Feature: Tackling the mountain with Challenge Bathurst

Sundays don't get much better than this.

Many car enthusiasts dream of standing on the podium at Bathurst, collecting a gleaming trophy as a reward for determined driving on Australia's finest racetrack. And that dream just became a reality through Challenge Bathurst.

What is Challenge Bathurst?

This new event gives amateur drivers a chance to test their mettle on the mountain in road or race machinery. Organised by Bathurst 12 Hour founder James O'Brien, the event takes up where the now-defunct Sprint Bathurst event left off, inviting people with a little bit of track experience to live out their dreams on the mountain for a little less than $2000.

So when opportunity knocked in the form of a two-day track session around the full circuit, you better believe I was ready for it.

Challenge Bathurst offers drivers a chance to compete in two disciplines. The first two days are for "Lightning" super sprint competitors taking part in a timed shootout around the mountain - like a qualifying session or time attack contest.

The second two days are for "Thunder" regularity competitors, open to drivers with entry-level competition licences, in road cars without roll cages or other extensive modifications - but equally welcoming of more qualified drivers and well-prepared machinery. The regularity contest requires drivers to nominate an average lap time before scoring them on how close they get to that time. Consistency is the name of the game.

What am I driving?

Mrs McCowen and I recently purchased a 2014 Renault Megane RS 265 Cup, a model not averse to quality time on track.

Equipped as standard with a turbocharged 195kW engine, oversized Brembo front brakes, track-honed steering and a must-have limited-slip differential, the lightweight and well-balanced Megane is an excellent starting point for amateur track enthusiasts.

Knowing two hours around Bathurst would be a serious challenge for any road car, we prepared the Megane to give it the best possible chance of thriving on the mountain.

The first step was a major service at Renault's Sydney City dealership, where technicians replaced the car's oil, coolant, filters, spark plugs and more.

The car then went to Drive tech guru Mark Short for a minor brake upgrade that included new DBA 4000 front rotors paired with more aggressive Ferodo pads from Brake Lining & Parts, up-rated brake fluid and braided metal hoses to ensure reliable stopping.

Having spent around $2000 up to this point, I was happy to fit a bargain fire extinguisher bracket from Australia's KAP Industries, bolting the well-sorted and fuss-free safety requirement into the front of our Renault's passenger seat mounting rails.

Kumho then offered up a chance to evaluate circuit-ready rubber for the car, so I took the Megane to one of its platinum dealers to fit a set of Kumho Ecsta V720 sports tyres for use on road and track.

Practice makes perfect                        

We arranged a couple of shakedown sessions for the Renault to make sure everything went to plan at Bathurst.

The first took place at Goulburn's Wakefield Park circuit during Drive's annual Car of the Year testing. Running untimed laps on its regular road tyres and the much more focused Kumho rubber, we found the latter offered better grip and consistency than conventional sports tyres. The aggressive tyres also impressed on the road, working well even when cold and offering impressive roadholding in damp conditions.

The caveat is that sparse grooves on semi-slick rubber do little to clear standing water, so aquaplaning became a problem in heavy rain. They're also significantly louder than normal tyres, and don't last as long as other options on the road - and there's little life left in the set I used for two hours of Bathurst track time, as well as around 2000 kilometres of road use.

That's the price you pay for performance that easily outstrips what conventional rubber can do. We also took the Renault for a final test at the Bathurst Light Car Club's annual speed weekend, where the soft rubber helped secure a pair of trophies for class victories in its super sprint and hill climb events, recording times that outgunned much more powerful machinery with a combination of grip and poise.

Go time

Like most motorsport events, Challenge Bathurst starts with scrutineering, where technical experts check cars for any issues, ensuring that all safety equipment is in place. You then head to a driver briefing where stern organisers remind each group that this isn't a race, and that we should be courteous when passing slower vehicles - or being passed.

There are five groups of 40 or-so cars in the Thunder Regularity event, and each one features an eclectic mix of vehicles. Our session is home to a gaggle of Mazda MX-5s, plenty of Australian V8 sedans, Japanese icons such as the Nissan GT-R, Mazda RX-7 or Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, modern European performance cars such as the BMW M4 and Mercedes-AMG A45 and track-ready exotics like the Lotus Elise and Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Drivers get six 20-minute sessions on the mountain. The first two are familiarisation runs so we can learn the circuit and nominate an average lap time for the four subsequent runs that form point-scoring opportunities for the regularity contest.

The first session is a fascinating affair, with competitors taking to the track in a random order that results in a few close calls. Some machines are quick from the get-go, while others want to work up the courage to attack the mountain's toughest elements.

The results sheet looks interesting, with the heavily modified Nissan 200SX of John Graham recording a 2m40.827s time that was easily the fastest of the group, while the Renault's best time of 2m48.911 is good enough for ninth out of 40.

It feels like a lap that I can reach without risking life and limb, so I pop to the timing office and put down 2m49.0s as my nominated lap time, figuring it sits in a sweet spot between faster and slower laps.

The field is essentially divided into two camps - those who take the regularity element seriously, and those here just to have a flat-out drive around the mountain. The former use clever GPS-based smartphone apps to monitor their progress around the circuit, employing live timing data to see whether they need to speed up or slow down in the last corners to match their goal.

