Witnessing the first tragic car race death at Mt Panorama 1986 - What really happened.
An Aussie in Vietnam
17,440 views
The Commodore was drawn sideways, and when the wheels hit the road again after the second hump, the car was no longer pointing straight. This was the cause I was to later find out. Not a crash and cars bumping each other but aerodynamics.
The driver in the car had died. That driver wasn’t a famous person or a regular weekender. It was Mike Burgmann, Ivan’s best friend and our club accountant. I couldn’t look out the window, but I also couldn’t look away. In the absence of being able to do something, I just did nothing but stand there in the pain of my own emotions as I watched this tragedy unfold around me.
Mike Burgmann became the first driver to die while competing in the Bathurst 1000 when he was pronounced dead on arrival at Bathurst Hospital, but he died instantly inside that car. Local Ambulance and Police said they pulled him out of the car and transported him so the race could continue.
G'day and welcome to An Aussie in Vietnam!
I’m an Australian who traded the standard routine for an adventure of a lifetime. I’ve called Vietnam home for over a decade now, and this channel is all about giving you the unfiltered, real-world truth about what it’s actually like living, traveling, and retiring as an expat in Vietnam.
Whether you're a fellow Westerner considering making the move, looking to retire abroad, or just curious about the lifestyle, I've got you covered. On this channel, we dive deep into:
The Expat Life: Real costs, logistics, and what it takes to settle down here.
The Real Vietnam: The incredible local food, the culture, and honest takes on the political situations and contentious issues you won't hear about in tourist brochures.
On the Road: Join me as I jump on my bicycle or motorbike to tour the country, from bustling city streets to quiet backroads.
Travel Vlogs: Weekend getaways and deep dives into the country's most spectacular hidden gems and holiday spots.
If you want a straight-talking guide to life in Southeast Asia without the fluff, you’re in the right place. I have a phone, 2 sports camera, 2 microphones and a paid version of Capcut. I do all this myself from writing to posting a completed video. Please support me.
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20 Comments
R. I. P Mike.
R.I.P Mike 😥
He was no journey man. Just unbelievably unlucky. I remember that channel 7 camera view of a medic and I think his co-driver moments after the accident. That haunts me. Thank you for sharing Aussie in Vietnam and sorry you went through that. -daren in Sydney.
There was a Seven Magic Moments of Motorsport series DVD released some years back on all the Bathurst races where Channel 7 was involved - so that included 1986 of course. These releases showed the entire coverage as it was shown live but included all ad breaks that the TV viewers never saw. It does show that it took the medical personnel quite a long time to extract him from the car and that he was laid out in a stretcher next to the car for quite some time. So it was actually quite a while before he was loaded onto the helicopter.
What struck me at the time was that here was a bloke who during the week had a white collar desk job like me, was not a professional driver and was at Bathurst for the challenge and the fun of it just like he was at other race meetings he drove it. He wasn't there to win - he was there for the love of it.
The other characteristic of Conrod is that there is quite often a crosswind that blows across the circuit naturally pushing cars to the outside of the straight - that is why you used to see drivers taking that straight on the inside line even though they needed the outside line to take Murrays corner. Obviously once The Chase was there, you needed to be on the inside line to take that though drivers still stuck to the inside as much as they could after exiting the Elbow since the effect upon the cars of that crosswind was quite significant. When it was a stronger wind the cars would be pushed quite significantly across the track. This made overtaking additionally very dangerous as this tragedy showed. Thankfully, these days there is vastly more sophistication afforded in the design of the cars and there have been massive leaps and bounds when it comes to dealing with aerodynamic considerations. Not that Bathurst is a particularly safe track given there have been - I believe - three fatalities there as a direct result of the dangers presented by the track itself. Four if you count Denny Hulme as well though that was due to a heart attack at the wheel down Conrod in 1992.
Witnessing the first tragic car race death at Mt Panorama 1986 - What really happened.
An Aussie in Vietnam
17,440 views
The Commodore was drawn sideways, and when the wheels hit the road again after the second hump, the car was no longer pointing straight. This was the cause I was to later find out. Not a crash and cars bumping each other but aerodynamics.
The driver in the car had died. That driver wasn’t a famous person or a regular weekender. It was Mike Burgmann, Ivan’s best friend and our club accountant. I couldn’t look out the window, but I also couldn’t look away. In the absence of being able to do something, I just did nothing but stand there in the pain of my own emotions as I watched this tragedy unfold around me.
Mike Burgmann became the first driver to die while competing in the Bathurst 1000 when he was pronounced dead on arrival at Bathurst Hospital, but he died instantly inside that car. Local Ambulance and Police said they pulled him out of the car and transported him so the race could continue.
G'day and welcome to An Aussie in Vietnam!
I’m an Australian who traded the standard routine for an adventure of a lifetime. I’ve called Vietnam home for over a decade now, and this channel is all about giving you the unfiltered, real-world truth about what it’s actually like living, traveling, and retiring as an expat in Vietnam.
Whether you're a fellow Westerner considering making the move, looking to retire abroad, or just curious about the lifestyle, I've got you covered. On this channel, we dive deep into:
The Expat Life: Real costs, logistics, and what it takes to settle down here.
The Real Vietnam: The incredible local food, the culture, and honest takes on the political situations and contentious issues you won't hear about in tourist brochures.
On the Road: Join me as I jump on my bicycle or motorbike to tour the country, from bustling city streets to quiet backroads.
Travel Vlogs: Weekend getaways and deep dives into the country's most spectacular hidden gems and holiday spots.
If you want a straight-talking guide to life in Southeast Asia without the fluff, you’re in the right place. I have a phone, 2 sports camera, 2 microphones and a paid version of Capcut. I do all this myself from writing to posting a completed video. Please support me.
👉 Subscribe to the channel so you don't miss the next video!
👥 Join the Community: Connect with hundreds of other like-minded expats in our Facebook Group:- Facebook: aussiesinvn
#AnAussieInVietnam #ExpatLifeVietnam #RetireInVietnam #VietnamTravelVlog #LivingInVietnam #AussiesInVietnam
For direct contact or requests to do stories in Vietnam please contact me direct at kushieman@yahoo.com