Winton Motor Raceway

Winton Motor Raceway

Location	Winton, Victoria
Coordinates	36°31′6″S 146°5′15″E / 36.51833°S 146.08750°E / -36.51833; 146.08750Coordinates: 36°31′6″S 146°5′15″E / 36.51833°S 146.08750°E / -36.51833; 146.08750
Owner	Benalla Auto Club
Opened	November 1961
Major events	V8 Supercars, Shannons Nationals
Winton National Circuit
Length	3.0 km (1.864 mi)
Turns	12
Race lap record	1:14.3058 [1] (John Magro, Magro Farming Co (), 2019, Australian Formula 3)
Winton Club Circuit
Length	2.03 km (1.261 mi)
Turns	11
Race lap record	0:52.9900 (Mark Larkham, Reynard 90D Holden, 1992, Formula Brabham)

Winton Motor Raceway is a motor racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia.

History[]

The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg.^[2] In 1960 it was decided to build the track at Winton Recreation Reserve and the track was completed in twelve months. The circuit hosted its first race meeting on 26 November 1961.^[3] The circuit was immediately popular - a March 1965 meeting featuring the Neptune touring car and the Victorian Formula Two championship drew a crowd of approximately 10,000 spectators.^[2] The circuit length was extended prior to the 1997 round of the V8 Supercar championship and the upgrade included a new pit complex.

The circuit[]

In its 60th year the circuit at Winton Motor Raceway has a combination of long fast straights and twisty and tight bends. It is also known as "Australia's Action Track".^[4] Dick Johnson once described the circuit being "like running a marathon around your clothes-line".

The original circuit (now called the Winton Club Circuit) is 2.03 km in length and comprises 10 turns. The circuit was lengthened to 3.0 km with the cars turning left prior to the esses and a series of right hand turns added before the extension rejoins the original track at the esses. The long circuit is called the Winton National Circuit.

Layouts[]

• 

  National Circuit

• 

  Club Circuit

V8 Supercars[]

The track is currently used as a round in the V8 Supercar series, hosting the Winton Super Sprint. The track is one of the more popular tracks in the series with spectators, especially those who live in the area.^{[citation needed]} Easy access to the track and viewing areas make it very popular.^{[citation needed]} It attracts some of the biggest crowds of any of the permanent race tracks in the series.^{[citation needed]}

Although the circuit held various rounds of national championships such as the Australian Drivers' Championship and the Australian Sports Car Championship, Winton was not awarded a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship until the start of the Group A era in Australia in 1985. The first ATCC race was won by then triple-Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards in his JPS Team BMW 635 CSi. That race holds its place in ATCC/V8 Supercar history as not only the first all-Group A race in Australia, but the first ATCC win by BMW and the only race in history in which there were no Holdens on the grid.

Richards holds the record for most ATCC round wins at Winton with four, having won in 1985 and 1986 for BMW, while winning in 1990 and 1991 for Nissan.

Australian Drivers' Championship[]

Winton has played host to 19 rounds of the Australian Drivers' Championship since 1980.

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
Australian Formula 1
1980	Alfredo Costanzo	Lola T430 Chevrolet	Porsche Distributors
1982	Alfredo Costanzo	Tiga FA81 Ford	Porsche Cars Australia
1983	Alfredo Costanzo	Tiga FA81 Ford	Porsche Cars Australia
Formula Mondial
1984	John Bowe	Ralt RT4 Ford	Chris Leach Racing
1986	Ken Smith	Ralt RT4 Ford	Watson Motor Racing Pty Ltd
Formula Holden
1989*		Ralt RT20 Holden	R.J.Macarthur Onslow
1989*	John Briggs	Ralt RT21 Holden	John Briggs
1990	John Briggs	Ralt RT21 Holden	John Briggs
Formula Brabham
1992	Mark Larkham	Reynard 90D Holden	Larkham Motor Sport
1994	Paul Stokell	Reynard 90D Holden	Birrana Racing
Formula Holden
1997	Jason Bargwanna	Reynard 92D Holden	SH Racing
1999	Simon Wills	Reynard 94D Holden	SH Racing
2000		Reynard 92D Holden	Greg Murphy Racing
2001	Paul Stokell	Reynard 94D Holden	Birrana Racing
2002	Will Power	Reynard 94D Holden	Ralt Australia
2003		Reynard 95D Holden	CPA Australia
2004	Rob Nguyen	Reynard 97D Holden	Hocking Motorsport
Australian Formula 3
2009**	Tim Macrow Joey Foster	Dallara F307 Mercedes-Benz Dallara F307-Mercedes-Benz	Scud Racing Team BRM
2011	James Winslow	Dallara F304 Spiess-Opel	R-Tek Motorsport

