As the grid of supercars circles Mount Panorama over and over, a pig does its own circuit, rotating instead on a spit at the summit.
asserted
pig → circle → summit
Though many who plan to spend the race weekend on top of the mountain have brought their camping chairs to the edge of the track this Friday afternoon, their heads darting left to right as the cars shoot past McPhillamy Park and across the skyline, those responsible for the pig are some distance away.
asserted
those → plan → pig
Their chairs are ringed around the crisp pork, which has been cooking over hot coals for most of the day’s best sunlight and will continue until eight hours of slow rotations have been completed.
asserted
hours → ring → rotations
Only then will it feed the 42 adults and five children who are temporarily inhabiting the camp they call Smarty’s Circus.
asserted
they → feed → camp
A pig just like this has been put to the same spit for eight years, turning on account of an old windscreen wiper that once belonged to a Holden Commodore VP, a model that won the Bathurst 1000 in 1993.
asserted
that → put → 1993
This particular mechanical part had been consigned to the Bathurst tip, only to be purchased by Baz Attrill, 78, on his way to the racetrack from Warrnambool in south-west Victoria.
asserted
part → consign → Victoria
“It did the sheep next door a couple of times, too,” Attrill’s son Warren says of his father’s engineering.
asserted
son → do → engineering
It’s one of several upgrades that Attrill has made to the camp since first erecting it in 1976.
asserted
Attrill → ’ → 1976
This year will be his 50th time attending the Bathurst 1000.
asserted
year → attend → Bathurst
Although it’s one of the most famous car races in the world, Attrill insists that he gets greater satisfaction out of the hog roast than what is on the course.
asserted
what → ’ → course
“It’s something to do, it’s my annual holiday,” he says.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
“I don’t come for the car racing.
asserted
I → come → racing
I’m a speedway man.
asserted
I → ’m → ?
You’re not at a real race meeting unless there’s dirt in your beer.”
asserted
You → ’re → beer
Some of the camp’s furnishings are more than half a century old, including a blue-and-white-striped circus tent, which gives the settlement its name, but most of its additions came later, including Attrill’s children and their children.
asserted
most → include → children
The silverware is said to have come from a mental asylum by way of an op shop, while the extraordinary number of tongs, Warren explains, is the result of going without one year and overcompensating every other.
asserted
Warren → say → other
Some who no longer make the pilgrimage with Attrill every year are remembered, their camping chairs unfolded, though no one will sit on them.
asserted
one → make → them
One such patron, called Eagle, was only one year behind Attrill in the record for most Bathurst 1000s attended by a Smarty’s Circus camper.
asserted
patron → call → camper
“He died three years ago and he was only one year behind,” Attrill says.
asserted
Attrill → die → ?
“He said, ‘one day, I’m going to beat you’.
asserted
I → say → you
I’m still bringing him, I’m still counting, he’s still counting, but he’s still one behind me.
asserted
he → bring → me
Inside the circus tent, three men watch the practice session on a TV, though the real thing is only metres away.
asserted
thing → watch → TV
Next to them, rows of swag line up against the plastic-coated fabric.
asserted
rows → line → fabric
Outside, children run around, staying clear of the hot coals.
asserted
children → run → coals
They are some of the camp’s newest enhancements as, for much of the 50 years the Attrills have been coming to Bathurst, women and children have stayed at home.
asserted
women → come → home
Warren recalls now-banned customs, including attendees who would bring cars to the mountain just to destroy them; doing doughnuts on the dirt until they exploded.
“Eventually, one year there was, like, 30 burnt cars on the way out,” Warren says.
asserted
Warren → recall → way
“Brand-new cars they’d rented.
asserted
they → rent → ?
They brought them out here, did ‘doughies’ with them; they blew up, they set them on fire and just never returned them.”
asserted
they → bring → them
As for whether there was any bad behaviour at Smarty’s Circus over the years, none of its denizens can say.
“What happens on the mountain stays on the mountain,” Attrill says.
asserted
Attrill → be → mountain
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Friday.
asserted
News → send → sport
The Aporia
