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 record0:49.7242 (Joey Mawson, Ligier JS F3-S5000 Ford, 2021, S5000)

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 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
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 16 May 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 Nathan Herne 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
  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.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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