Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Location Phillip Island, Victoria
Time zone GMT +10
Coordinates 38°30′11″S 145°14′11″E / 38.50306°S 145.23639°E / -38.50306; 145.23639
Owner Linfox
Opened 31 March 1928 (Road circuit)[1]
15 December 1956 (modern circuit)[2]
Re-opened: 4 December 1988
Closed 1940 (Road circuit)[1]
1978 (modern circuit)
Major events Australian Grand Prix (Road Circuit)
Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Superbike World Championship
Australian Manufacturers' Championship
Australian Touring Car Championship
Supercars Championship
Australian Drivers' Championship
Armstrong 500
Modern
Surface Asphalt
Length 4.445 km (2.762 mi)
Turns 12
Lap record 1:24.221 (Simon Wills, Reynard 94D Holden, 2000, Formula Holden)
Road (1928–1935)
Surface Gravel
Length 10.6 km (6.5 mi)
Turns 4
Lap record 4:49.4 (Bill Thompson, Bugatti Type 37A, 1932)
Road (1936–1940)
Surface Gravel
Length 5.3 km (3.3 mi)
Turns 4

The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The current layout was first used in 1956.

History

Road circuit

Arthur Waite won the 1928 100 Miles Road Race on the Phillip Island road circuit driving an Austin 7

Motor racing on Phillip Island began in 1928 with the running of the 100 Miles Road Race, an event which has since become known as the first Australian Grand Prix. It utilised a high speed rectangle of local closed-off public roads with four similar right hand corners. The course length varied, with the car course approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) per lap, compared to the motorcycle circuit which was approximately 10 miles (16 km) in length. The circuit was the venue for the Australian Grand Prix through to 1935 and it was used for the last time on 6 May 1935 for the Jubilee Day Races.[3]

A new 3.312 mile (5.33 km) triangular circuit utilising the pit straight from the original rectangular course was subsequently mapped out and first used for the Australian Race Drivers' Cup on 5 November 1935.[4] The final car event on the circuit was held on Cup Day (1 November) 1938 [5] and the final motorcycle race meeting was conducted on 30 Jaunuary 1940.[6]

Aside from the Australian Grand Prix races, other significant events staged at the Phillip Island road circuit included the 1934 Phillip Island 100, the 1934 Victorian Centenary Grand Prix, the 1936 Victorian Sporting Car Club Trophy and the 1936 Australian Tourist Trophy.

Grand Prix circuit

1951–62

In 1951, a group of six local businessmen decided to build a new track. About 2 km away from the original circuit, it still bears the corner name signs of the original circuit. As the piece of available land was on the edge of the coast, the track is known for its steep grades – the highest 57 metres – which caused cost overruns and delays in track opening. The new track was opened in 1956[7] and in 1960 the first Armstrong 500 production car race was held at the circuit. Extensive damage resulted from the running of the 1962 Armstrong 500, and, with the circuit owners unable to finance repairs, the circuit was closed and the race was moved to the Mount Panorama Circuit at Bathurst in New South Wales, to eventually become known as the Bathurst 1000.

1967–78

The circuit reopened in October 1967 [7] and hosted the Phillip Island 500K endurance race, a round of the Australian Manufacturers' Championship, from 1971 to 1977. The race was also a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1976 and 1977. But again, due to its testing terrain, the circuit required significant maintenance and slowly declined through the 1970s. It was farmed by its owners while closed and was then sold in 1985 in preparation for reopening, but did not do so until 1988 after agreement on a long term lease and rebuild agreement. During the time the circuit deteriorated and finally closed, part of the main problem for its owners was that the main bridge from the island to the Australian mainland reportedly could not carry the heavy vehicles needed to resurface the circuit. This meant that the bitumen surface was a cold mix which easily broke up under the rigours of racing, instead of the standard hot mix which would have allowed a more durable surface. It would not be until the mid-1980s that the bridge would be rebuilt allowing the necessary equipment needed for resurfacing.

