Tasmania SuperSprint

Race Information
Venue	Symmons Plains Raceway
Number of times held	51
First held	1969
Race Format
Race 1
Laps	55
Distance	130 km
Race 2
Laps	55
Distance	130 km
Last Event (2024)
Overall Winner
Cameron Waters	Tickford Racing
Race Winners
Nick Percat	Matt Stone Racing
Cameron Waters	Tickford Racing

The Tasmania SuperSprint (formally known as the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Symmons Plains Raceway in Launceston, Tasmania. 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 1969.

Behind Sandown Raceway, which has most commonly hosted the Sandown 500 and Sandown SuperSprint, Symmons Plains has hosted the most events in championship history with 49 as of 2022.^[1] Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the only hiatus for the event was between 2000 and 2003 during which the circuit received a A$3 million upgrade.^[2] The event is seen as one of Tasmania's largest sporting events, providing a variety of benefits to the local economy.^[2]

The event is staged over a two-day weekend, from Saturday to Sunday. Two thirty-minute practice sessions are held on Saturday, then a three-part qualifying session is held which decides the grid positions for the following 100 kilometre race. Two separated fifteen-minute qualifying sessions are held on Sunday, which decide the grid for the following 100 km races.^[3]

When the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) was first held over a series of races in 1969, Symmons Plains was included on the calendar as the final race of the series. The race would decide the championship that year, as Alan Hamilton could take the title from Ian Geoghegan if he won the race and Geoghegan failed to score. Geoghegan's car failed to start at the one-minute signal and his pit crew push started the car. This was not allowed under the regulations of the time and Geoghegan was disqualified. Hamilton ended up finishing the race in second place behind Norm Beechey, losing the title to Geoghegan by a single point.^[4] After again hosting the final round in 1970, Symmons Plains became the home of the opening round, hosting the first event of the ATCC every year from 1971 to 1981. Allan Moffat and Peter Brock were the most successful drivers at the event in this period, taking seven of the eleven possible victories between them. John Harvey also scored his only two ATCC victories at the event, winning in 1976 and 1979.^[5]

In 1985, Robbie Francevic won his and Volvo's first round victory, winning again in 1986.^[6] Between 1988 and 1990, Dick Johnson joined Moffat as the only two drivers to win three consecutive rounds at the circuit. In 1993, 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones won his first ATCC round, despite clashes with Mark Skaife, which led to a confrontation after the race, and Wayne Gardner.^[7] In the late 1990s, Holden Racing Team dominated the event with four consecutive round wins from 1996 to 1999. During this period, the Symmons Plains event remained in the early part of the ATCC calendar until 1999, when it was moved to August. The Government of Tasmania didn't renew the event's contract after 1999 and the race dropped off the calendar in 2000.^[2]

Following the completion of a circuit upgrade in 2004, which included the construction of permanent pit lane facilities and a resurfacing of the track, a new deal was struck to bring the event back onto the calendar in November of the same year.^[8] Tasmanian driver Marcos Ambrose went into the 2004 event attempting to seal a back-to-back championship victory, until an engine failure in the third and final race of the weekend delayed his coronation as champion. David Besnard and three other drivers benefited from a fortuitous late-race safety car to jump to the front of the field, before the four drivers were then demoted to the back of the field at a subsequent safety car due to confusion regarding the standings. Several days later, Besnard was credited with the win, the only win for WPS Racing.^[9] Initially on its return, the event was generally held towards the end of the season, often as the penultimate event, until a move to the early stages of the championship calendar in 2012.

Between 2007 and 2015, Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight Race Engineering dominated the event with six wins. This has seen Whincup surpass Brock as the most successful driver in the event's history. In 2013, Fabian Coulthard won Brad Jones Racing their first championship round, winning two races with team-mate Jason Bright winning the other. In 2017, the Saturday race was suspended after two laps due to a twelve car pile-up in wet conditions. While the race later briefly restarted under safety car, no championship points were awarded due to the short distance completed, however Shane van Gisbergen was still credited with a race victory.^[10] In 2018, a three-stage knockout qualifying system was introduced to the championship at Symmons Plains to reduce the risks of traffic.^[11] Craig Lowndes won the round, his last round win as a solo driver, and his first at the circuit since 1998.^[12]