* The 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over ten rounds at five race meetings at five different tracks. Although the races were held on the same day both Rohan Onslow and John Briggs are credited with separate round wins.
**The 2009 round saw two heats. Tim Macrow and Joey Foster each won a heat while also finished second on the other heat giving the pair equal points (35) on the day.

Australian Sports Car Championship[]

Winton played host to a round of the Australian Sports Car Championship on 7 occasions between 1978 and 1985.

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
1978	Ross Mathiesen	Porsche Carrera	Ross Mathiesen
1979	Ross Mathiesen	Porsche Carrera	Ross Mathiesen
1980	Allan Moffat	Porsche 930 Turbo	Porsche Distributors
1981	John Latham	Porsche 930 Turbo	John Latham
1983	Bap Romano	Kaditcha K583 Cosworth	Kaditcha Factory Racing Team
1984	Bap Romano	Romano WE84 Cosworth	Bap Romano Racing
1985	Terry Hook	Lola T610 Chevrolet	Terry Hook

Australian Sports Sedan / GT Championship[]

1980, 1981, 1997, 1998 and 2003 were run for Sports Sedans. 1982–1985 were run for GT style cars.

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
1980	Jim Richards	Ford XC Falcon Hardtop	Jim Richards
1981	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet	Donald Elliott
1982	Alan Jones	Porsche 935/80	Porsche Cars Australia
1983	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet	Donald Elliott
1984	Allan Grice	Chevrolet Monza	Re-Car Racing
1985	Kevin Bartlett	De Tomaso Pantera	Paul Halstead / The Toy Shop
1997	Wayne Park	Mazda RX-7	Wayne Park
1998	Tony Ricciardello	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet	Basil Ricciardello
2003	Darren Hossack	Saab 9-3 Aero Chevrolet	Darren Hossack

Australian Nations Cup Championship[]

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
2002	Paul Stokell	Lamborghini Diablo GTR	Team Lamborghini Australia
2003	Nathan Pretty	Holden Monaro 427C	Garry Rogers Motorsport
2004	Nathan Pretty	Holden Monaro 427C	Garry Rogers Motorsport

Australian Superbike Championship[]

Winton Raceway is one of the most prominent Superbike races on the Australian Superbike Championship racing calendar. Winton Raceway has seen riders such as Mick Doohan, Kevin Magee and Mat Mladin ride regularly at the venue.

Year	Rider	Bike
2007	Jamie Stauffer	Yamaha YZF-R1
2006	Jamie Stauffer	Yamaha YZF-R1

Formula X-treme Motorcycle Championship

Year	Rider	Bike
2009		Honda CBR1000RR
2010		Yamaha YZF-R1

Drift Attack[]

Winton Raceway is one of Australia's most popular Drift circuits. It hosts Australia largest drift event Drift Attack. Drift Attack is promoted by the Victorian Drift Club and offers the largest Prize Pool in Australian Drifting and is contested by Australia's 32 best Drifters in the Pro class and 32 Drivers in the street class.

Year	Driver	Car
2009		S14 Silvia
2010		Nissan 180SX

Lap records[]

Club Circuit[]

As of 12 June 2019.^[5]