1988–present

The circuit was refurbished with a reduced length of 4.445 kilometres and was reopened on 4 December 1988 for the final round of the 1988 Swann Insurance International Series for motorcycles.[8]

In 1989, the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix joined the F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship calendar for the first time, and was held at Phillip Island. The 1989 race saw a race long dice in the 500 cc division between local favourites Wayne Gardner and Kevin Magee, along with Wayne Rainey and Christian Sarron. The race was won by 1987 World Champion Gardner to the delight of the huge crowd. Gardner would make it two in a row at the Island in 1990 before the race moved to Eastern Creek in Sydney for 1991. The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix would remain at Eastern Creek until it returned permanently to Phillip Island from 1997 onwards.

Phillip Island hosted its first Superbike World Championship round in 1990, taking over from Sydney's Oran Park Raceway as the Australian round of the series. Local riders Peter Goddard (Yamaha FZR750) and Rob Phillis (Kawasaki ZXR750) won the two races for what was Round 12 of the season, with Goddard having secured pole position. The World Superbike round continues to be held annually at Phillip Island to this day.

In 1990, the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) returned to the circuit for the first time since 1977, this time as a sprint round. Dick Johnson won the round in his Ford Sierra RS500, in what was to be his final ever round victory. The event was not held in 1991 or 1992, but was reinstated to the calendar in 1993, with the sprint format then continuing every year until 2004. By then, the ATCC was known as V8 Supercars. After not appearing on the calendar in 2004, from 2005 to 2007, Phillip Island hosted the Grand Finale; the final round of the V8 Supercars season. In each year, the event decided that year's champion, including in controversial circumstances in 2006. From 2008 to 2011, Phillip Island returned to hosting a 500 km race, this time known for sponsorship reasons as the L&H 500. The Phillip Island 500 replaced Sandown's Sandown 500 as the annual V8 Supercar 500 km race, an event which was later reinstated for 2012. Since then, Phillip Island has returned to hosting a sprint round of the championship, which has become known as the Phillip Island Super Sprint.

Important dates

Casey Stoner in action at the 2010 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

Lap records

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Panorama showing turn 12 heading on to the 900m Gardner Straight

In the early 1990s, Phillip Island was used during the Australian summer for pre-season testing by various World Sportscar Championship teams and some Japanese Formula 3000 teams (who generally found travelling to Australia was actually cheaper than paying some $5,000 per hour to hire the Honda owned Suzuka Circuit in Japan). While no official lap times were published, television commentator and race driver Neil Crompton reported in 1990 that the Nissan Motorsports International team with drivers Julian Bailey and Mark Blundell driving the Nissan R90C were able to lap the circuit in around 1:18 while a 3.0 Litre Mugen V8 powered Dome F3000 (which Crompton drove) was able record similar lap times. At the time the fastest Australian cars that raced at Phillip Island were the 3.8 Litre V6 powered Formula Holdens which were approximately 10 seconds per lap slower.[15]

