Symmons Plains Raceway

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.

"Symmons Plains" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Symmons Plains Estate.

Symmons Plains

Layout of the Symmons Plains Raceway
LocationLaunceston, Tasmania
Time zoneGMT +10
Coordinates41°39′34″S 147°15′10″E
OwnerMotorsports Tasmania
OpenedMarch 1960[1]
Major eventsSupercars Championship
Length2.41 km (1.5 mi)
Turns7
Race lap record0:50.16 (Alfredo Costanzo, Lola T430 Chevrolet, 1980, Formula 5000)

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
Main article: Tasmania Super400

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 8 April 2018.[3]
Class Driver Vehicle Time Date
Outright
Alfredo Costanzo Lola T430 Chevrolet 0:50.16 23 March 1980
Racing Cars
Formula 5000 Alfredo Costanzo Lola T430 Chevrolet 0:50.16 23 March 1980
Formula 3 Tim Macrow Dallara F307 Mercedes-Benz 0:50.3278 6 April 2013
Formula 2 Jon Crooke Cheetah Mk8 Judd VW Golf 0:54.73 9 March 1986
Formula Ford Richie Stanaway Mygale SJ09A Ford 0:55.3004 31 May 2009
Formula 4 Cameron Shields Mygale F4 Ford 0:55.8236 8 April 2018
Sports Cars
GT Bryce Washington Lamborghini Gallardo 0:52.5247 2 September 2007
Nations Cup John Bowe Ferrari 360 N-GT 0:55.3797 27 April 2003
Aussie Racing Cars Adrian Cottrell Aurion-Yamaha 1:01.7011 13 November 2011
Touring Cars
Supercars Championship Mark Winterbottom Holden ZB Commodore 0:51.2276 7 April 2019
Super2 Series Chris Pither Holden VF Commodore 0:52.7091 8 April 2018
Group A Jim Richards Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 0:55.97 10 March 1991
Group C Peter Brock Holden VH Commodore SS 0:58.51 11 March 1984
V8 Ute Racing Series Ryan Hansford Ford FG Falcon Ute 1:01.7761 3 April 2016
Historic Touring Cars
Touring Car Masters Steven Johnson Ford Mustang Trans-Am 0:56.2339 7 April 2018
Motorcycles
Australian Superbikes Josh Waters Suzuki GSX-R1000 0:53.3870 13 November 2011
600cc Supersport Jason O'Halloran Yamaha YZF-R6 0:55.493 10 September 2006
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References
  1. Terry Walker, Fast Tracks, 1995, page 156
  2. "Falken Tasmania Challenge". v8supercars.com.au. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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