Ipswich SuperSprint
The Ipswich SuperSprint (known for sponsorship reasons as the Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint) was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland. The event was a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship—from 1999 to 2019.[1]
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| Race Information | |
| Venue | Queensland Raceway |
| Number of times held | 19 |
| First held | 1999 |
| Last held | 2019 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 80 |
| Distance | 250 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 80 |
| Distance | 250 km |
| Last Event (2019) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Scott McLaughlin | DJR Team Penske |
| Race Winners | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Jamie Whincup | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Scott McLaughlin | DJR Team Penske |
Format
The event was staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Four thirty-minute practice sessions were held, two on Friday and one each on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday featured a three-stage knockout qualifying session which decided the grid positions for the following 120 kilometre sprint race. Sunday featured a repeat of the Saturday qualifying format with a longer 200 km race distance following.[2]
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.[3]
The 500-kilometre Supercars endurance race returned to Sandown Raceway in 2003 and Queensland Raceway returned to hosting a sprint round of the championship.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[3]
Craig Lowndes won five consecutive races at the event across 2011 and 2012,[6] while Chaz Mostert won his first championship race during the 2013 event.[7] 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. Queensland Raceway was not included on the calendar for the 2020 Supercars Championship, the first year the circuit was not included, as either a sprint or endurance event, since it was opened in 1999.[1] Queensland Raceway was later considered for a substitute place on the 2020 calendar due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, however this plan did not come to fruition.[8][9]
Winners
- Notes
- ^1 – In 1999 and 2000, Queensland Raceway also hosted a second championship round, the Queensland 500.
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 | |
| DJR Team Penske2 |
Event names and sponsors
- 1999–2000, 2004: Queensland Raceway
- 2003: BigPond 300
- 2005, 2007: Queensland 300
- 2006: BigPond 400
- 2008: City of Ipswich 400
- 2009: Queensland House and Land.com 300
- 2010: City of Ipswich 300
- 2011–12: Coates Hire Ipswich 300
- 2013: Coates Hire Ipswich 360
- 2014: Coates Hire Ipswich 400
- 2015: Coates Hire Ipswich Super Sprint
- 2016–18: Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint
- 2019: Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint
References
- Howard, Tom (28 August 2019). "Supercars drops QR, Phillip Island in revised 2020 calendar". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- "Supercars Operations Manual 2019 - Division "A" - Administration Rules" (PDF). Supercars. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- 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.
- van Leeuwen, Andrew. "Supercars teams in favour of extended Queensland stay". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- Chapman, Simon (28 August 2020). "Queensland Raceway off the cards for Supercars". Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 August 2020.