The 2020 event was postponed until November to the COVID-19 pandemic, before later being cancelled altogether.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Year	Driver[4]	Team/Entrant	Car	Report
1969	Norm Beechey	Norm Beechey	Holden HK Monaro GTS327
1970	Jim McKeown	Shell Racing Team	Porsche 911
1971	Allan Moffat	Allan Moffat Racing	Ford Boss 302 Mustang
1972	Allan Moffat	Allan Moffat Racing	Ford Boss 302 Mustang
1973	Allan Moffat	Ford Works Team	Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III
1974	Peter Brock	Holden Dealer Team	Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1
1975	Colin Bond	Holden Dealer Team	Holden Torana L34
1976	John Harvey	B&D Autos	Holden Torana L34
1977	Allan Moffat	Allan Moffat Racing	Ford XB Falcon GT
1978	Peter Brock	Holden Dealer Team	Holden LX Torana SLR A9X
1979	John Harvey	Holden Dealer Team	Holden LX Torana SS A9X
1980	Peter Brock	Holden Dealer Team	Holden VB Commodore
1981	Dick Johnson	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford XD Falcon
1982	Peter Brock	Holden Dealer Team	Holden VC Commodore
1983	Allan Grice	Roadways Racing	Holden VH Commodore
1984	Peter Brock	Holden Dealer Team	Holden VH Commodore
1985	Robbie Francevic	Mark Petch Motorsport	Volvo 240T
1986	Robbie Francevic	Volvo Dealer Team	Volvo 240T
1987	George Fury	Gibson Motorsport	Nissan Skyline DR30
1988	Dick Johnson	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford Sierra RS500
1989	Dick Johnson	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford Sierra RS500
1990	Dick Johnson	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford Sierra RS500
1991	Jim Richards	Gibson Motorsport	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
1992	Glenn Seton	Glenn Seton Racing	Ford Sierra RS500
1993	Alan Jones	Glenn Seton Racing	Ford EB Falcon
1994	Mark Skaife	Gibson Motorsport	Holden VP Commodore	Report
1995	John Bowe	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford EF Falcon	Report
1996	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team	Holden VR Commodore
1997	Greg Murphy	Holden Racing Team	Holden VS Commodore
1998	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team	Holden VT Commodore
1999	Mark Skaife	Holden Racing Team	Holden VT Commodore	Report
2000 – 2003	not held
2004	Russell Ingall	Stone Brothers Racing	Ford BA Falcon
2005	Garth Tander	HSV Dealer Team	Holden VZ Commodore
2006	Garth Tander	HSV Dealer Team	Holden VZ Commodore
2007	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford BF Falcon	Report
2008	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford BF Falcon	Report
2009	Will Davison	Holden Racing Team	Holden VE Commodore	Report
2010	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Performance Racing	Ford FG Falcon
2011	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden VE Commodore
2012	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden VE Commodore	Report
2013	Fabian Coulthard	Brad Jones Racing	Holden VF Commodore	Report
2014	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden VF Commodore	Report
2015	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden VF Commodore	Report
2016	Will Davison	Tekno Autosports	Holden VF Commodore	Report
2017	Fabian Coulthard	DJR Team Penske	Ford FG X Falcon	Report
2018	Craig Lowndes	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden ZB Commodore	Report
2019	Shane van Gisbergen	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden ZB Commodore	Report
2020	not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden ZB Commodore
2022	Shane van Gisbergen	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Holden ZB Commodore	Report
2023	Will Brown	Erebus Motorsport	Chevrolet Camaro ZL1-1LE
2024	Cameron Waters	Tickford Racing	Ford Mustang GT

Wins	Driver	Years
7	Jamie Whincup	2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021
5	Peter Brock	1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984
4	Allan Moffat	1971, 1972, 1973, 1977
	Dick Johnson	1981, 1988, 1989, 1990
3	Craig Lowndes	1996, 1998, 2018
2	John Harvey	1976, 1979
	Robbie Francevic	1985, 1986
	Mark Skaife	1994, 1999
	Garth Tander	2005, 2006
	Will Davison	2009, 2016
	Fabian Coulthard	2013, 2017
	Shane van Gisbergen	2019, 2022

Notes

• ^1 – DJR Team Penske was known as Dick Johnson Racing from 1980 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.
• ^2 – Tickford Racing was known as Ford Performance Racing from 2003 to 2014, hence their statistics are combined.

• 1969–85, 1987–99, 2004: Symmons Plains
• 1986: A.N.L. Cup
• 2005–06: Ferodo Triple Challenge
• 2006: Ferodo Tasmania Challenge
• 2007–12: Falken Tasmania Challenge
• 2013: Tasmania Microsoft Office 365
• 2014: Tyrepower Tasmania 400
• 2015–19: Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint
• 2021: Beaurepaires Tasmania SuperSprint
• 2022–present: NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint

• List of Australian Touring Car Championship races

• 2015 event page