Kevin Bartlett flips his Camaro: Bathurst 1982
This incident has gone down in Australian motorsport folklore. Kevin Bartlett, the 1974 Bathurst 100 winner and his thundering Chevrolet Camaro Z28 were crowd favourites at Bathurst in the early 80s.
Bartlett had put the car on pole in 1980 and ’81 and he and co driver Colin Bond were favourites for the race again in ’82 after qualifying strongly in fourth.
Big Kev was running with the leaders when disaster struck at Reid Park on lap 27 after a left rear tyre blew. The Camaro slammed into the wall, pitching Bartlett onto his roof. The car slid across the track, but fortunately Kevin emerged from the wreck unhurt and promptly went about signing autographs with fans on the mountain. Legend has it that KB bludged a ciggie from a punter as well!
The much televised accident incident was a boon for Bartlett and his sponsors the Nine network. Nine did not hold the rights to the lucrative Bathurst 1000 telecast, that deal belonged to rivals Channel 7 who invested heavily in the event. It must have irked Seven’s top brass seeing the footage played over and over again!
The top video is a recent interview with Bartlett explaining the roll, whilst the bottom video shows the footage from the event and includes an interview with disapointed co driver Colin Bond.
