One of Australia’s great drivers, on one of Australia’s greatest tracks, and a historic F1 car being driven close to the limit – if not at it.
What more could you want in an onboard video? Oh yeah, some telemetry and a lap timer.
Friend of MOTOR Magazine John Bowe actually has his own YouTube channel, and on it he posts some pretty binge-worthy videos.
This short clip of him driving a 1974 March 741 Formula One car at Phillip Island should always be included.
In just eight minutes, JB hassles a Ferrari 156, a car more than a decade younger than his own, and in the middle of the video sets a truly impressive lap time.
According to the Vbox telemetry, John Bowe laps PI in just 1:28.91. If you’re not sure what to think of that, here’s some context.
Listed at the Phillip Island website, though most recently updated on May 7 2017, is a set of lap record for various CAMS categories.
John Bowe’s name appears twice on the list, once in this car (but with a 1.29.35 lap set in 2014), and once for a lap from 2000 in a 1980s Veskanda – a healthy 1.28.98.
More recent cars have also come close to Bowe’s lap. Scott McLaughlin ran a 1.31.13 in a Porsche GT3 race car in 2015, and Garth Tander beat it in 2016 with a 1.28.78, run in an Audi R8 LMS.
The outright record for the circuit is a few full seconds quicker, by Simon Wills in a Reynard 94D Formula Holden race car.
But even then, given the awe-inspiring noise of the March hitting 271km/h before braking at end of the main straight, do the other times even matter?
If you haven’t already watched the clip, do it now. You’ll thank us after.
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