Symmons Plains Raceway

Symmons Plains

Layout of the Symmons Plains Raceway
Location Launceston, Tasmania
Time zone GMT +10
Coordinates 41°39′34″S 147°15′10″E / 41.65944°S 147.25278°E / -41.65944; 147.25278Coordinates: 41°39′34″S 147°15′10″E / 41.65944°S 147.25278°E / -41.65944; 147.25278
Owner Motorsports Tasmania
Opened March 1960 [1]
Major events Supercars Championship
Length 2.41 km (1.5 mi)
Turns 7
Lap record 0:50.16 (Alfredo Costanzo, Lola T430 Chevrolet, 1980, Formula 5000)

Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about 30 kilometres (18.64 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.

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 2.41 kilometres (1.50 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 outright lap record at Symmons Plains was set in 1980. Driving a Lola T430 Chevrolet Formula 5000, Alfredo Costanzo set a time of 50.16 seconds. The closest anyone has 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.

Supercars Championship

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 4 April 2016.[3]
Class Driver Vehicle Time Date
Outright
Australia Alfredo Costanzo Lola T430 Chevrolet 0:50.16 23 March 1980
Racing Cars
Formula 5000 Australia Alfredo Costanzo Lola T430 Chevrolet 0:50.16 23 March 1980
Formula 3 Australia Tim Macrow Dallara F307 Mercedes-Benz 0:50.3278 6 April 2013
Formula 2 Australia Jon Crooke Cheetah Mk8 Judd VW Golf 0:54.73 9 March 1986
Formula Ford New Zealand Richie Stanaway Mygale SJ09A Ford 0:55.3004 31 May 2009
Formula 4 Australia Josh Denton Mygale F4 Ford 0:56.2606 3 April 2016
Sports Cars
GT Australia Bryce Washington Lamborghini Gallardo 0:52.5247 2 September 2007
Nations Cup Australia John Bowe Ferrari 360 N-GT 0:55.3797 27 April 2003
Aussie Racing Cars Australia Adrian Cottrell Aurion-Yamaha 1:01.7011 13 November 2011
Touring Cars
Supercars Championship Australia Craig Lowndes Holden VF Commodore 0:51.4370 9 April 2017
Super2 Series Australia Jack Le Brocq Nissan Altima L33 0:52.1520 7 April 2017
Group A New Zealand Jim Richards Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 0:55.97 10 March 1991
Group C Australia Peter Brock Holden VH Commodore SS 0:58.51 11 March 1984
V8 Ute Racing Series Australia Ryan Hansford Ford FG Falcon Ute 1:01.7761 3 April 2016
Historic Touring Cars
Touring Car Masters Australia Steven Johnson Ford Mustang Trans-Am 0:56.8212 28 March 2015
Motorcycles
Australian Superbikes Australia Josh Waters Suzuki GSX-R1000 0:53.3870 13 November 2011
600cc Supersport Australia Jason O'Halloran Yamaha YZF-R6 0:55.493 10 September 2006

References

  1. ↑ Terry Walker, Fast Tracks, 1995, page 156
  2. ↑ "Falken Tasmania Challenge". v8supercars.com.au. n.d. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  3. ↑ http://www.natsoft.com.au/results/


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