The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg.[1] In 1960 it was decided to build the track at Winton Recreation Reserve and the track was completed in twelve months. The circuit hosted its first race meeting on 26 November 1961.[2] The circuit was immediately popular - a March 1965 meeting featuring the Neptune touring car and the Victorian Formula Two championship drew a crowd of approximately 10,000 spectators.[1] The circuit length was extended prior to the 1997 round of the V8 Supercar championship and the upgrade included a new pit complex.
The circuit
Winton Motor Raceway has a combination of long fast straights and twisty and tight bends. It is also known as "Australia's Action Track".[3]Dick Johnson once described the circuit being "like running a marathon around your clothes-line".
The original circuit (now called the Winton Club Circuit) is 2.028km (1.260mi) in length and comprises 10 turns. The circuit was lengthened to 3.000km (1.864mi) with the cars turning left prior to the esses and a series of right hand turns added before the extension rejoins the original track at the esses. The long circuit is called the Winton National Circuit.
The track was used as a round in the V8 Supercar series, hosting the Winton SuperSprint. The track was one of the more popular tracks in the series with spectators, especially those who live in the area.[citation needed] Easy access to the track and viewing areas made it very popular.[citation needed] It attracts some of the biggest crowds of any of the permanent race tracks in the series.[citation needed]
Richards holds the record for most ATCC round wins at Winton with four, having won in 1985 and 1986 for BMW, while winning in 1990 and 1991 for Nissan.
* The 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over ten rounds at five race meetings at five different tracks. Although the races were held on the same day both Rohan Onslow and John Briggs are credited with separate round wins. **The 2009 round saw two heats. Tim Macrow and Joey Foster each won a heat while also finished second on the other heat giving the pair equal points (35) on the day.
Winton Raceway is one of Australia's most popular Drift circuits. It hosts Australia largest drift event Drift Attack. Drift Attack is promoted by the Victorian Drift Club and offers the largest Prize Pool in Australian Drifting and is contested by Australia's 32 best Drifters in the Pro class and 32 Drivers in the street class.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
John Magro, Dallara F311, 2019, F3)
