The Perth SuperSprint is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Wanneroo Raceway in Wanneroo, Western Australia. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship and its predecessor, the Australian Touring Car Championship, since 1973.
| |
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Wanneroo Raceway |
| Number of times held | 46 |
| First held | 1973 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 55 |
| Distance | 130 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 55 |
| Distance | 130 km |
| Last Event (2024) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Chaz Mostert |
Walkinshaw Andretti United |
| Race Winners | |
| Chaz Mostert |
Walkinshaw Andretti United |
| Cam Waters |
Tickford Racing |
Format
editThe event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. One single ninety-minute practice session is held on Friday. On Saturday then, a three-stage knockout qualifying session is held which decides the grid positions for the following 100 kilometre race. Two separated fifteen-minute qualifying sessions are held on Sunday, which decide the grid for the following 100 km races.[1]
History
edit
Wanneroo Park Raceway, as it was then known, hosted its first round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) in 1973, with Allan Moffat taking the first of his three event victories 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 Wanneroo until 1978. The event that year consisted of two heats and the Holden Dealer Team scored a rare 1-2-3 finish in the overall results, with Brock taking victory, from 12th on the grid, over team-mates John Harvey and Wayne Negus.[2] Allan Grice won the event in 1980 and 1982 despite only completing partial championship campaigns in each year.
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] Moffat's Mazda won again in 1984, the final win for the four-time champion. Under Group A regulations, from 1985 to 1992, the event was dominated by Nissan Skylines and Ford Sierras, with Gibson Motorsport's Nissans taking three wins and Fords of Dick Johnson Racing and Mobil 1 Racing taking four combined. This included Mark Skaife took his first ATCC round victory in the 1991 event for Nissan.[2] Ahead of the 1993 event, the circuit was renamed from Wanneroo Park to Barbagallo Raceway due to a sponsorship from Alf Barbagallo, a name which remained until 2020.[4] Alan Jones won the 1994 round on the same weekend that he was fined for throwing a punch at an official.[5]
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 having missed the 1997 event as he was racing overseas.[6] Brock took his final ATCC round victory in that 1997 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 in a dominant weekend that saw him take pole, lead every lap and secure three fastest laps across the three races.[7] In 2002, Jason Bright returned the Holden team to the top step of the podium.[2] Bright won again in 2004 for Paul Weel Racing, before Steven Richards won consecutive events at the circuit in 2005 and 2006 despite only winning one of the six races in the two years. In the second race of the 2005 event, Skaife and Marcos Ambrose, who had started together on the front row, both ended up in the gravel trap at the first turn of the race. While Skaife retired, Ambrose managed to drive out and finished fifth despite a drive-through penalty being issued during the race, before he was then given a further points penalty post-race for the same incident.[8]
In this period, discussions were held about moving the event to a street circuit in Perth, and Barbagallo dropped off the 2010 calendar due to dated facilities.[9][10] The Government of Western Australia resisted moving the event and Barbagallo was instead upgraded, with the circuit returning to the calendar in 2011 and a new pit and paddock complex being built for 2012.[10] 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.[11] In the same race, Jason Bright took the first championship victory for Brad Jones Racing, the team that also prepared Reindler's entry.[12]
Lowndes took his 91st career race victory in the ATCC and Supercars Championship during the 2013 event, breaking Skaife's previous record of 90.[13] In 2014, Scott McLaughlin gave Volvo its first race victory in its return to the series, having last competed in 1986.[14] Lowndes took his 16th and final Barbagallo race win in the Saturday race in 2016, opting to make an additional pitstop to most other cars and moving up from 22nd at pit exit to take the victory.[15] The two other Triple Eight Race Engineering entries of Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup completed the podium in a repeat of the Holden Dealer Team feat of 1978.[16] From 2017 to 2019, McLaughlin won three consecutive events, including winning the Sunday race in 2018 from 19th on the grid, a record at the circuit.[17]
The event was reformatted in 2019 to become a SuperNight event with races on Friday and Saturday night for the first time at the circuit.[18] The 2020 event, again due to be held at night, was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] The event was later rescheduled to the end of October, however as a daylight event, before being cancelled altogether in August 2020.[20][21] The 2021 event suffered the same fate and was again cancelled before the event returned for 2022.[22] From 2023, the event returned to a daytime format.[23] The event is scheduled to be held at Wanneroo for the final time in 2025 with the Western Australian round scheduled to be held at the Perth Street Circuit in 2026.[24]
Winners
editMultiple winners
editBy driver
edit| 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 | |
 Scott McLaughlin
|
2017, 2018, 2019 | |
| 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 | |
| Chaz Mostert
|
2014, 2024 |
By team
editBy manufacturer
edit| Wins | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 21 | Holden |
| 17 | Ford |
| 3 | Nissan |
| 2 | Mazda |
- Notes
- ^1 – Dick Johnson Racing was known as DJR Team Penske from 2015 to 2020, hence their statistics are combined.
