Phillip Island SuperSprint
 | |
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit |
| Number of times held | 18 |
| First held | 1990 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 27 |
| Distance | 120 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 45 |
| Distance | 200 km |
| Last Event (2016) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Scott McLaughlin | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| Race Winners | |
| Scott McLaughlin | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| Scott McLaughlin | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
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The Phillip Island SuperSprint (formally known as the WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. 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 1990.
The circuit has also previously hosted championship rounds as an endurance race, the Phillip Island 500, in 1976 and 1977 and from 2008 to 2011, and as the Grand Finale from 2005 to 2007.
Format
The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two one-hour practice sessions are held on Friday while a fifteen-minute practice session is held on Saturday. 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][2]
History
While the Phillip Island 500 was a part of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) in 1976 and 1977, the circuit did not host a sprint round of the championship until 1990. Dick Johnson won the first event, his final round win in the ATCC. After being absent from the calendar in 1991 and 1992, Phillip Island returned to the ATCC in 1993 and Glenn Seton went on to dominate the event, winning five of the six races held across 1993, 1994 and 1995.[3]
Despite the early success of Johnson and Seton for Ford, Holden went on to win all seven events from 1996 to 2002.[3] Jason Bargwanna suffered a major crash during the 2002 event when Greg Murphy squeezed him off the track, sending Bargwanna's car into the tyre wall and a series of rolls before it came to rest in the middle of the track.[4] Later in the event, Max Wilson's car suffered heavy damage when he was hit by Craig Lowndes after Wilson had been spun by Marcos Ambrose. Meanwhile, Paul Romano was given a 150-point penalty for deliberately colliding with Rodney Forbes. The penalty saw Romano finish the season with negative points.[3]
Phillip Island did not feature on the Supercars calendar in 2004 while from 2005 to 2011 the circuit hosted the Grand Finale and the revival of the Phillip Island 500.[3] The one exception to this was 2009, in which Phillip Island hosted both a sprint event as well as the endurance event, due to the late cancellation of that year's Desert 400 in Bahrain. The Sandown 500 returned to the calendar in 2012, in place of the Phillip Island 500, and Phillip Island reverted to hosting a sprint round of the championship.[5] The 2013 event saw Alexandre Prémat's car leave the track at high speed and hit the driver's door of James Courtney's car. Courtney fractured his tibia in the incident and was forced to miss the next, and final, round of the season at the Sydney 500. In 2014, Jamie Whincup secured a record sixth Supercars Championship title by winning the second race of the weekend.[6] At the same event, Scott McLaughlin won the first championship event for Volvo since 1986.
Winners
- Notes
- ^1 – From 2005 to 2007, Phillip Island hosted the Grand Finale.
- ^2 – From 2008 to 2011, Phillip Island hosted the Phillip Island 500.
- ^3 – In 2009, Phillip Island also hosted a second round of the championship, the 2009 L&H 500.
Multiple winners
By driver
| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 3 |  Glenn Seton |
1993, 1994, 1995 |
| Mark Skaife |
1999, 2001, 2002 | |
| Craig Lowndes |
1998, 2003, 2015 | |
| 2 | Jamie Whincup |
2009, 2013 |
| Scott McLaughlin |
2014, 2016 | |
By team
| Wins | Team |
|---|---|
| 4 | Holden Racing Team |
| 3 | Glenn Seton Racing |
| Triple Eight Race Engineering | |
| Garry Rogers Motorsport | |
| 2 | Perkins Engineering |
By manufacturer
| Wins | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 9 | Holden |
| 7 | Ford |
| 2 | Volvo |
Event sponsors
- 2013: Sargent Security
- 2014: Plus Fitness
- 2015–16: WD-40
See also
References
- ↑ Dale, Will (5 April 2016). "Phillip Island event to run to three day format". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ "V8 Supercars Operations Manual 2016 - Division A - Administration Rules" (PDF). V8 Supercars. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 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.
- ↑ Clarke, Andrew; Wensley, Scott (2007). V8 Supercars: The First Decade. Carnegie, Victoria: Publishing 101. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-9803909-0-2.
- ↑ "V8 Supercars announces 2012 calendar". Speedcafe. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ Howard, Tom (15 November 2014). "Whincup clinches record sixth title in style". Speedcafe. Retrieved 23 July 2015.