Oran Park Raceway
Castrol 6 Hour (1984–1987) Tasman Series (1974–1975) | |
Website | Oran Park |
---|---|
Grand Prix Circuit (1985–2010) | |
Length | 2.620 km (1.628 miles) |
Turns | 12 |
Race lap record | 1:01.6718 ( Tim Leahey, Reynard 92D, 2000, Formula Holden) |
Motorcycle Grand Prix Circuit (1974–2010) | |
Length | 2.625 km (1.631 miles) |
Turns | 13 |
Race lap record | 1:03.200 ( John Bowe, Ralt RT4, 1984, Formula Mondial) |
South Circuit (1964–2010) | |
Length | 1.960 km (1.218 miles) |
Turns | 7 |
Race lap record | 0:37.73 ( Paul Stokell, Reynard 91D, 1994, Formula Holden) |
North Circuit (1974–2010) | |
Length | 0.660 km (0.410 miles) |
Turns | 6 |
Original Circuit (1962–1963) | |
Length | 1.609 km (1.000 miles) |
Turns | 7 |
Oran Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit at Narellan south west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia which was operational from February 1962 until its closure in January 2010. The track was designed and started by George Murray and Jack Allen. Since its closure in 2010 it has been (re)developed into housing.
History
The circuit was established by the Singer Car Club, with its opening meeting held on the weekend of 17–18 February 1962.
The original lap distance of 1.690 km (1.050 mi) was later extended to 1.960 km (1.218 mi)[2] with a further extension in 1974[4] creating an alternative "Grand Prix" circuit of 2.625 km (1.631 mi) in length.[2] The Grand Prix circuit featured a figure-eight shape with a bridge where the track crossed over itself. Despite the loop the racing direction was still regarded as being anticlockwise.
The complex also had a
Oran Park was used regularly for rounds of the
The land on which the racetrack was located was sold to the Government of New South Wales for a new housing development. This led to the eventual closure of the track and ended 48 years of motorsport heritage at the facility. The last motorcycle race meeting, the BelRay 6 Hour, was held on 21–22 November 2009. The final race meeting was scheduled for 23–24 January 2010 but was cancelled due to a lack of entries.[5] This meant that the Independent Race Series event on 16 January 2010[6] was in fact the last race meeting to be held at the circuit. The circuit continued to run open track days, where the public could drive road cars and motorbikes around the full circuit. The last day before the track closed for good was Monday 25 January 2010.
Australian Grand Prix
Oran Park twice hosted the
Australian Touring Car Championship
Oran Park Raceway has hosted a round of the
The first ever race in 1971 saw Moffat in his
Touring Car round winners
Touring Car endurance races
A number of endurance races for Touring Cars were staged at Oran Park Raceway between 1977 and 1989.
Year | Race | Winning driver(s) | Car | Entrant | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Group C | |||||
1977 | Rothmans 500 | Warren Cullen | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | Pioneer Electronics | Non–championship race |
1978 | Rothmans 500 | John Harvey | Holden LX Torana SS A9X
|
Marlboro Holden Dealer Team
|
Non–championship race |
1978 | ABE Copiers 250 | Peter Brock | Holden LX Torana SS A9X
|
Marlboro Holden Dealer Team
|
Round 1 of 1978 Australian Championship of Makes |
1981 | Valvoline 250 | Dick Johnson | Ford XD Falcon
|
Palmer Tube Mills | Round 2 of 1981 Australian Endurance Championship |
1982 | Perrier Gold Cup | Bob Morris Alan Jones |
Ford XE Falcon
|
Alan Jones | Round 1 of 1982 Australian Endurance Championship |
1983 | Oran Park 250 | George Fury | Nissan Bluebird Turbo
|
Nissan Motor Co.
|
Round 2 of 1983 Australian Endurance Championship |
1984 | Valvoline 250 | Allan Moffat Gregg Hansford |
Mazda RX-7 | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | Round 2 of 1984 Australian Endurance Championship |
Group A | |||||
1985 | Pepsi 250 | Jim Richards | BMW 635 CSi
|
JPS Team BMW | Round 2 of 1985 Australian Endurance Championship |
1986 | Pepsi 250 | George Fury | Nissan Skyline DR30 RS
|
Peter Jackson Nissan Racing
|
Round 6 of 1986 Australian Endurance Championship |
1987
|
Pepsi 250 | Jim Richards | BMW M3
|
JPS Team BMW | Non–championship race |
1988 | Pepsi 250 | Peter Brock Jim Richards |
BMW M3
|
Mobil 1 Racing | Non–championship race |
1989 | Pepsi 300 | Ford Sierra RS500
|
Miedecke Motorsport | Non–championship race |
Superbike World Championship
Oran Park twice played host to the
Australia's future five time
A number of the international WSBK riders were critical of the Oran Park circuit, particularly of the fact that many of the concrete walls that lined the outside of the circuit (especially on the outside of turns 3, 4, 9 and 12) left little to no runoff room should a rider come off their bike.
NASCAR / AUSCAR
During the mid-1990s, the Australian
Lap records
As a comparison, in November 1974, Warwick Brown set the outright lap record on the then new "Grand Prix Circuit" with a 1:05.2 lap in a Lola T332 Formula 5000. Ten years later in August 1984, John Bowe set the outright lap record of 1:03.9 in a Ralt RT4 (1.6L) Formula Mondial. When the circuit closed in 2010, the outright lap record stood at 1:01.6718 by Tim Leahey in a Reynard 92D-Holden (3.8L) Formula Holden set in July 2000. Note that in mid-1984 the circuit was changed slightly with the addition of a straight run after turn 3 heading to what was turn 5 and eliminating what was turn 4. This made turn 3, and subsequently the new turn 4, slightly faster and gave the Grand Prix Circuit 12 corners instead of 13. The result was an overall improvement in lap times of approximately 0.5 to 1 second per lap. Motorbikes continued to use the pre-1984 sequence of turns until one year before the circuits closure.
