Gold Coast 600

Not to be confused with the Gold Coast Indy 300, a former American Championship car racing event on the Gold Coast that from 1994 until 2008 was the featured event on the meeting..
Queensland Gold Coast 600
Race Information
Venue Surfers Paradise Street Circuit
Number of times held 21
First held 1994
Race Format
Race 1
Laps 102
Distance 300 km
Race 2
Laps 102
Distance 300 km
Last Event (2015)
Overall Winner
Australia James Courtney
Australia Jack Perkins
Holden Racing Team
Race Winners
New Zealand Shane Van Gisbergen
Australia Jonathon Webb
Tekno Autosports
Australia James Courtney
Australia Jack Perkins
Holden Racing Team

The Gold Coast 600 is an annual V8 Supercars event held each October at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The race is currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Castrol Gold Coast 600, and was formerly known as the V8 Supercar Challenge.[1] from 1997 to 2009.

First run in 1994, the event was a support race to the Gold Coast Indy 300 until its demise in 2009.

History

Background

The Gold Coast, of which Surfers Paradise is a suburb, had long had an association with touring cars through Surfers Paradise International Raceway in the suburb of Carrara. The track held numerous rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), the previous incarnation of V8 Supercars, between 1969 and 1987.

CART event support

The Gold Coast Indy 300 was first run in 1991, however it was not until 1994 that touring cars joined the event. The event, featuring cars from the ATCC, was run as a non-championship exhibition round, supporting the then CART FedEx Championship Series event. In the next two years, cars from the two-litre Australian Super Touring Championship were a support category at the event; in 1995 as the sole touring car category and in 1996 one of two touring car support categories alongside the return of the ATCC cars. Greg Murphy won the Super Touring event in both years for Brad Jones Racing. From 1997 onwards, the event returned to solely featuring five-litre ATCC cars, the category that was now known as V8 Supercars. The 1998 event was notable for providing Mark Larkham with the only event win of his decade-long full-time touring car career, albeit at a non-championship event. Due to the often crash-filled nature of the rounds, its non-championship status and the relatively quick turn-around time between the event and the Bathurst 1000, some teams used older model cars at the event, such as in 1999 when Paul Radisich won the event with a 1998-spec Ford EL Falcon, instead of their usual AU Falcon.

From 2002, whilst still a support category, the event became an official V8 Supercars championship round. From then until 2009, the most common race format was three races over the weekend, with one on Saturday and two on Sunday. The driver with the most points accumulated over the three races was awarded first place for the weekend.

End of open-wheeler era

In late 2008, it was announced the IndyCar Series would not be returning to the Gold Coast in 2009, bringing to an end the Indy era. A1 Grand Prix, which had been scheduled to replace IndyCar, then pulled out of the event with only weeks to go, leaving V8 Supercars as the lead category for the first time in the Gold Coast event's history. Subsequently, to fill the last minute hole in the schedule, the 2009 event expanded its format to 300 km on each Saturday and Sunday, each race split into two 150 km 'legs'. The amount of points accumulated over the two legs determined the individual winner for each day.

International co-drivers

In 2010, the track was shortened from 4.47 km to 2.96 km, and the event became known as the Gold Coast 600 for the first time. To differentiate the event, each team was required to have at least one driver of international reputation as a co-driver.[2] In 2011, this rule was adjusted such that every car (as opposed to every team) had a driver of international repute as a co-driver. These drivers could be Australian, but had to have a strong international pedigree, such as Australian IndyCar driver Will Power. Two races of 300 km were held over the weekend, with one on both Saturday and Sunday. As per the other V8 Supercars endurance races, the co-driver was required to complete at least one-third of each race distance (34 laps).

The 2010 event itself was notable for a famous battle between Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen. Whincup prevailed to take the win. In 2011, the event was overshadowed by the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship tragedy, which occurred one week before the Gold Coast event. This led to the relaxing of the international driver rules, as Holden Racing Team's planned co-driver Dan Wheldon was killed and Ford Performance Racing co-driver Will Power was injured in the 15-car crash. Brad Jones Racing co-driver Tony Kanaan, a close friend of Wheldon, also decided to withdraw from the Gold Coast event following the tragedy. The International Driver Trophy, introduced in 2010, was renamed in Wheldon's honour before the 2011 event.[3]

Also in 2011, Sébastien Bourdais became the first and only driver to win at Surfers Paradise in both a Champ Car (in 2005 and 2007) and a V8 Supercar (in 2011, and then again in 2012). The 2012 event was notable for two large start-line crashes. In the first of which, international driver Ricky Taylor was tipped into a barrel-roll seconds after the start of the race.[4] The race was red flagged, and would eventually require a third attempt at a start following an incident on the second attempt between Nicolas Minassian and Franck Montagny.

Endurance Cup

For the 2013 event, the necessity for each car to have an international co-driver was removed, and the event became the third event of the newly formed Pirtek Enduro Cup, along with the series' other two-driver races, the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000.[5] The race format remained the same.