But the rest of us - and I'm firmly in this category - are simply here to enjoy a glorious day on the track.

A lap of the mountain

The first proper run is a moment I'll cherish forever.

Organisers release us onto the track in order of our qualifying times, so there's no real traffic to worry about.

We file out on a slow warm-up lap before accelerating down pit straight for the first timed lap. The Megane sounds throaty, filling the cabin with a purposeful note as we accelerate toward turn one, Hell Corner.

I brake at the 100 metre board and change down to third gear, attacking the corner to keep as much momentum as possible for the steep ascent up Mountain Straight.

But it's not quite enough, as the Nissan Skyline GT-R behind me uses superior grunt to pull out the slipstream and power past the Renault. The Skyline's six-cylinder engine sounds tough as the 1990s-vintage R33 crosses my bow at the hump on Mountain Straight before we line up turn two, Griffin's Bend. The heavier GT-R pushes wide across the apex of the turn, forcing experienced pilot and fellow Bathurst club member Dave Reynolds (no, not the V8 Supercar driver) to ease out of the throttle, giving the Megane a sniff at retaking the position on the canyon-like climb to the cutting.

Braking hard for the steep, late-apex bend, the Megane's exhaust crackles and pops as I blip back to second gear and use the little car's turbo engine and clever locking differential to power through the bend.

Dave's Skyline picks up a bit of attitude, smearing its tyres across the tarmac in a tidy drift before burping out a metre-long flame on the shift to third gear. We're pushing hard at this point, flat in third and then fourth gears through Reid Park, lining up the circuit's infamous grate on the right-hand-side of Sulman Park before lining up the McPhillamy Park crest.

The twin-turbocharged Nissan ekes out a little gap on the short straight to Brock's Skyline, but the lighter Renault reels him back in through the steep descent at The Esses and Dipper.

Hard on the gas on the run to Forrest's Elbow, I tackle the tricky, off-camber left-hander with all the commitment I can muster, knowing that the GT-R is about to put plenty of air between our cars on the full-throttle Conrod Straight.

Tucking into the Nissan's slipstream, I pluck each gear when prompted by the Renault's chirpy shift alarm. Every new ratio is accompanied by a pronounced pop from the exhaust as speeds climb and Reynold's Nissan slips out of reach.

The straight ends all too soon with the 230km/h tip-in to The Chase, a high-speed chicane entered flat-out by professional racers, but not me. Not today, not without a roll-cage, and not before a serious dose of brave pills as I can feel the car generating aerodynamic lift and pushing wide at speed. So that's what spoilers are for...

Braking hard into the chase, I skip fifth gear and drop from sixth to fourth, then third, before using a little too much kerb at the apex of the left-hand kink in a bid to carry as much speed as possible past the Rydges hotel, and into the braking point for Murray's Corner.

Crushing the middle pedal for the last corner of the lap, I drop to third gear again and power past the pits to begin another lap, and then some more.

I record a best lap for the session of 2m47.659s in pursuit of the GT-R, while Reynolds' best of 2m48.438s occurs toward the end of his stint, when the iconic coupe was running perilously low on fuel. Our battle helped me finish 10th in the group for regularity, and it only got better from there.

Mr Regular

Returning to the track on Sunday morning, the Megane performs beautifully in the second and third regularity sessions, the Kumhos and Brembos offering consistent performance over the course of six laps.

Sneaking a peak at the regularity score, the Megane's circa-2m49s laps have it ranked among the top three for consistency, behind slower Hyundai and Mazda machines running 3m12s and 3m02s tours.

Sandwiched in the middle of the field in terms of outright pace, I'm excited by the possibility of a podium result as we go out for the final run.

Hoping for clean air, I spend the final session chasing the increasingly quick HSV Gen-F Clubsport of Bathurst first-timer Landon Curry, who impressively reduces his best lap time by seven seconds to a mid 2m45s achievement throughout the event.

The Renault's average pace of 2m49.1s in the final showing is enough to secure third place in the most competitive of all five regularity groups.

Standing on a podium normally reserved for the likes of Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup or Mark Winterbottom feels surreal. It's a joyous, unforgettable moment crowning one of the most rewarding weekends of my automotive life.

What a day. What a privilege.

Final lap

Mount Panorama can be a heartbreaker, and we certainly saw a fair share of that during Challenge Bathurst. A few cars came to grief against the mountain's concrete walls, and more still suffered mechanical failures likely to prove costly to fix. But no-one was hurt, and the majority of drivers had a great time. 

I've been fortunate enough to share some incredible experiences at Drive, getting behind the wheel on dozens of tracks at home and abroad, including Europe's famed Spa-Francorchamps and Nurburgring Nordschliefe circuits.

But this experience trumps just about all of it.

Driving hard at Australia's finest circuit, the home of all our racing folklore, represents one of the best motoring experiences in the world. I feel spent driving home on Sunday night, creeping through foggy Blue Mountains with my wife curled up on the passenger seat. Still, with our car in one piece and a conspicuously large trophy safely belted into the back, it's hard to imagine a better weekend.

Challenge Bathurst action photos by Rhys Vandersyde. Thanks to Challenge Bathurst for inviting Drive along, Kumho for a set of Ecsta V720 tyres, and KAP Industries for a track-ready fire extinguisher bracket.