Symmons Plains Raceway

Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about 30 km (19 mi) south of Launceston, Tasmania. Since the closure of the Longford circuit in the 1960s it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit is one of the longest serving circuits of the combined history of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Since 2005 it has hosted the Falken Tasmania Challenge for V8 Supercars.

"Symmons Plains" redirects here. Not to be confused with Symmons Plains Estate.

Symmons Plains
Layout of the Symmons Plains Raceway
LocationLaunceston, Tasmania
Time zoneUTC+10:00
Coordinates41°39′34″S 147°15′10″E
FIA Grade3
OwnerMotorsports Tasmania
OpenedMarch 1960[1]
Major eventsCurrent:
Supercars
(1969–1999, 2004–2019, 2021-present)
S5000 (2021–present)
Length2.411 km (1.498 miles)
Turns7
Race lap record0:48.5598 ( Joey Mawson, Ligier JS F3-S5000, 2022, S5000)

In 2004, the facility received a A$3 million upgrade which included some modifications to the layout of the track, including moving the start/finish line back to a more conventional location opposite the pits. It had previously been on a curve (which is now located just after the first corner), unusual for a road course. Symmons Plains is also known for its extremely tight hairpin bend, known as Brambles Hairpin, at the end of the old front straight.

The circuit

Symmons Plains Raceway is 2.411 km (1.498 mi) long and is very hard on brakes. The banking at the hairpin is a unique opportunity to overtake. The other overtaking opportunity is the left hander at the end of the back straight.[2]

The previous outright lap record at Symmons Plains was set in 1980 and held for over 40 years. Driving a Lola T430 Chevrolet Formula 5000, Alfredo Costanzo set a time of 50.16 seconds. The closest anyone had come since 1980 was British driver James Winslow who set a time of 50.5036 seconds on 1 April 2012 while driving a Formula 3 Dallara F307 Mercedes-Benz. The current outright lap record was set in 2021 by driver Joey Mawson. Driving a Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford, the Australian driver set a time of 0:49.7242 seconds. In 2022, the record was improved again by himself, by setting a time of 0:48.5598 seconds.[3]

Supercars Championship
Main article: Tasmania Super400

The circuit has hosted rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship and Supercars Championship since 1969. The circuit was left off the V8 Supercar calendar in 2000 before returning in 2004 after the upgrades were completed.

Lap records
As of 12 February 2022.[4]
Class Driver Vehicle Time Date
Outright
Joey Mawson Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford 0:48.5598[3] 12 February 2022
Racing Cars
S5000 Joey Mawson Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford 0:48.5598[3] 12 February 2022
Formula 5000 Alfredo Costanzo Lola T430 Chevrolet 0:50.16 23 March 1980
Formula 3 Tim Macrow Dallara F307 Mercedes-Benz 0:50.3278 6 April 2013
Formula 2 Jon Crooke Cheetah Mk8 Judd VW Golf 0:54.73 9 March 1986
Formula Ford Richie Stanaway Mygale SJ09A Ford 0:55.3004 31 May 2009
Formula Vee 1600 Matt Holmes Gerbert 1:06.3500
Formula Vee 1200 Noel Clark Elfn Crusader 1:08.6425
Sports Cars
Formula 4 Cameron Shields Mygale F4 Ford 0:55.8236 8 April 2018
GT Bryce Washington Lamborghini Gallardo 0:52.5247 2 September 2007
Nations Cup John Bowe Ferrari 360 N-GT 0:55.3797 27 April 2003
Aussie Racing Cars Kody Garland Mustang-Yamaha 1:00.8755 18 April 2021
Touring Cars
Supercars Championship Mark Winterbottom Holden ZB Commodore 0:51.2276 7 April 2019
Super2 Series Chris Pither Holden VF Commodore 0:52.7091 8 April 2018
Trans-Am Australia Kyle Gurton Ford Mustang 0:53.9755[5] 12 February 2022
TCR Jay Hanson Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) 0:55.7811[6] 12 February 2022
Group A Jim Richards Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 0:55.97 10 March 1991
Group C Peter Brock Holden VH Commodore SS 0:58.51 11 March 1984
2 Litre Geoff Brabham BMW 318i 0:58.2963
V8 Ute Racing Series Ryan Hansford Ford FG Falcon Ute 1:01.7761 3 April 2016
V8 Superute Series Ben Walsh Toyota Hilux 1:01.8467 26 March 2022
Excel Cup Josh Webster Hyundai Excel 1:11.0849 12 February 2022
Improved Production Ray Hislop Ford Falcon 0:56.1942 30 March 2014
Improved Production - U2L Anthony McKenzie Ford Escort Cosworth 1:03:9122
HQ Holden Phil Ashlin HQ Holden 1:11.6103 25 October 2020
Sports Sedans Bradley Sherriff Nissan Skyline R32 0:51.1526 3 October 2021
Sports GT Liam Hooper Subaru WRX STi Coupe 0:55.0929 15 May 2021
Historic Touring Cars
Touring Car Masters Steven Johnson Ford Mustang Trans-Am 0:56.2339 7 April 2018
Group Nc Leon Bell Holden HQ Monaro 1:02.3269
Group Nb Phillip Shepherd EH Holden 1:07.7233 25 October 2020
Motorcycles
Australian Superbikes Josh Waters Suzuki GSX-R1000 0:53.3870 13 November 2011
600cc Supersport Jason O'Halloran Yamaha YZF-R6 0:55.493 10 September 2006
Trucks
Boost Mobile Super Trucks Paul Morris Stadium Super Truck 1:12.2884 18 April 2021

References
  1. Terry Walker, Fast Tracks, 1995, p. 156
  2. "Falken Tasmania Challenge". v8supercars.com.au. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  3. "S5000 Series 2022 John McCormack Cup Statistics". 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "2022 Trans-Am Australia AWC Race Tasmania Race 1 Results". 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  6. "2022 TCR Australia AWC Race Tasmania Race 1 Results". 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.