Darwin Triple Crown

Northern Territory Darwin Triple Crown
Race Information
Venue Hidden Valley Raceway
Number of times held 21
First held 1998
Race Format
Race 1
Laps 42
Distance 120 km
Race 2
Laps 70
Distance 200 km
Last Event (2018)
Overall Winner
New Zealand Scott McLaughlinDJR Team Penske
Race Winners
New Zealand Scott McLaughlinDJR Team Penske
Australia David ReynoldsErebus Motorsport

The Darwin Triple Crown, known as the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown for sponsorship reasons, is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory. 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 1998.

Format

The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Three forty five-minute practice sessions are held, two on Friday and one on Saturday. Saturday features a fifteen-minute qualifying session which decides the grid positions for the following 120 kilometre race. A single twenty-minute qualifying session is held on Sunday, with the top ten progressing to a top ten shootout to decide the grid for the following 200 km race.[1]

The event has been known as the Triple Crown since 2006, which currently refers to the two races during the event and the top ten shootout. As of 2018, no driver has completed the Triple Crown.[2]

History

Hidden Valley Raceway had existed for several years prior to being upgraded for its first national championship event in 1998, a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). Russell Ingall won the event despite receiving a stop-go penalty in the first race for spinning Jason Bright. Mark Skaife had been on course to take victory in the opening race when his engine died, allowing teammate Craig Lowndes past.[3] Lowndes' car then failed to fire prior to the start of the second race and both he and Skaife failed to make the grid, while Ingall charged from 13th on the grid to take victory.[2] In 1999, Bright took his first career round win in what was Ford's only round win of the year.[4] It was also the first round win for Stone Brothers Racing, who saw further success at the event in 2001 when Marcos Ambrose scored his first round win, despite not winning a race over the weekend.

In 2004, Ambrose made contact while attempting to overtake Mark Skaife for the lead on the final corner of the race, delaying both and granting victory to team-mate Russell Ingall. In the following race, Ambrose then spun Ingall off on the first corner of the race.[5] Todd Kelly went on to win the round, his first of two consecutive event wins. Michael Caruso took his first Supercars race win at the event in 2009, holding off a late charge from Alex Davison.[4] At a late safety car restart in the first race of the 2011 event, the top four tangled into turn one, allowing fifth-placed Rick Kelly to take the race win.[5] In 2013 Jonathon Webb, driving for his family team Tekno Autosports, won his first career round.[6]

At the 2015 event, Lowndes became the first to achieve 100 race wins in ATCC and Supercars, capitalising on a collision between Rick Kelly and Fabian Coulthard on the opening lap.[7] In 2016, Caruso provided Nissan with their first round victory since 1992. At the same event, Lee Holdsworth suffered a broken pelvis in a first lap accident, forcing him out of the next three events.[8]

Winners

Year Driver[4] Team Car Report
1998 Australia Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden VT Commodore
1999 Australia Jason Bright Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon
2000 Australia Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VT Commodore
2001 Australia Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon Report
2002 Australia Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore
2003 Australia Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
2004 Australia Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore
2005 Australia Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden VZ Commodore
2006 Australia Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon
2007 Australia Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BF Falcon Report
2008 New Zealand Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford BF Falcon Report
2009 Australia Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon Report
2010 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2011 Australia Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2012 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2013 Australia Jonathon Webb Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore Report
2014 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VF Commodore Report
2015 Australia Chaz Mostert Prodrive Racing Australia Ford FG X Falcon Report
2016 Australia Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima L33 Report
2017 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon Report
2018 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon Report

Multiple winners

By driver

Wins Driver Years
4 Australia Craig Lowndes 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011
3 Australia Jamie Whincup 2010, 2012, 2014
2 Australia Mark Skaife 2000, 2002
Australia Marcos Ambrose 2001, 2003
Australia Todd Kelly 2004, 2005
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin 2017, 2018

By team

Wins Team
7 Triple Eight Race Engineering
4 Holden Racing Team
3 Stone Brothers Racing
2 Prodrive Racing Australia1
DJR Team Penske

By manufacturer

Wins Manufacturer
10 Holden
Ford
Notes
  • ^1 – Prodrive Racing Australia was known as Ford Performance Racing from 2003 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.

Event sponsors

See also

References

  1. "Supercars Operations Manual 2018 - Division "A" - Administration Rules" (PDF). Supercars. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Fast Facts: Hidden Valley". Supercars.com. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  3. Clarke, Andrew; Wensley, Scott (2007). V8 Supercars: The First Decade. Carnegie, Victoria: Publishing 101. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-9803909-0-2.
  4. 1 2 3 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.
  5. 1 2 Tulk, Mitchell (16 June 2017). "Bent cars and broken egos: The top five moments from Hidden Valley raceway". Carsguide.com.au. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  6. "V8 PREDICTOR: Webb springs surprise in Darwin". Speedcafe. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. "Lowndes wins his 100th race". V8Supercars.com.au. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  8. "Holdsworth sidelined with fractured pelvis". Speedcafe. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. "New sponsor for Darwin Triple Crown". Speedcafe. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
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