Phillip Island SuperSprint
 | |
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit |
| Number of times held | 17 |
| First held | 1990 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 14 |
| Distance | 60 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 14 |
| Distance | 60 km |
| Race 3 | |
| Laps | 45 |
| Distance | 200 km |
| Last Event (2015) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Race Winners | |
| Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Jamie Whincup | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
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The Phillip Island SuperSprint (formally known as the WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for V8 Supercars, held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The event has been a regular part of the V8 Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship and Shell Championship Series—since 1990.
The circuit has also previously hosted championship rounds as an endurance race, the Phillip Island 500, in 1976 and 1977 and from 2008 to 2011, and as the Grand Finale from 2005 to 2007.
Format
The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two one-hour practice sessions are held on Friday while a fifteen-minute practice session is held on each of Saturday and Sunday. Saturday features a pair of ten-minute qualifying sessions which decide the grid positions for the following two 60 kilometre sprint races. A single twenty-minute qualifying session is held on Sunday to decide the grid for the following 200 km race.[1]
History
While the Phillip Island 500 was a part of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) in 1976 and 1977, the circuit did not host a sprint round of the championship until 1990. Dick Johnson won the 1990 event, his final round win in the ATCC. After being absent from the calendar in 1991 and 1992, Phillip Island returned to the ATCC in 1993 and Glenn Seton went on to dominate the event, winning five of the six races held across 1993, 1994 and 1995.[2]
Despite the success of Johnson and Seton for Ford, Holden won all seven events from 1996 to 2002.[2] Jason Bargwanna suffered a major crash during the 2002 event when Greg Murphy squeezed him off the track, sending Bargwanna's car into the tyre wall and a series of rolls before it came to rest in the middle of the track.[3] Max Wilson's car also suffered heavy damage when he was hit by Craig Lowndes after Wilson had been spun by Marcos Ambrose. Paul Romano was given a 150-point penalty for deliberately colliding with Rodney Forbes. The penalty saw Romano finish the season with negative points.[2]
Phillip Island did not feature on the V8 Supercar calendar in 2004 while from 2005 to 2011 the circuit hosted the V8 Supercars Grand Finale and the L&H 500.[2] The one exception to this was 2009, in which Phillip Island hosted both a sprint event as well as the endurance event, due to the late cancellation of that year's Desert 400. The Sandown 500 returned to the calendar in 2012 and Phillip Island reverted to hosting a sprint round of the championship.[4] In 2014, Jamie Whincup secured a record sixth V8 Supercars championship title by winning the second race of the weekend.[5]
Winners
- Notes
- ^1 – From 2005 to 2007, Phillip Island hosted the Grand Finale.
- ^2 – From 2008 to 2011, Phillip Island hosted the Phillip Island 500.
- ^3 – In 2009, Phillip Island also hosted a second round of the championship, the 2009 L&H 500.
Multiple winners
By driver
| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Glenn Seton |
1993, 1994, 1995 |
| Mark Skaife |
1999, 2001, 2002 | |
| Craig Lowndes |
1998, 2003, 2015 | |
| 2 | Jamie Whincup |
2009, 2013 |
By team
| Wins | Team |
|---|---|
| 4 | Holden Racing Team |
| 3 | Glenn Seton Racing |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | |
| 2 | Perkins Engineering |
| Garry Rogers Motorsport |
By manufacturer
| Wins | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 9 | Holden |
| 7 | Ford |
Event sponsors
- 2013: Sargent Security
- 2014: Plus Fitness
- 2015–16: WD-40
See also
References
- ↑ "V8 Supercars Operations Manual 2015 - Division A - Administration Rules" (PDF). V8 Supercars. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 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.
- ↑ Clarke, Andrew; Wensley, Scott (2007). V8 Supercars: The First Decade. Carnegie, Victoria: Publishing 101. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-9803909-0-2.
- ↑ "V8 Supercars announces 2012 calendar". Speedcafe. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ Howard, Tom (15 November 2014). "Whincup clinches record sixth title in style". Speedcafe. Retrieved 23 July 2015.