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Meet the man who lives at the foot of Australia’s greatest race track that nearly killed him
There are few who can claim to live at the foot of a race track, let alone one of the most well-known circuits in the world.
That’s the reality for resident Bathurst revhead Brad Schumacher, who grew up idolising Peter Brock and The Mountain he can now call home.
Schumacher spent his childhood just two kilometres from the circuit he adored, Mount Panorama. However, he didn’t start racing until his late 20s.
A second-generation electrician, his business exploits funded his start in the sport which began with karts and quickly progressed into cars.
Soon enough, he was racing at the circuit he once sat on from the sidelines watching his V8 idols.
It has, however, been a bit of a one-sided relationship. As he discovered, The Mountain wasn’t Schumacher’s friend, to begin with.
In 2018, while competing in a club event, a crash behind the wheel of a Lotus Exige at 240km/h threatened to take his life.
Looking at the wreckage, it was hard to believe that he could have walked away.
It left him heavily bruised and with a torn tendon in his knee and another small tear in his liver.
“It was huge. I’m lucky to live, and I walked away from it,” Schumacher told Wide World of Sports.
“The thing with Mount Panorama is that it doesn’t take any prisoners. Anywhere on the circuit that something goes wrong or a driver makes a mistake, the consequences are detrimental.
Read the full story on wwos.com.au
Tickets are available at https://bathurst.international/
If you can’t make it to Mount Panorama, broadcast can be seen live and ad-break free on Stan Sport on Saturday and Sunday. Sign up now for your free 7-day trial >> https://www.stan.com.au/watch/sport/motorsport
The Nine Network will also offer live free-to-air coverage on 9Gem from 3pm-5pm AEDT. Check your local guides.
International viewers can watch on https://motorsport.tv/