Mount Panorama is a daunting, humbling place, where dreams come true for a lucky few - but nightmares haunt the many.
The wonderfully crafted 6.213km circuit has a history of rewarding the brave and condemning the weak, making heroes of the likes of Peter Brock, Dick Johnson, Larry Perkins and Craig Lowndes, while greats like Glenn Seton, Allan Jones and James Courtney are among the thousands for whom 'The Mountain' remains unconquered.
"The Mountain chooses you, you don't choose the Mountain," Kiwi Fabian Coulthard once said. Those words beautifully sum up the drama, despair and joy that is the seven hours of the Bathurst 1000.
Over 161 laps, a minimum of six pit stops and 23 spine-shattering corners, with names like 'The Dipper', 'Forrest's Elbow', 'The Cutting' and 'Hell Corner', the Mountain bites early and often.
Jamie Whincup 2014
The GOAT is a four-time winner at Bathurst, but should have had many more.
In 2014, Whincup and teammate Paul Dumbrell had the race in the bag. As one of the most dramatic 1000s in history wound down, Whincup was close to three seconds ahead of Chaz Mostert with five laps to go.
The problem? He was running out of fuel, with his engineer warning him repeatedly that they wouldn't make it home.
Remarkably, Whincup ignored team orders and continued to pull away from Mostert, until with a lap-and-a-half to go, team manager Mark Dutton demanded he slow down.
"Copy," said Whincup, but it was too late.
Mostert caught and stalked Whincup on the final lap, eventually passing the ailing Red Bull at Forrest's Elbow to lead for the first time, after starting at the back of the grid.
Whincup, who started one spot ahead of Mostert, coasted home in fifth spot, marking the first time in race history the winning pass was made on the final lap.
The Mountain chose Mostert that day.
Whincup 2020
Reunited with Lowndes, Whincup was expected to be a major force in the 2020 Great Race. The pair recorded three straight wins from 2006-08, but hadn't partnered each other since a rule change in 2009.
Starting ninth, Lowndes steered the 888 Commodore into the top five in his stint, handing over to Whincup at the first stop.
The seven-time Supercars champion harassed young Brodie Kostecki for several laps, but couldn't find a way past and uncharacteristically took a risk at The Cutting, drifted wide and hit the wall, putting one of the favourites out on lap 33.
Fabian Coulthard 2010
The cerebral Kiwi's words came back to haunt him, when he diced with near disaster in the opening lap of the 2010 Great Race.
Coulthard was involved in a minor clash with Jason Bargwanna at the start-line, but less than two minutes later - as a result of low-impact contact with another car - he flew through The Chase upside down at close to 300kph.
The incident with Bargwanna had cut his tyre and as he approached The Chase, his Commodore snapped sideways and began tumbling across the sand trap.
By the time it settled, the car was little more than a roll-cage. Amazingly, Coulthard was unhurt.
Glenn Seton 1995
Arguably the greatest driver to have never won the Bathurst 1000 and a several-time Australian touring car champion, Seton made 26 starts at The Mountain, scoring three podiums and a couple of pole positions.
The long-time Ford driver should have won the race in 1995. Leading by six seconds with 11 laps remaining, Seton's car developed a misfire, but the young Australian thought he could coast it home.
Two laps later, the misfire turned terminal and Seton was passed by a charging Larry Perkins on Conrad Straight. A few minutes later, Seton parked his No.30 Peter Jackson Ford on the approach to Griffin's Bend and his race was over.
The scene of the then-30-year-old sobbing, with his face in his hands, will live with many fans for years to come.
Dick Johnson 1980
Johnson has perhaps suffered more at the hands of Bathurst than any other racer - but his misfortune at the Mount has played a huge role in making him an Aussie motorsport folk hero.
When a fan threw a rock at his car in 1980, it ended a race he had dominated and seemed well his way to winning. The rock caused Johnson's car to catapult into the wall and proved again that The Mountain had mysterious ways of ripping away the sight of victory.
Johnson 1983
Three years later, Johnson arrived at the Mountain with arguably the only car capable of challenging Brock's O5 Commodore.
Second-fastest in practice, Johnson hit a tire barrier at Forrest's Elbow during the top-10 shootout, launching his car into the forest below, writing it off and leaving him with a replacement car for the main race a day later.
By lap 61, Johnson's back-up car had cried enough.
Mark Skaife 2006
The race that everyone wanted to win - and scheduled just a few weeks after Brock lost his life competing in a rally event - the 2006 event was an emotional rollercoaster for the drivers.
That was especially the case for Skaife, who had taken the reins as Brock's successor at Holden, dominating Bathurst in the early 2000s and winning several Supercars titles.
Defending his win from a year earlier, Skaife owned The Mountain throughout the week, earning pole position by almost half a second. He and teammate Garth Tander were the biggest favourites in race history, but he didn't last two corners.
With his Holden crawling off the line, Skaife limped up Mountain straight, clearly praying his clutch would come back in, when - bang! - he was hit from behind by Jack Perkins and his race was over, just like that.
The Mountain chose Lowndes that day - Brock's protege.
Join us from midday Sunday for live updates of the Bathurst 1000 from Mt Panorama
