Eastern Creek Raceway

Eastern Creek International Raceway is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD)^[1], New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was built and is owned by the New South Wales Government and is operated by the Australian Racing Drivers Club. The circuit is the only permanent track in Australia with an FIA Grade 2 International license^[1] and is licensed for both cars and motorcycles.

History

The development of Eastern Creek International Raceway was approved in 1989^[2] and the circuit was opened on 10 November, 1990. The track is fast and flowing and operates year-round. The pit facilities provide fifty garages with immediate access to the paddock area and a covered 4,000-seat grandstand overlooks the finish line, providing a view of eighty percent of the circuit.

Eastern Creek hosted the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix from 1991 to 1996 before the race as moved back to Phillip Island. The circuit has also hosted rounds of the Australian Superbike Championship.

Eastern Creek first hosted a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1992 and went on to hold an ATCC or V8 Supercar round every year, excluding 2006, until 2008. In 2009 the circuit was dropped in favour of a new event at Homebush.^[3] In 2003 and 2004, the V8 Supercars Grand Finale was held at the circuit. Marcos Ambrose won the event on both occasions. In the 1990s Eastern Creek hosted the Winfield Triple Challenge, an event which featured ATCC teams and drivers alongside Superbikes and drag racing. V8 Supercars returned to Eastern Creek in January 2011 for a pre-season test day.^[4]

The Australian round of the A1 Grand Prix championship was held at Eastern Creek from the 2005-06 season to the 2007-08 season.

On 11 August 2006, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Ron Dickson, the A1 Grand Prix circuit designer who also designed the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, suggested that Eastern Creek was not up to modern standards and needed to be upgraded.^[5] On 28 April 2008, it was announced that Apex Circuit Design Ltd had been commissioned to perform a $350,000 feasibility study on upgrading the track to suit more purposes and hold larger events such as the Australian Formula One Grand Prix,^[6] however nothing came of this proposed upgrade.

In early 2011, it was announced that Eastern Creek would receive a $9 million upgrade, with the New South Wales Government providing $7 million and the Australian Racing Drivers Club funding the other $2 million. The upgrade will see the track reconfigured into four layouts, with two able to be operated at the same time. The upgrade also includes an additional pit lane facility to cater for the new configuration, a new race control tower and new amenities buildings.^[7] Work on the upgrades began in June 2011, with a new piece of road joining turns four and nine being constructed.^[8] This link road, finished in October 2011, created the new 'north circuit'.^[9]

Music

In the 1990s, Eastern Creek was the venue for a number of rock concerts and music festivals including Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, the Alternative Nation Festival and the Colossus 2 dance festival. Music festivals returned to the circuit in 2009 when it hosted the Soundwave Festival. Soundwave returned in 2010.^[10]

Lap Records

As of September 2011.^[11]

External links

• Official site
• Trackpedia's guide to racing and driving Eastern Creek
• V8 Supercar's info of Eastern Creek Raceway

References