Symmons Plains Raceway Car Circuit
Symmons Plains Raceway is a 2.411-kilometer (1.498-mile) motor racing circuit located about 30 kilometers south of Launceston, Tasmania. The circuit has been in continuous operation since 1960 and was built on the Symmons Plains Estate owned by the Youl family, after John Youl asked his father Boyce in 1959 for permission to use family land to build a race track. Since the closure of the Longford Circuit in the 1960s, it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit runs anti-clockwise with 7 turns, an average speed of 167 km/h, and a maximum speed of 270 km/h.
The circuit is known for its extremely tight hairpin bend, known as Brambles Hairpin, and is the shortest track on the V8 Supercar Championship Series calendar. The Australian Driver's Championship came to Symmons Plains for the first time in November 1966, and the Australian Touring Car Championship arrived in November 1969, staying there without interruption until 1999. The V8 Supercar Series returned to the circuit in November 2004. In 1994, a new pit lane was built on the outside of the circuit and the start/finish line was relocated to a more conventional position in front of the new pits. In 2004, the facility received a A$3 million upgrade which included modifications to the track layout. In 2009, the circuit was sold by the Youl family to the Motorsports Tasmania consortium.
The Car Circuit at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania, Australia represents the automobile racing layout at this historic facility near Launceston operating since 1953. The Car Circuit designation distinguishes the automobile configuration from motorcycle or other variant layouts, providing the standard car racing experience serving Tasmania's motorsport community. This variant serves Symmons Plains' role as Tasmania's premier permanent circuit where the facility has hosted national championship events for over seven decades of Australian motorsport history.
Operating the Car Circuit showcases Symmons Plains Raceway's infrastructure where the automobile layout serves diverse car racing disciplines from touring cars to open-wheel formula racing. Tasmania's temperate maritime climate creates year-round racing potential making Symmons Plains a constant venue for testing and competition serving the island state's motorsport community. The Car Circuit demonstrates the facility's ongoing significance in Australian racing at this historic Tasmanian venue representing over seventy years of continuous motorsport operations.
