) and Laguna Seca".

[10] Named after Martin Griffin, the Mayor of Bathurst whose vision it was to create the circuit, drivers heading around this right-hander have to be careful not to drift too far out of this negatively cambered turn and hit the wall upon exit.

The pair collided when both drivers refused to give the other racing room late in the 2005 Supercheap Auto 1000, with the resulting incident partially blocking the circuit.

One of the most famous incidents in the history of the Bathurst 1000 occurred on the exit of this turn when Dick Johnson crashed his Ford Falcon XD out of the lead on lap 18 of the 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000.

Johnson was unable to avoid a large rock that had been pushed from the spectator area as he was passing a quick-lift tow truck at the time and had nowhere else to go.

At the 1982 Bathurst 1000, Kevin Bartlett had a tyre blow out in the right-hander and pitch him into the inside wall for the left-hander, rolling his Chevrolet Camaro Z28 onto its roof and skidding across the track.

Another high-profile incident occurred in the 2013 Bathurst 1000 when four-time winner Greg Murphy crashed at the exit of the right-hander on a dirty and dusty track surface.

After Reid Park, there is a steep drop which flows into a climbing left-hand turn, heading towards the highest point of Mount Panorama.

The car was then rebuilt in time to scrape into qualifying in the dying minutes before Bright and Steven Richards went on to take victory in the race.

[12] McPhillamy Park is a fast, downhill left-hand turn which is guarded by a crest prior to the turn-in point, rendering the corner blind to approaching drivers.

However, going too close may cause the car to clip the inside kerbing, which Allan Moffat did in practice for the 1986 James Hardie 1000, crashing the Holden Commodore VK, which he was sharing with long-time rival Peter Brock, head on into the concrete.

British driver Win Percy, driving Allan Grice's Roadways Commodore VL, would complete an almost carbon copy of Moffat's crash in practice for the 1987 James Hardie 1000.

Amazingly, Brown suffered only minor cuts and bruises in the accident largely due to the driver's seat breaking in the initial impact.

During the 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500, 1969 co-winner Tony Roberts lost control of his Ford Falcon XW GTHO and launched over the Skyline backwards before tumbling down the hillside.

Following his fatal crash in a Western Australian car rally, a statue of the driver many call "The King of the Mountain" stands outside the motorsport museum near Murray's Corner.

There have been many notable accidents at this part of the circuit, including a blockage of the track in 2003 when Jason Bargwanna made contact with David Brabham.

Conrod Straight has been the scene of six of the seven car racing deaths on the circuit – Reg Smith, Bevan Gibson, Tom Sulman, Mike Burgmann, Denny Hulme and Don Watson.

The fastest ever speed recorded by a touring car on the old straight was by Scotland's Tom Walkinshaw driving a V12 Jaguar XJS during qualifying for the 1984 James Hardie 1000.

Known for many years as "Caltex Chase", this three-turn sequence was added in preparation for the World Touring Car Championship round in 1987 to comply with a FIA requirement that a straight could not exceed 1,200 m (1,300 yd).

It interrupts Conrod Straight with a fast right hand bend sometimes referred as "The Kink," based on international motorsport commentator Mike Joy comparing it to Road America's Kink during a United States broadcast of the Bathurst 1000 in 2011,[citation needed] descending to the right away from the crest prior to the spectator bridge, before a sharp 120 km/h (75 mph) left-hand bend.

This corner was the scene of Peter Brock's only rollover in his motor racing career when he rolled his Vauxhall Vectra during practice for the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000.

As of February 2025[update], the official lap record is held by Christopher Mies, who set a time of 1:59.2910 at the 2018 Challenge Bathurst event driving an unrestricted Audi R8 LMS.

[16][17] The fastest race lap is held by James Golding, who set a time of 1:59.8375 during the 2021 Bathurst 1000 event on 2 December 2021, driving a Rogers AF01/V8.

As part of publicity for the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, McLaren provided a MP4-23 Formula One car for Jenson Button and Craig Lowndes.

[21] On 25 February 2024, merely a week after Gounon's effort, Romain Dumas set a 1:56.3247 in the electric Ford SuperVan 4.2, unofficially the fastest time ever recorded by a closed car at the track.

Later in the weekend he won the NSW State Road Racing Championship and lowered his lap record to 2:17.4, which earned him another 100 bottles.

With a time of 2:17.8, Allan Grice set the first 160 km/h (100 mph) lap of the circuit for a touring car (under Group C regulations) during qualifying for the 1982 James Hardie 1000 driving a V8 powered Holden VH Commodore SS.

[6] Mount Panorama hosted the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix nine times in the era before the event became part of the world championship.