Tasmania SuperSprint
_track_map.svg.png) | |
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Symmons Plains Raceway |
| Number of times held | 46 |
| First held | 1969 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 50 |
| Distance | 120 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 84 |
| Distance | 200 km |
| Last Event (2018) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Race Winners | |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering |
The Tasmania SuperSprint (formally known as the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Symmons Plains Raceway in Launceston, Tasmania. 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 1969.
Behind Sandown Raceway, which has most commonly hosted the Sandown 500 and Sandown Challenge, Symmons Plains has hosted the most events in championship history.[1] The only hiatus for the event was between 2000 and 2003 during which the circuit received a A$3 million upgrade.[2] The event is seen as one of Tasmania's largest sporting events, providing a variety of benefits to the local economy.[2]
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.[3]
History
When the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) was first held over a series of races in 1969, Symmons Plains was included on the calendar as the final race of the series. The race would decide the championship that year, as Alan Hamilton could take the title from Ian Geoghegan if he won the race and Geoghegan failed to score. Geoghegan's car failed to start at the one-minute signal and his pit crew push started the car. This was not allowed under the regulations of the time and Geoghegan was disqualified. Hamilton ended up finishing the race in second place behind Norm Beechey, losing the title to Geoghegan by a single point.[4]
After again hosting the final round in 1970, Symmons Plains became the home of the opening round, hosting the first event of the ATCC every year from 1971 to 1981. Allan Moffat and Peter Brock were the most successful drivers at the event in this period, taking seven of the eleven possible victories between them. John Harvey scored his two ATCC victories at the event, winning in 1976 and 1979.[4] Between 1988 and 1990, Dick Johnson joined Moffat as the only two drivers to win three consecutive rounds at the circuit.
In the late 1990s, Holden Racing Team dominated the event with four consecutive round wins from 1996 to 1999. Despite not hosting the opening round again, the Symmons Plains event remained in the early part of the ATCC calendar until 1999, when it was moved to August. The Government of Tasmania didn't renew the event's contract after 1999 and the race dropped off the calendar in 2000.[2] Following the completion of a circuit upgrade in 2004, which included the construction of permanent pit lane facilities and a resurfacing of the track, a new deal was struck to bring the event back onto the calendar in November of the same year.[5] With the exception of 2008, the event retained a November date, often as the penultimate event of the season, until 2011.[4] Since 2012, the event has been held towards the start of the championship, generally in late March or early April.
In recent years, Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight Race Engineering have dominated the event with six wins since 2007. This has seen Whincup surpass Brock as the most successful driver in the event's history. In 2017, the Saturday race was suspended after two laps due to a twelve car pile-up in wet conditions. While the race later briefly restarted under safety car, no championship points were awarded due to the short distance completed, however Shane van Gisbergen was still credited with a race victory.[6] In 2018, a three-stage knockout qualifying system was introduced for both the Symmons Plains and Barbagallo events to reduce the risks of traffic on the two shortest circuits on the calendar.[7]
Winners
Multiple winners
By driver
| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | |
2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 |
| 5 | |
1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984 |
| 4 |  |
1971, 1972, 1973, 1977 |
|
1981, 1988, 1989, 1990 | |
| 3 | |
1996, 1998, 2018 |
| 2 | |
1976, 1979 |
 |
1985, 1986 | |
|
1994, 1999 | |
|
2005, 2006 | |
|
2009, 2016 | |
|
2013, 2017 | |
By team
| Wins | Team |
|---|---|
| 7 | Holden Dealer Team |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | |
| 6 | DJR Team Penske1 |
| 5 | Holden Racing Team |
| 3 | Allan Moffat Racing |
| Gibson Motorsport | |
| 2 | Glenn Seton Racing |
| HSV Dealer Team | |
By manufacturer
| Wins | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 25 | Holden |
| 16 | Ford |
| 2 | Volvo |
| Nissan | |
- Notes
- ^1 – DJR Team Penske was known as Dick Johnson Racing from 1980 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.
Event sponsors
- 1986: ANL
- 2005–06: Ferodo
- 2007–12: Falken
- 2013: Microsoft Office 365
- 2014–present: Tyrepower
See also
References
- ↑ "Fast Facts: Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint". V8 Supercars. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- 1 2 3 Bresnehan, James (28 March 2014). "Supercars boss gives rev-up on new deal with Tasmanian Government". The Mercury. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ "Supercars Operations Manual 2018 - Division "A" - Administration Rules" (PDF). Supercars. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 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.
- ↑ "Symmons Plains". RacingCircuits.info. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ↑ van Leeuwen, Andrew (8 April 2017). "Massive shunt halts Supercars race in Tasmania". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
- ↑ "Supercars Revise Qualifying Format for Short Tracks". Auto Action. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.