- ^2 – Walkinshaw Andretti United was known as Holden Racing Team from 1990 to 2016, hence their statistics are combined.
- ^3 – Holden Dealer Team was known as Mobil 1 Racing from 1988 to 1990, hence their statistics are combined.
Event names and sponsors
edit- 1973, 1978–80, 1984–85, 1987–92: Wanneroo
- 1981: Saab-Scania Trophy
- 1982: Walpamur Cup
- 1983: Saab-Scania Cup
- 1986: Motorcraft 100
- 1993–2001, 2004: Barbagallo
- 2002–03: VB 300
- 2005, 2014: Perth 400
- 2006: Perth V8 400
- 2007–08: BigPond 400
- 2009: BigPond 300
- 2011–12: Trading Post Perth Challenge
- 2013: Chill Perth 360
- 2015: Ubet Perth Super Sprint
- 2016–18: Perth SuperSprint
- 2019: Pirtek Perth SuperNight
- 2022: Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight
- 2023–24: Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ 2023 Perth SuperSprint track schedule released Supercars 4 April 2023
- ^ 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.
- ^ Lawrie, Shane (23 January 2020). "West Australian Sporting Car Club returns circuit to its roots". DriveTribe. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ Seton, Glenn; Bartholomaeus, Stefan; Noonan, Aaron (2020). Seto: The Official Racing History of Glenn Seton. Melbourne, Victoria: AN1 Media. ISBN 978-0-6487863-2-0.
- ^ Crehan, Riana (30 April 2015). "Can we rename Barbagallo 'Lowndes Raceway'?". V8Supercars.com.au. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ Dale, Will (12 July 2021). "HOW REYNOLDS STOPPED TRIPLE EIGHT FROM ACHIEVING RARE FEAT | V8 Sleuth". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ "Stewards punish Ambrose after run-in with Skaife". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
- ^ "Barbagallo omitted from 2010 calendar". v8dailydump.com.au. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ a b Washbourne, Michael (3 May 2012). "Street circuit off the grid for Perth". PerthNow. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ Noonan, Aaron (4 May 2013). "Saturday Sleuthing: The Barbagallo BBQ". V8Supercars.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ "BJR unveils tribute livery for Bright". Supercars. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Noonan, Aaron (30 April 2017). "Fast Facts - Perth SuperSprint". Supercars. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Supercars postpones three events, launches Eseries". Supercars. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ Chapman, Simon (17 May 2020). "Supercars releases revised 13-round 2020/21 calendar". Speedcafe. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ Chapman, Simon (30 August 2020). "Supercars confirms double-header at The Bend". Speedcafe. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ Chapman, Simon (29 July 2021). "Supercars confirms new dates in revised 2021 calendar". Speedcafe. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew. "Supercars announces 12-round 2023 calendar". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Perth Street Race set for 2026 Auto Action 16 June 2024