Settings Subscribe  

NumisTip

Australia Bathurst Race

2013 Fifty Cent

Values

Sales History

Current listings

?

Bathurst is an iconic race in the Australian motorsport calendar. It has grown in stature into an internationally recognised event due to its demanding course and intense battles. Borne from the Australian Touring Car series, it now attracts top drivers from around the world to compete alongside the regular competitors just for this one off race. To commemorate the popularity of this event and the 50 year anniversary, the mint has produced a fifty cent bearing the famous name. The reverse shows an Australian V8 Supercar with the hills of Mount Panorama in the background. It also prominently features the 50 and Bathurst Endurance Race. The obverse shows an Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing and crowned along with the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2013.

The Bathurst Endurance Race is a success in its own right but is actually part of a hugely successful race series, the V8 Supercars. The name has evolved over the years as it was originally the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) (V8 Supercars, 2014) . Unlike other touring car championships, the Australian discipline has followed the hearts and desires of the spectators and championship followers by sticking with a V8 engine. The sound of just one of these cars will get the hair on the back of your neck standing up, just imagine 30 of them! The worldwide attraction for this sport has also prompted entries with Mercedes-Benz and Nissan. The 50th running of this great race around Mount Panorama was celebrated in style. The circuit itself is one of the most dramatic in the world. Climbing the mountain, the V8s sound amazing, then through the esses and then Conrod straight. The straight is aptly named due to the number of engines expiring on this very fast stretch, It is all downhill so the top speed is reached very quickly and is therefore a strenuous experience for the conrod. The endurance race requires two drivers in order to complete the tortuous event. Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards were second in a Ford FG Falcon just ahead of Jason Bright and Andrew Jones in a Holden V8 Commodore. The car of David Russell retired due to hitting a kangaroo on lap 21 of the race.