Homebush Street Circuit

Homebush Street Circuit
Sydney Olympic Park
Location Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time +10
Coordinates 33°50′41″S 151°3′58″E / 33.84472°S 151.06611°E / -33.84472; 151.06611Coordinates: 33°50′41″S 151°3′58″E / 33.84472°S 151.06611°E / -33.84472; 151.06611
Opened 4 December 2009
Major events V8 Supercars
Length 3.4 km (2.1 mi)
Turns 13
Lap record 1:28.3839 (Craig Lowndes, Triple Eight Holden VE Commodore, 2011, V8 Supercars)

The Homebush Street Circuit, also known as the Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit, is a temporary street circuit around the former Olympic precinct at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, New South Wales, Australia. The track hosts the Sydney 500 and was used for the first time at the final round of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series.[1]

Layout

Aerial image of Sydney Olympic Park, including the circuit, looking north

The circuit was designed by Mark Skaife, who focused on creating a track with a variety of bumps, camber changes and fast and slow corners making it difficult to complete the perfect lap.[2] It was constructed on Australia Avenue, Kevin Coombs Avenue, Edwin Flack Avenue and Dawn Fraser Avenue. 140 mature trees needed to be removed and kilometres of tarmac needed to be torn up to accommodate the race.[3] Overall the track has a mixture of track surfaces.[2]

V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards suggested that there are many difficult braking areas, interesting corners and good passing spots.[4] The main straight is the single widest section of race track in Australia, while the straight along Edwin Flack Avenue is one of the narrowest. The outside of turn eight has an unusual negative camber that caught many drivers out in the inaugural race, resulting in several cars crashing into the outer barriers. The first race was won by Toll Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander from pole position while, the second 250 km race was won by Dick Johnson Racing's James Courtney (who started from second position on the grid). Jamie Whincup secured winning the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series after finishing fifth in race 1 and fourteenth in race 2.

Environmental concerns

Wetlands at Sydney Olympic Park

The conversion of part of the Sydney Olympic Park precinct into a V8 street-car race circuit was widely criticised. The Total Environment Centre said that the New South Wales Government overrode the threatened species law, as well as the Homebush Bay Authority's planning principals, and would cause social, environmental and economic disruption at Sydney Olympic Park.[5] Tony McCormick, who led the team that designed Sydney Olympic Park, said "I find it truly a travesty... The site was supposed to be a legacy for generations and we can’t even make it last a decade."[6]

Lap records

As of 7 December 2015.[7]

Class Driver Vehicle Time Date
Outright Australia Craig Lowndes Holden VE Commodore 1:28.3839 4 December 2011
Sports Cars
Australian GT Germany Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 1:28.6368 2 December 2012
Carrera Cup New Zealand Jonny Reid Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 1:30.2244 4 December 2011
Aussie Racing Cars Australia Blake Sciberras Aurion-Yamaha 1:43.0750 5 December 2015
Touring Cars
V8 Supercars Australia Craig Lowndes Holden VE Commodore 1:28.3839 4 December 2011
Dunlop V8 Supercar Series Australia Nick Percat Holden VE Commodore 1:29.2159 2 December 2012
V8 Ute Racing Series Australia George Miedecke Ford FG Falcon Ute 1:44.6756 5 December 2015
Australian Mini Challenge Australia Chris Alajajian Mini JCW R56 1:46.2661 5 December 2010
Historic Touring Cars
Touring Car Masters Australia Glenn Seton Ford XB Falcon 1:38.3154 4 December 2011
Racing Cars
Formula Ford Australia Anton De Pasquale Mygale SJ13a-Ford 1:34.1651 8 December 2013
Formula 4 Australia Nick Rowe Mygale F4-Ford 1:34.2658 6 December 2015
Other
Stadium Super Trucks United States Sheldon Creed Stadium Super Truck 1:54.9534 5 December 2015

See also

References

  1. ↑ Allan Edwards (29 September 2008). "Homebush to host V8 Supercar race". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  2. 1 2 "Sydney Telstra 500, Sydney Olympic Park". v8supercars.com.au. n.d. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  3. ↑ Allan Edwards (30 September 2008). "2009 V8 Supercar calendar released". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  4. ↑ "Minister impressed by Sydney track". v8supercars.com.au. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
  5. ↑ "Govt adds fuel to V8 race debate". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Moore, Matthew (31 July 2009). "Tree felling for V8 Supercars gets black flag". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. ↑ http://www.natsoft.com.au/results/

External links

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