As of 22 May 2016[16]
Class Driver Vehicle Time Date
Outright New Zealand Simon Wills Reynard 94D Holden 1:24.2215 13 February 2000
Racing Cars
Formula Holden New Zealand Simon Wills Reynard 94D Holden 1:24.2215 13 February 2000
Formula 3 Australia Tim Macrow Dallara F307 Mercedes-Benz 1:24.5146 21 September 2013
Superkart Australia Russell Jamieson Anderson Maverick-DEA 1:28.1232 21 September 2013
Formula 5000 New Zealand Chris Hyde McRae GM1 Chevrolet 1:30.1205 9 March 2008
Formula 4 Australia Jordan Lloyd Mygale F4-Ford 1:34.5191 22 November 2015
Formula Ford Australia Anton De Pasquale Mygale SJ13a-Ford 1:35.8901 24 November 2013
Touring Cars
V8 Supercars Australia Jamie Whincup Holden VF Commodore 1:32.0246 23 November 2013
Dunlop V8 Supercar Australia Garry Jacobson Ford FG Falcon 1:32.3013 16 April 2016
Super Touring Australia Geoff Brabham BMW 320i 1:37.1706 1 June 1997
Group A Australia Mark Skaife Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 1:40.2312 10 March 2013
V8 Utes Australia David Sieders Holden VF SS Ute 1:49.8309 16 April 2016
Sports Cars
Group 2A Sports Cars United Kingdom James Winslow Radical SR8 Suzuki 1:25.9294 25 May 2013
GT Sports Cars Australia Jack Le Brocq Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 1:27.1505 26 May 2013
Carrera Cup New Zealand Steven Richards Porsche 991 GT3 Cup 1:31.6230 24 May 2014
Nations Cup Australia Paul Stokell Lamborghini Diablo GTR 1:34.1058 10 August 2003
Marque Sports Australia Steve Owen Lamborghini Gallardo 1:34.4309 21 November 2009
Aussie Racing Cars Australia Trent Young Altima-Yamaha 1:46.4898 16 April 2016
Motorcycles
MotoGP Spain Marc Márquez Honda RC213V 1:28.108 20 October 2013
500cc Grand Prix United States Kenny Roberts, Jr. Suzuki RGV500 1:32.743 1 October 1999
250cc Grand Prix Spain Álvaro Bautista Aprilia RSV 250 1:32.710 5 October 2008
125cc Grand Prix Spain Álvaro Bautista Honda RS125R 1:36.927 17 September 2006
Moto2 San Marino Alex de Angelis Speed Up SF13 1:32.814 20 October 2013
Moto3 Australia Jack Miller KTM RC250GP 1:36.302 19 October 2014
World Superbikes Republic of Ireland Eugene Laverty Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1:31.168 24 February 2013
World Supersports Turkey Kenan Sofuoğlu Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 1:33.238 24 February 2013
Australian Superbikes Australia Wayne Maxwell Honda CBR1000RR 1:32.316 17 October 2009
600cc Supersport Australia Bryan Staring Yamaha YZF-R6 1:35.200 17 October 2009
Sidecar F1 United Kingdom Steve Webster/
United Kingdom David James		 LCR-Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:38.726 18 April 1999
Sidecar F2 AustraliaTerry Goldie/
AustraliaJamie Crass		 LCR-Honda CBR 600 1:46.704 29 August 2016

References

  1. 1 2 Walker, Terry (1995). "Phillip Island (pre-war), Vic.". Fast Tracks. Sydney: Turton & Armstrong Pty. Ltd. p. 128. ISBN 0 908031 55 6.
  2. ↑ Walker, Terry (1995). "Phillip Island (pre-war), Vic.". Fast Tracks. Sydney: Turton & Armstrong Pty. Ltd. p. 130. ISBN 0 908031 55 6.
  3. ↑ John B Blanden, A History of Australian Grand Prix 1928–1939, Volume 1, 1981, page 123
  4. ↑ Racing in Australia, Motor Sport (magazine), January 1936, page 113
  5. ↑ Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 26
  6. ↑ Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 38
  7. 1 2 Pedr Davis, The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring, 1986, page 363
  8. 1 2 Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 161-163
  9. ↑ Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 107-108
  10. ↑ Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 113
  11. ↑ Terry Walker, Fast Tracks, 1995, page 130
  12. ↑ Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 134-135
  13. ↑ Jim Scaysbrook, Phillip Island, A History of Motor Sport Since 1928, Bookworks Pty Ltd, 2005, page 163-165
  14. ↑ Turn three presented to Casey Stoner, www.crash.net
  15. ↑ 1990 Phillip Island Raceway Dunlop Tyre Testing
  16. ↑ Natsoft Race Results

Further reading

"The Official 50 Race History of the Australian Grand Prix"

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