Class	Driver	Vehicle	Time	Date
Outright	Mark Larkham	Reynard 90D Holden	52.99	4 April 1992
Racing Cars
Formula Brabham	Mark Larkham	Reynard 90D Holden	52.99	4 April 1992
Formula Mondial	John Bowe	Ralt RT4 Ford	53.80	12 August 1984
Formula 5000	Alfredo Costanzo	Lola T430 Chevrolet	55.80	October 1979
Formula 2	Arthur Abrahams	Cheetah Mk 8 Volkswagen	56.96	December 1988
Formula Ford	John Blanchard	Swift SC92F	1:01.18	April 1992
Formula Vee	Adrian Wilkinson	Elfin 76	1:07.01	March 1996
Sports Cars
Group A Sports Cars (Under 3-Litre)	Bap Romano	Kaditcha K583 Cosworth	57.10	14 August 1983
Group A Sports Cars (Over 3-Litre)	Peter Hopwood	Kaditcha Chevrolet	57.40	14 August 1983
Sports Sedan	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Chevrolet	58.80	12 August 1984
GT	Alan Jones	Porsche 935/80	59.00	16 May 1982
Clubman	Grant Taylor	Galloway	59.60	December 1987
Touring Cars
Group 3A Touring Car	Glenn Seton	Ford EB Falcon	59.65	16 May 1993
Super Touring	Greg Murphy	Audi A4 Quattro	1:00.6255	25 August 1996
Group A	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	1:01.56	5 May 1992
GT Production	Peter Fitzgerald	Porsche 911 RSCS	1:02.3751	25 August 1996
Group 3E Series Production Cars	Terry Bosnjak	Holden VP Commodore	1:09.42	16 May 1993
Motorbikes
Superbike	Kirk McCarthy	Honda RC45	1:00.7655	May 1995

National Circuit[]

As of April 2019.

Class	Driver	Vehicle	Time	Date
Outright	John Magro	Dallara F311	1:14.3058	10 March 2019
Racing Cars
Formula 3	John Magro	Dallara F311	1:14.3058	10 March 2019
Formula Holden	Christian Murchison	Reynard 95D Holden	1:14.5697	16 July 2000
Formula 4	Jayden Ojeda	Mygale F4-Ford	1:20.6106	2 September 2018
Formula Ford (Duratec)	Jayden Ojeda	Spectrum 014	1:25.4232	September 2016
Formula Ford (Kent)	Jamie Whincup	Van Diemen RF01	1:26.2188	18 August 2002
Formula Vee	Kieren Glover	Checkmate SP-02	1:35.0901	5 July 2015
Sports Cars
Sports Sedan	Jack Perkins	Audi A4 Chevrolet	1:19.8777	12 June 2016
GT	Jake Fouracre	Audi R8 LMS GT3	1:20.4298	June 2017
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge	Simon Fallon	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991)	1:21.6518	2 September 2018
Nations Cup	Paul Stokell	Lamborghini Diablo GTR	1:23.8403	21 September 2003
Porsche Carrera Cup	David Reynolds	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997	1:24.3765	20 May 2007
Aussie Racing Cars	Justin Ruggier	Mustang-Yamaha	1:31.9005	20 May 2018
Touring Cars
Supercars Championship	Fabian Coulthard	Ford FG X Falcon	1:19.7092	21 May 2016
Super2 Series	Steve Owen	Ford FG Falcon	1:23.7669	5 April 2014
V8 Touring Car National Series	Taz Douglas	Holden VE Commodore	1:23.3446	22 May 2016
Super Touring	Jim Richards	Volvo S40	1:25.3181	9 August 1998
Touring Car Masters	John Bowe	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000	1:28.0049	22 May 2016
GT Performance	Bob Pearson	Mazda RX-7 Series 8	1:32.6533	21 September 2003
V8 Ute Racing Series	Kim Jane	Holden VE SS Ute	1:35.2253	21 May 2016
Motor Events	John Bermingham	BMW E36 328	1:38.9840	15 May 2021
24 Hours of Lemons	John Bermingham	BMW E36 328	1:40.4680	27 April 2019
SuperUtes	Tom Alexander	Holden Colorado	1:42.9017	20 May 2018
Motorbikes
Superbike	Wayne Maxwell	Honda CBR1000RR	1:20.437	9 September 2018
600cc Supersport	Ted Collins		1:22.806	30 April 2017
F1 Sidecar	Darrin Treloar/ Justin Plaisted		1:30.056	18 July 2010
F2 Sidecar	Terry Goldie/ Jamie Crass		1:33.757	30 April 2017

References[]

External links[]

• Official raceway website
• Map and circuit history at RacingCircuits.info