The lion’s last roar as Holden farewells Mount Panorama

A Holden Commodore whips around the Esses of Mount Panorama. Soon the lion badge is out of sight, bound for Mountain Straight, and thousands take a breath.

Half a century of history is about to end with one last push of the accelerator.

Mark Winterbottom sees the “Remembering Holden” flags flying above the track during every practice session, but it’s something else that drives home what an occasion the iconic brand’s final fling at Bathurst 1000 really is.

“It’s when they start playing the Peter Brock footage from back in the day. It’s [Larry] Perkins, [Russell] Ingall, Young Lions and HSC cars,” one-time Bathurst 1000 winner Winterbottom said.

It’s history. It’s why Greg Murphy hears “Holden” and thinks the King of the Mountain in Brock, just like Mark Larkham thinks Supercars, Neil Crompton thinks a brand that meant everything to him as a kid, and Garth Tander simply thinks Australia.

Few brands are so intrinsically linked to this country. Supercars legend Mark Skaife says Holden belongs in the same breath as football, meat pies and kangaroos.

Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander want to send Holden out on a high.Credit:Getty

The storied rivalry between the red of Holden and blue of Ford will come to an end on Sunday, with the Gen3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to battle the Mustang from 2023. What was once billed as “Australia’s driving future” will be no more.

“There are a lot of emotional red fans. I’ve had so many people come up to me during the week so far. They’ve been hardcore, lifelong Holden fans,” Skaife said.

“Retiring the brand, we’ve had a couple of years to get our brain around Holden around not being a part of the fabric of this country. There’s hardly a family in this country that doesn’t have a Holden story. That’s challenging for people to deal with.

“If you contemplate what it means for the sport throughout its history, Holden versus Ford is like Labor versus Liberal or Collingwood versus Carlton. It’s got that rivalry that is authentic, it’s real, and it has certainly been a cornerstone of the sport.”

Holden’s half-century at Bathurst has delivered 35 victories to Ford’s 21, with Shane van Gisbergen and Tander tipped to end the Commodore era with one final triumph this weekend.

The iconic brand’s protracted Bathurst farewell began in 2020 when Holden announced factory-backed Commodore teams had reached the end of the line before the General Motors-owned brand closed its doors.

The brand’s presence around Mount Panorama since has offered solace, at least until Sunday night.

“There’s so much history here with the Commodore and Holden. Come Sunday afternoon, it would be a nice way to send it out. Very iconic, this one. Imagine standing up there as the last Holden Commodore to win Bathurst,” Winterbottom said.

Jamie Whincup has been a mainstay for Holden at Bathurst.Credit:Getty Images

“Every race here at Bathurst creates its own story and history. I’ve been lucky enough to race against some of the guys who were the idols back in the day. In 2003, I remember passing Peter Brock down the straight in his final year. That was really cool, to drive side by side with a guy you idolised as a kid. In 2007, I pipped Skaife for pole here in shootout.

“They’re the little moments, the guys you watched for years that were kings of the mountain, you actually got to bang doors with them and be side by side and got to be a part of their history as well. That’s what Bathurst does.”

What it does better than any other Supercars event is split a fan base in two. Every hero needs a villain, as Winterbottom knows better than most. So pure is the divide that one punter gave him the finger during Ford’s parade lap in 2018 before giving him a thumbs up a year later following the star driver’s switch to Holden.

But that, Winterbottom says, is what makes the rivalry so special. More than 200,000 are expected to camp across the central west despite a bleak weather forecast, desperate to watch the final chapter in one of Australian sport’s most storied rivalries.

Craig Lowndes is back at Bathurst and aiming to become king of the mountain again.Credit:Getty Images

Among those scrambling for vantage points on the hill are the 100-odd from the Wobbly Boot Bowling Club, the scores that posed for photos with a replica of Brock’s 1972 Torana, and the blokes who spread a mate’s ashes across the McPhillamy sand trap.

Whatever the reason for being here, one thing is certain: “You bleed blue or you bleed red”.

“It’s about having a beer with your mates, it’s my team versus your team, it’s red versus blue. It’s like any rivalry, Penrith versus Parramatta, Collingwood versus Richmond. It’s years and years of history,” Winterbottom said.

“There are going to be barbecues around the country, 50 per cent will have a slab on red, 50 per cent will have a slab on blue. That’s what Aussie sport is built around. To see the passion, that’s what makes our sport. Our sport is nothing without the passion of people.”

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