Perth SuperSprint
Race Information | |
Venue | Barbagallo Raceway |
Number of times held | 41 |
First held | 1973 |
Race Format | |
Race 1 | |
Laps | 50 |
Distance | 120 km |
Race 2 | |
Laps | 83 |
Distance | 200 km |
Last Event (2018) | |
Overall Winner | |
Scott McLaughlin | DJR Team Penske |
Race Winners | |
Scott McLaughlin | DJR Team Penske |
Scott McLaughlin | DJR Team Penske |
The Perth SuperSprint is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo, Western Australia. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship, Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship—since 1973.
Format
The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two forty five-minute practice sessions are held on Friday, with twenty minute sessions being held on each Saturday and Sunday. Saturday features a three-stage knockout qualifying session which decides the grid positions for the following 120 kilometre sprint race. Sunday features a repeat of the Saturday qualifying format with a longer 200 km race distance following.[1]
History
Barbagallo Raceway first hosted its first round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) in 1973, with Allan Moffat taking victory over Peter Brock. It was the first ATCC event ever held in Western Australia and featured the only appearance of a Subaru in the history of the ATCC. The championship did not return to Barbagallo until 1978. The event that year consisted of two heats and the Holden Dealer Team scored a 1-2-3 finish in the overall results, with Brock taking victory over John Harvey and Wayne Negus.[2]
During practice for the 1983 event, Moffat found that his Mazda RX-7 struggled on the rises in the circuit compared to the other cars. To compensate for this, he started the race with the petrol tank only half-filled and made a pit stop during the race. The strategy worked and Moffat took victory, despite almost colliding with Brock when the latter spun in the closing stages.[3] Under Group A regulations, from 1985 to 1992, the event was dominated by Nissan Skylines and Ford Sierras, with Nissan taking three wins and Ford taking four. Mark Skaife took his first ATCC race victory in the 1991 event.[2]
The Holden Racing Team controlled the event from 1996 to 2000, taking victory in all five years. Craig Lowndes won all twelve races across the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 events but missed the 1997 event as he was racing overseas.[4] Brock took his final ATCC round victory that weekend despite not winning any of the races during the event. Paul Radisich interrupted the Holden Racing Team's success in 2001, winning for Dick Johnson Racing, before Jason Bright returned the Holden team to the top step of the podium in 2002.[2]
The 2011 event saw one of the biggest accidents in the history of the championship take place. Karl Reindler, 13th on the grid, stalled at the start and was hit by Steve Owen, who had started 25th and was travelling at 150 km/h. The impact ruptured the fuel tank in Reindler's car, engulfing both cars in flames. Reindler suffered superficial burns to his hands and face as well as smoke inhalation, while Owen escaped serious injury.[5] Lowndes took his 91st career race victory in the ATCC and Supercars Championship during the 2013 event, breaking Skaife's previous record of 90.[6] In 2014, Scott McLaughlin gave Volvo its first race victory in its return to the series, having last competed in 1986.[7]
Lowndes took his 16th Barbagallo race win in the Saturday race in 2016, opting to pit twice and moving up from 22nd at pit exit to take the victory.[8] In 2018, a three-stage knockout qualifying system was introduced for both the Barbagallo and Symmons Plains events to reduce the risks of traffic on the two shortest circuits on the calendar.[9] Scott McLaughlin won both races at the event for the second year running, including winning the Sunday race from 19th on the grid, a record at the circuit.[10]
The event was reformatted in 2019 to become a SuperNight race.[11]
Winners
Multiple winners
By driver
Wins | Driver | Years |
---|---|---|
6 | Craig Lowndes | 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2015, 2016 |
5 | Peter Brock | 1978, 1979, 1981, 1990, 1997 |
3 | Allan Moffat | 1973, 1983, 1984 |
Jamie Whincup | 2009, 2011, 2013 | |
2 | Allan Grice | 1980, 1982 |
John Bowe | 1989, 1992 | |
Jim Richards | 1985, 1993 | |
Glenn Seton | 1987, 1995 | |
Jason Bright | 2002, 2004 | |
Steven Richards | 2005, 2006 | |
Mark Winterbottom | 2008, 2012 | |
Scott McLaughlin | 2017, 2018 |
By team
By manufacturer
Wins | Manufacturer |
---|---|
20 | Holden |
15 | Ford |
3 | Nissan |
2 | Mazda |
- Notes
- ^1 – DJR Team Penske was known as Dick Johnson Racing from 1980 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.
Event sponsors
- 1986: Motorcraft
- 2002–04: Victoria Bitter (VB)
- 2007–09: BigPond
- 2011–12: Trading Post
- 2013: Chill
- 2015: Ubet
See also
References
- ^ "Supercars Operations Manual 2018 - Division "A" - Administration Rules" (PDF). Supercars. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
- ^ "The Top 10 Aussie Touring Car races of all time – Part one". Auto Action. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Crehan, Riana (30 April 2015). "Can we rename Barbagallo 'Lowndes Raceway'?". V8Supercars.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ Noonan, Aaron (4 May 2013). "Saturday Sleuthing: The Barbagallo BBQ". V8Supercars.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ "Lowndes scores record V8 race win in Perth". ABC News. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ "Victory for Scott McLaughlin and Volvo". Garry Rogers Motorsport. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ Gadeke, Kassie (7 May 2016). "Super strategy". Supercars.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Supercars Revise Qualifying Format for Short Tracks". Auto Action. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
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(help) - ^ "McLaughlin takes famous Supercars win". Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ Adam, Mitchell (11 October 2018). "Calendar revealed for 2019 Supercars Championship". Supercars. Retrieved 11 October 2018.