Darwin Triple Crown

The Darwin Triple Crown, known as the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown for sponsorship reasons, is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship, Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship—since 1998.

Darwin Triple Crown
Darwin SuperSprint
Race Information
Venue Hidden Valley Raceway
Number of times held 23
First held 1998
Race Format
Race 1
Laps 38
Distance 110 km
Race 2
Laps 38
Distance 110 km
Race 3
Laps 38
Distance 110 km
Last Event (2020)
Overall Winner
Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering
Race Winners
Anton de PasqualeErebus Motorsport
Scott McLaughlinDJR Team Penske
Jamie WhincupTriple Eight Race Engineering

In 2020, a second Darwin event known as the Darwin SuperSprint will also be held.[1]

Format

In 2020 the event was held over two days, from Saturday to Sunday. On Saturday, three practice sessions were held with the first being only for rookie drivers. A three-part knock-out qualifying session was then held, culminating in a top 15 shootout determining the grid for the 110 kilometre race to follow. Sunday features two ten-minute qualifying sessions that set the grid for each of the day's two 110 kilometre races.

The event has been known as the Triple Crown since 2006, which originally referred to the three races in the weekend format of the time. Currently, the title refers to the two races during the event and the top ten shootout.[2] The Triple Crown remained elusive until Scott McLaughlin was fastest in the top ten shootout and won both races in 2019.[3] From 2020, the Triple Crown trophy was awarded to the driver that scored the most points across the weekend.[4]

History
Mark Skaife during the 2007 Skycity Triple Crown.

Hidden Valley Raceway had existed for several years prior to being upgraded for its first national championship event in 1998, a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). Mark Skaife had been on course to take victory in the opening race when an engine issue on the final lap allowed teammate Craig Lowndes past, with Skaife finishing 2nd.[5] Lowndes' car then failed to fire prior to the start of the second race and both he and Skaife failed to make the grid, leaving the front row empty. Russell Ingall, who had a stop-go penalty in the first race for spinning Jason Bright, charged from 13th on the grid to take victory and went on to win the inaugural round with another win in race three of the weekend.[2] In 1999, Bright took his first career round win in what was Ford's only round win of the year.[6] It was also the first round win for Stone Brothers Racing, who saw further success at the event in 2001 when Marcos Ambrose scored his first round win, despite not winning a race over the weekend.

In 2004, Ambrose made contact while attempting to overtake Skaife for the lead on the final corner of the race, delaying both and granting victory to Ambrose's teammate Ingall. In the following race, Ambrose then spun Ingall off on the first corner of the race.[7] Todd Kelly went on to win the round, his first of two consecutive event wins. Michael Caruso took his first Supercars race win at the event in 2009, holding off a late charge from Alex Davison.[6] At a late safety car restart in the first race of the 2011 event, the top four tangled into turn one, allowing fifth-placed Rick Kelly to take the race win.[7] In 2013 Jonathon Webb, driving for his family team Tekno Autosports, won his first career round.[8] At the 2015 event, Lowndes became the first to achieve 100 race wins in ATCC and Supercars, capitalising on a collision between Rick Kelly and Fabian Coulthard on the opening lap.[9] In 2016, Caruso provided Nissan with their first round victory since 1992. At the same event, Lee Holdsworth suffered a broken pelvis in a first lap accident, forcing him out of the next three events.[10]

From 2017 to 2019, Scott McLaughlin became the first driver to win three consecutive events in Darwin. Most notably, this included McLaughlin becoming the first driver to win the Triple Crown in 2019, qualifying fastest in the top ten shootout (albeit only by a margin of under two hundredths of a second) and winning both races for DJR Team Penske.[3] The Triple Crown was again awarded in 2020 but only due to a change in criteria which saw the trophy guaranteed to be awarded to the round winner.[4] Jamie Whincup tied for points with Fabian Coulthard but won the trophy on countback, meanwhile Anton de Pasquale won his first championship race in the first race of the weekend.[11] In addition to the Triple Crown, Hidden Valley is also scheduled to host a second event, known as the Darwin SuperSprint, as part of the calendar changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Winners
Year Driver[6] Team Car Report
1998 Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden VT Commodore
1999 Jason Bright Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon
2000 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VT Commodore
2001 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon Report
2002 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore
2003 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
2004 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden VY Commodore
2005 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden VZ Commodore
2006 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon
2007 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BF Falcon Report
2008 Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Ford BF Falcon Report
2009 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford FG Falcon Report
2010 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2011 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2012 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
2013 Jonathon Webb Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore Report
2014 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VF Commodore Report
2015 Chaz Mostert Prodrive Racing Australia Ford FG X Falcon Report
2016 Michael Caruso Kelly Racing Nissan Altima L33 Report
2017 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon Report
2018 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford FG X Falcon Report
2019 Scott McLaughlin DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang GT Report
20201 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden ZB Commodore Report
Notes

Multiple winners

By driver
Wins Driver Years
4 Craig Lowndes 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011
Jamie Whincup 2010, 2012, 2014, 2020
3 Scott McLaughlin 2017, 2018, 2019
2 Mark Skaife 2000, 2002
Marcos Ambrose 2001, 2003
Todd Kelly 2004, 2005

By team
Wins Team
8 Triple Eight Race Engineering
4 Holden Racing Team
3 Stone Brothers Racing
DJR Team Penske
2 Prodrive Racing Australia2

By manufacturer
Wins Manufacturer
11 Ford
Holden
Notes
  • ^2 – Prodrive Racing Australia was known as Ford Performance Racing from 2003 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.

Event names and sponsors
  • 1998–2004: Hidden Valley
  • 2005: Skycity V8 Supercars
  • 2006–15: Skycity Triple Crown
  • 2016–18: CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown
  • 2019–present: BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown
  • 2020: CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint
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See also

References
  1. Chapman, Simon (18 July 2020). "Supercars confirms Darwin doubleheader". Speedcafe. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  2. "Fast Facts: Hidden Valley". Supercars.com. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  3. Herrero, Daniel (16 June 2019). "McLaughlin dominates Race 16 to claim Triple Crown". Speedcafe. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  4. "Triple Crown twist for 2020". Supercars. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  5. Clarke, Andrew; Wensley, Scott (2007). V8 Supercars: The First Decade. Carnegie, Victoria: Publishing 101. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-9803909-0-2.
  6. 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.
  7. Tulk, Mitchell (16 June 2017). "Bent cars and broken egos: The top five moments from Hidden Valley raceway". Carsguide.com.au. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  8. "V8 PREDICTOR: Webb springs surprise in Darwin". Speedcafe. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  9. "Lowndes wins his 100th race". V8Supercars.com.au. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  10. "Holdsworth sidelined with fractured pelvis". Speedcafe. 19 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  11. Herrero, Daniel (16 August 2020). "Whincup holds off McLaughlin to prevail in Race 15". Speedcafe. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
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