Ipswich SuperSprint
Race Information | |
Venue | Queensland Raceway |
Number of times held | 18 |
First held | 1999 |
Race Format | |
Race 1 | |
Laps | 39 |
Distance | 120 km |
Race 2 | |
Laps | 65 |
Distance | 200 km |
Last Event (2018) | |
Overall Winner | |
Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
Race Winners | |
Scott McLaughlin | DJR Team Penske |
Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
The Ipswich SuperSprint (known for sponsorship reasons as the Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship—since 1999.
Format
The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Three forty five-minute practice sessions are held, two on Friday and one on Saturday. Friday also features a thirty-minute practice session exclusively for additional drivers, mostly co-drivers from the Enduro Cup. Saturday features a fifteen-minute qualifying session which decides the grid positions for the following 120 kilometre race. A single twenty-minute qualifying session is held on Sunday to decide the grid for the following 200 km race.[1]
History
Queensland Raceway opened in 1999 and immediately joined the championship calendar, taking over from Lakeside Raceway as the home of the series in Queensland. In 1999 and 2000 the event hosted both a sprint round and the Queensland 500 endurance event. In the inaugural sprint event, Garth Tander scored his first career round win despite not winning a race during the weekend. He was originally declared the winner of the third race when John Bowe was disqualified for passing under a yellow flag, but Bowe was later reinstated in the results. The sprint event was dropped for 2001 with only the endurance event remaining on the calendar.[2]
The 500-kilometre Supercars endurance race returned to Sandown Raceway in 2003 and Queensland Raceway returned to hosting a sprint round of the championship.[2] In the aftermath of the 2004 event, round winner Marcos Ambrose was disqualified due to the discovery of an additional wire in the ECU wiring loom. The points were later reinstated on appeal.[3] Jason Richards had a major accident during the 2005 event, after a touch from Paul Morris sent Richards' car over a kerb and into a series of rollovers.[4] Garth Tander dominated the event in 2006 and 2007, winning five of the six races across the two years, before Mark Winterbottom won consecutive events in 2008, at which James Courtney won his first championship race, and 2009.[2]
Craig Lowndes won five consecutive races at the event across 2011 and 2012,[5] while Chaz Mostert won his first championship race during the 2013 event.[6] Lowndes went on to win the event again in 2014 and 2016 to leave him with a record seven event wins at the circuit, six sprint rounds and the 2000 Ozemail Queensland 500.
Winners
Multiple winners
By driver
Wins | Driver | Years |
---|---|---|
6 | Craig Lowndes | 2000, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 |
4 | Mark Winterbottom | 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015 |
3 | Garth Tander | 1999, 2006, 2007 |
By team
Wins | Team |
---|---|
6 | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
4 | Prodrive Racing Australia1 |
2 | Stone Brothers Racing |
HSV Dealer Team |
By manufacturer
Wins | Manufacturer |
---|---|
9 | Ford |
Holden |
- Notes
- ^1 – Prodrive Racing Australia was known as Ford Performance Racing from 2003 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.
Event sponsors
- 2003, 2006: BigPond
- 2008, 2010: City of Ipswich
- 2009: Queensland House and Land.com
- 2011–18: Coates Hire
- 2019–present: Century Batteries
See also
References
- ^ "Supercars Operations Manual 2018 - Division "A" - Administration Rules" (PDF). Supercars. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ "Statement on SBR appeal decision". Motorsport.com. 9 July 2004. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^ McKay, Peter (26 July 2005). "Richards still sore but rival isn't sorry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (5 August 2012). "Craig Lowndes takes Race 17 at Queensland Raceway". Speedcafe. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
- ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (28 July 2013). "Mostert and DJR win Ipswich finale". Speedcafe. Retrieved 16 July 2015.