Michael Burgmann fatal crash at Bathurst aftermath (5 October 1986) ATCC
- 6 years ago
Michael Burgmann (3 June 1947 – 5 October 1986) was a Sydney accountant and racing car driver who was involved in a fatal accident at the 1986 James Hardie 1000 race held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales. At the time of his death, Burgmann was the accountant for the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC), who were the promoters of the Bathurst 1000, as well as the owners and promoters of Amaroo Park in Sydney.
After a good start in which he'd already picked up almost 10 places, he suffered a broken windscreen on lap 3. On lap 5, Burgmann was attempting to pass the V12 Jaguar XJS of fellow Sydney racer and close friend Garry Willmington while coming over the second hump on Conrod Straight and traveling at over 260 km/h (162 mph). The front of the Commodore got airborne (as cars did coming over the hump at that speed) and the front moved slightly to the right. Burgmann, who was only a part-time racer, tried to correct by turning the wheel to the right. The car then hit the tire barrier at the bottom of the well-known curved bridge at the end of Conrod with unabated speed causing the entire front end to be pushed back to the firewall. The car's roll cage did its job and the cabin survived the violent impact mostly intact. When officials reached the car they found Burgmann in what would normally be the back seat of the vehicle. While his driving seat had remained intact the force of the impact had broken the seat belt buckle which caused his body to be thrown out of the seat. Mike Burgmann became the first driver to die while competing in the Bathurst 1000 when he was pronounced dead on arrival at Bathurst Hospital.
After driving mostly in the Amaroo Park based "AMSCAR Series" in 1983, as well as appearing in the Sydney rounds of the ATCC and Australian Endurance Championship, Burgmann made his first Bathurst start in 1983 driving an ex-Kevin Bartlett Chevrolet Camaro with fellow Bathurst rookie (and future dual Great Race winner) Tony Longhurst. After qualifying the big Chev in 21st, the car suffered numerous problems on race day and the pair only finished 121 of the 163 laps which was not enough to be classified as a finisher.
Bergman spent 1984 again as a regular competitor in the AMSCAR series. The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was much better for Mike Burgmann, switching to race a Mazda RX-7, and co-driving with veteran Bob Stevens after Longhurst had moved to the JPS Team BMW. The #33 Mazda was qualified in 39th position, almost 10 seconds slower than the pole time set by Nissan driver George Fury. The team remained confident of a good result though, and through consistent laps without any major problems they finished a successful 8th, only 10 laps down on the winning Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore of Peter Brock and Larry Perkins.
With Australian touring car racing switiching from the local Group C rules to the International Group A regulations in 1985, and with the RX-7 no longer a competitive option, he bought a Holden VK Commodore to compete in at the 1985 and 1986 Bathurst 1000's. The 1985 race saw a DNF after only 93 laps with engine failure, a common problem with the near standard Commodore's used during 1985.
For 1986, and like everyone else who ran the Holdens, the Burgmann team had upgraded the Commodore to the racing SS Group A specification. For the Endurance Championship he co-drove the car with Series Production racer Mal Rose. At Bathurst Burgmann qualified the car in 27th place.
After a good start in which he'd already picked up almost 10 places, he suffered a broken windscreen on lap 3. On lap 5, Burgmann was attempting to pass the V12 Jaguar XJS of fellow Sydney racer and close friend Garry Willmington while coming over the second hump on Conrod Straight and traveling at over 260 km/h (162 mph). The front of the Commodore got airborne (as cars did coming over the hump at that speed) and the front moved slightly to the right. Burgmann, who was only a part-time racer, tried to correct by turning the wheel to the right. The car then hit the tire barrier at the bottom of the well-known curved bridge at the end of Conrod with unabated speed causing the entire front end to be pushed back to the firewall. The car's roll cage did its job and the cabin survived the violent impact mostly intact. When officials reached the car they found Burgmann in what would normally be the back seat of the vehicle. While his driving seat had remained intact the force of the impact had broken the seat belt buckle which caused his body to be thrown out of the seat. Mike Burgmann became the first driver to die while competing in the Bathurst 1000 when he was pronounced dead on arrival at Bathurst Hospital.
After driving mostly in the Amaroo Park based "AMSCAR Series" in 1983, as well as appearing in the Sydney rounds of the ATCC and Australian Endurance Championship, Burgmann made his first Bathurst start in 1983 driving an ex-Kevin Bartlett Chevrolet Camaro with fellow Bathurst rookie (and future dual Great Race winner) Tony Longhurst. After qualifying the big Chev in 21st, the car suffered numerous problems on race day and the pair only finished 121 of the 163 laps which was not enough to be classified as a finisher.
Bergman spent 1984 again as a regular competitor in the AMSCAR series. The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was much better for Mike Burgmann, switching to race a Mazda RX-7, and co-driving with veteran Bob Stevens after Longhurst had moved to the JPS Team BMW. The #33 Mazda was qualified in 39th position, almost 10 seconds slower than the pole time set by Nissan driver George Fury. The team remained confident of a good result though, and through consistent laps without any major problems they finished a successful 8th, only 10 laps down on the winning Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore of Peter Brock and Larry Perkins.
With Australian touring car racing switiching from the local Group C rules to the International Group A regulations in 1985, and with the RX-7 no longer a competitive option, he bought a Holden VK Commodore to compete in at the 1985 and 1986 Bathurst 1000's. The 1985 race saw a DNF after only 93 laps with engine failure, a common problem with the near standard Commodore's used during 1985.
For 1986, and like everyone else who ran the Holdens, the Burgmann team had upgraded the Commodore to the racing SS Group A specification. For the Endurance Championship he co-drove the car with Series Production racer Mal Rose. At Bathurst Burgmann qualified the car in 27th place.