Symmons Plains Raceway

Symmons Plains
	Layout of the Symmons Plains Raceway
Location	Launceston, Tasmania
Time zone	UTC+10:00
Coordinates	41°39′34″S 147°15′10″E / 41.65944°S 147.25278°ECoordinates: 41°39′34″S 147°15′10″E / 41.65944°S 147.25278°E
FIA Grade	3
Owner	Motorsports Tasmania
Opened	March 1960
Major events	Current:; Supercars; (1969–1999, 2004–2019, 2021-present); S5000 (2021-present)
Length	2.411 km (1.498 mi)
Turns	7
Race lap record	0:49.7242 ( Joey Mawson, Ligier JS F3-S5000, 2021, S5000)

Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about 30 km (19 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 2.411 km (1.498 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 previous outright lap record at Symmons Plains was set in 1980 and held for over 40 years. Driving a Lola T430 Chevrolet Formula 5000, Alfredo Costanzo set a time of 50.16 seconds. The closest anyone had 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. The current outright lap record was set in 2021 by driver Joey Mawson. Driving a Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford, the Australian driver set a time of 0:49.7242 seconds.

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 3 October 2021.^[3]

Class	Driver	Vehicle	Time	Date
Outright
	Joey Mawson	Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford	0:49.7242	26 January 2021
Racing Cars
S5000	Joey Mawson	Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford	0:49.7242	26 January 2021
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	Kody Garland	Mustang-Yamaha	1:00.8755	18 April 2021
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
TA2		Dodge Challenger-Chevrolet	0:55.2708	25 January 2021
Group A	Jim Richards	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	0:55.97	10 March 1991
TCR	Jordan Cox	Alfa Romeo Giulietta	0:56.1214	25 January 2021
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
HQ Holden	Phil Ashlin	HQ Holden	1:11.6103	25 October 2020
Sports Sedans	Bradley Sherriff	Nissan Skyline R32	0:51.1526	3 October 2021
Historic Touring Cars
Touring Car Masters	Steven Johnson	Ford Mustang Trans-Am	0:56.2339	7 April 2018
Group Nb	Phillip Shepherd	EH Holden	1:07.7233	25 October 2020
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
Trucks
Boost Mobile Super Trucks	Paul Morris	Stadium Super Truck	1:12.2884	18 April 2021

References[]

^ Terry Walker, Fast Tracks, 1995, p. 156
^ "Falken Tasmania Challenge". v8supercars.com.au. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[]

This article about a motor sport venue is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This article about a sports venue in Australia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

This Tasmania geography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] Terry Walker, Fast Tracks, 1995, p. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t Australian Superbike Championship circuits
Current ()	Phillip Island Queensland Wakefield Park Hidden Valley Morgan Park Symmons Plains The Bend
Former	Mallala Oran Park Sydney Wanneroo Winton