With six races remaining in the Championship season, this weekend will be the 39th time the Australian Touring Car Championship / V8 Supercars Championship (ATCC/V8SC) has been scheduled for the Symmons Plains circuit in Tasmania. Only last week’s Sandown in Melbourne has hosted more events, 42 in fact.
Championship rivals and teammates, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes are looking odds-on to create a rare piece of history in the Australian Touring Car Championship/V8 Supercars Championship.
The TeamVodafone pair could be the first teammates to finish 1-2 in the championship since Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall did it for Stone Brothers Racing in 2004. Quoting statistics, a team finishing 1-2 in the championship has only happened seven times in 51 years in the ATCC/V8SC history but with all their individual success over the years Holden has never finished in a 1-2 situation.
For the Fords, those who finished 1-2 are Gibson Motorsport (Mark Skaife and Jim Richards in 1991 and 1992), Dick Johnson Racing (Dick Johnson and John Bowe in 1988 and 1989), Glenn Seton Racing (Glenn Seton and Alan Jones in 1993) and Moffat Ford Dealers (Allan Moffat and Colin Bond in 1977).
The Pole Position Award for the 2011 season looks like going right down to the wire with six more poles up for grabs for the rest of the season. Championship leader Jamie Whincup is on target for his fourth straight Pole Position Award with seven poles so far this year, but is being chased by teammate Craig Lowndes with five and Mark Winterbottom with four.
Holden is poised at just two race wins away from becoming the first manufacturer to reach 400 race wins in the history of the ATCC/V8SC. Holden has now notched up 398 race wins compared to Ford’s 291 and could possibly hit the 400 mark in Tasmania should Holden drivers win both races. With 22 championship races completed this year, Holden have monstered the series winning a massive 19 races to Ford’s three.
Two drivers have dominated at Symmons Plains since 2005 – Garth Tander and Jamie Whincup. Between them, the duo has won 12 of the 16 races held at the circuit in that time, with Tander winning seven times and Whincup five. In another milestone, Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall will celebrate his 202nd ATCC/V8SC event start, drawing level with Dick Johnson for fifth place on the all-time starters list.