In the Sunday race of the 2013 event, David Reynolds took the first win of his V8 Supercars career, driving with Dean Canto.[6] The 2015 event saw another debut win, this time for Jack Perkins, driving with James Courtney for the Holden Racing Team. It was Courtney's return to the sport following nine weeks out with rib and lung injuries suffered in an off-track injury at the Sydney Motorsport Park Super Sprint.

Winners

The original circuit layout used until 2010

Events which were not championship rounds are indicated by a pink background.

Year Driver Team Car Report
Sprint format
1994 Australia John Bowe Dick Johnson Racing Ford EB Falcon Report
1995 not held
1996 Australia John Bowe Dick Johnson Racing Ford EF Falcon Report
1997 Australia Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering Holden VS Commodore Report
1998 Australia Mark Larkham Larkham Motor Sport Ford EL Falcon Report
1999 New Zealand Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford EL Falcon Report
2000 New Zealand Paul Radisich Dick Johnson Racing Ford AU Falcon Report
2001 Australia Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VX Commodore Report
2002 Australia Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VX Commodore
2003 Australia Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford BA Falcon
2004 New Zealand Greg Murphy Kmart Racing Team Holden VY Commodore
2005 Australia Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BA Falcon
2006 Australia Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden VZ Commodore
2007 Australia Garth Tander HSV Dealer Team Holden VE Commodore Report
2008 Australia Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BF Falcon Report
Endurance format
2009 Australia Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore Report
Australia Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon
2010 Australia Garth Tander
Australia Cameron McConville
Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore Report
Australia Jamie Whincup
Australia Steve Owen
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore
2011 Australia Jamie Whincup
France Sébastien Bourdais
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
Australia Mark Winterbottom
United Kingdom Richard Lyons
Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon
2012 Australia Jamie Whincup
France Sébastien Bourdais
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VE Commodore Report
Australia Will Davison
Finland Mika Salo
Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon
2013 Australia Craig Lowndes
Australia Warren Luff
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VF Commodore Report
Australia David Reynolds
Australia Dean Canto
Rod Nash Racing Ford FG Falcon
2014 New Zealand Shane Van Gisbergen
Australia Jonathon Webb
Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore Report
Australia Jamie Whincup
Australia Paul Dumbrell
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden VF Commodore
2015 New Zealand Shane Van Gisbergen
Australia Jonathon Webb
Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore Report
Australia James Courtney
Australia Jack Perkins
Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore

Multiple winners

Sprint format (1994–2008)

By driver

Wins which did not count towards the championship season are indicated by a pink background.

Event wins Driver Years
2 Australia John Bowe 1994, 1996
New Zealand Paul Radisich 1999, 2000
Australia Russell Ingall 1997, 2003
Australia Garth Tander 2001, 2007

By team

Event wins Team
4 Dick Johnson Racing
2 Garry Rogers Motorsport
HSV Dealer Team1
Triple Eight Race Engineering

By manufacturer

Event wins Manufacturer
8 Ford
6 Holden
Notes

Endurance format (2009–present)

Since 2009, race wins, rather than round (or event) wins, are officially recognised.

By driver

Race wins Driver
4 Australia Jamie Whincup
2 Australia Garth Tander
Australia Mark Winterbottom
France Sébastien Bourdais
New Zealand Shane Van Gisbergen
Australia Jonathon Webb

By team

Race wins Team
5 Triple Eight Race Engineering
3 Ford Performance Racing
Holden Racing Team
2 Tekno Autosports

By manufacturer

Race wins Manufacturer
10 Holden
4 Ford

International Driver (Dan Wheldon Memorial) Trophy

For the years that international co-drivers were mandated for the event, the International Driver Trophy was awarded to the best performing international driver over the race weekend. In 2011, the trophy was renamed after the British IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon after his death one week prior to the race.[3] The trophy was discontinued after 2012 as a change in regulations saw that international co-drivers were no longer compulsory.

Year Driver Team
International Driver Trophy
2010 United Kingdom Andy Priaulx Triple Eight Race Engineering
Dan Wheldon Memorial Trophy
2011 France Sébastien Bourdais Triple Eight Race Engineering
2012 France Sébastien Bourdais Triple Eight Race Engineering

Event names

See also

References

  1. NOTE: The non-championship touring car races at the Australian Grand Prix have also been known as the V8 Supercars Challenge previously
  2. 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.
  3. 1 2 "V8 Supercars unveils the trophy for the best performing international driver, the Dan Wheldon Trophy". Speed TV (Australia). 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  4. Balym, Todd (20 October 2012). "Dramatic crash at start of V8 race". GoldCoast.com.au. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  5. "V8 Supercars Announces Prestigious Endurance Cup". 20 February 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  6. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (27 October 2013). "Relief for Reynolds after maiden win". SpeedCafe. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.