The official race lap records at Oran Park Raceway are listed as:[7][8][9][10]
Class | Driver | Vehicle | Time | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Prix Circuit: 2.620 km (1985–2010) | ||||
Formula Holden | Tim Leahey | Reynard 92D | 1:01.6718 | 30 July 2000 |
Formula Three | Michael Caruso | Dallara F301 | 1:03.9747 | 13 July 2003 |
Formula 2
|
Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk8 | 1:05.8 | 8 June 1986 |
Sports Sedan
|
Kerry Baily | Chevrolet
|
1:06.8983 | 28 July 2001 |
V8 Supercars | Craig Lowndes | Holden VT Commodore
|
1:08.0630 | 5 September 1999 |
Nations Cup | Paul Stokell | Lamborghini Diablo GTR
|
1:08.6267 | 13 July 2003 |
Carrera Cup
|
Alex Davison | Porsche 911 (996) GT3 Cup | 1:09.6224 | 13 August 2003 |
Super Touring | Brad Jones | Audi A4 Quattro | 1:10.0464[11] | 30 August 1998 |
Group A | Mark Skaife | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
|
1:10.26 | 21 June 1992 |
Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series | Dean Canto | Ford EL Falcon
|
1:10.3812 | 16 June 2000 |
Production Sports Cars | Tim Mackie | Lotus Elise HPE | 1:10.9768 | 31 May 2009 |
GT Championship | David Wall | Dodge Viper GTS ACR | 1:11.2863 | 7 May 2006 |
Formula Ford | Steven Richards | Van Diemen RF94 | 1:11.5614 | 24 July 1994 |
Group C | Peter Brock | Holden VH Commodore SS
|
1:15.34 | 27 May 1984 |
Performance Cars | Chris Alajajian | Subaru Impreza WRX STi
|
1:15.6008 | 13 August 2005 |
Invitation Sports Cars | Stan Adler | Porsche 911 Coupe | 1:15.6234 | 30 August 1998 |
GT Performance | Bob Pearson | Mazda RX-7 | 1:16.0830 | 13 July 2003 |
Aussie Racing Cars | Nick Percat | ARC Falcon-Yamaha | 1:16.6124 | 12 August 2006 |
Club Cars | Wayne Wakefield | Mazda 808 Station Wagon | 1:16.8968 | 30 August 1998 |
Touring Car Masters | Gavin Bullas | 1969 Ford Boss Mustang
|
1:18.0507 | 27 April 2008 |
Commodore Cup | Ashley Cooper
|
Holden VS Commodore
|
1:18.2003 | 22 April 2007 |
Formula Vee 1600 | Ryan Simpson | Jacer F2k6 | 1:18.8632 | 19 June 2006 |
Saloon Cars | Kris Walton | Ford AU Falcon
|
1:19.7760 | 28 October 2006 |
Production Cars | Scott Loadsman | Holden VX Commodore
|
1:20.3087 | 24 November 2001 |
Mirage Series | Warren Luff | Mitsubishi Mirage RS | 1:20.7364 | 15 August 1999 |
Porsche 944 | John Morriss | Porsche 944 | 1:21.2535 | 31 August 2008 |
Pickup truck racing | Grant Johnson | Holden VZ SS Ute | 1:21.4087 | 7 May 2006 |
Group Nb | Cameron Tilley | Chrysler Valiant S Series | 1:21.6603 | 18 June 2000 |
Formula Vee 1200 | Benjamin Porter | Jacer | 1:21.9271 | 19 July 2003 |
MG-F Trophy | Warren Luff | MG-F Trophy
|
1:23.5348 | 17 August 2003 |
HQ Holden | Vince Gatt | HQ Holden | 1:27.6977 | 15 August 1999 |
Motorcycle Grand Prix Circuit: 2.625 km (1974–2010) | ||||
Formula Mondial | John Bowe | Ralt RT4 | 1:03.900 | 19 August 1984 |
Formula 5000 | Warwick Brown | Lola T332 | 1:05.200[12] | 17 November 1974 |
Superbikes | Mat Mladin | Kawasaki Ninja ZX-7R | 1:10.2005 | 6 August 1995 |
Formula Xtreme Motorcycles | Kevin Curtain | Yamaha YZF1000R
|
1:10.8232 | 11 October 1998 |
250cc GP | Craig Connell | Yamaha TZ 250 | 1:12.9600 | 24 September 1995 |
600cc Supersports | Adam Fergusson | CBR600F | 1:13.000 | 5 March 2000 |
125cc GP | Jay Taylor | HBS 125 | 1:13.8952 | 26 August 2001 |
250cc Production | Peter Archer | Suzuki RGV250 | 1:16.7300 | 27 June 1993 |
South Circuit: 1.960 km (1964–2010) | ||||
Formula Holden | Paul Stokell | Reynard 91D | 0:37.73 | 28 August 1994 |
Formula Mondial | Andrew Miedecke
|
Ralt RT4 | 0:39.9 | 21 August 1983 |
Formula 5000 | Johnnie Walker | Lola T330 | 0:40.0[13] | 3 February 1974 |
Group A Sports Cars | Bap Romano | Romano WE84 | 0:41.1 | 19 August 1984 |
Super Touring | Brad Jones | Audi A4 Quattro | 0:42.801[14] | 26 April 1998 |
Truck racing | Ian 'Inky' Tulloch | Freightliner Trucks | 0:52.4607 | 24 March 2002 |
Gallery
-
Bowin racing car coaching clinic at Oran Park, Sydney Australia in 1975
-
Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series, Oran Park Raceway, 1989
-
1990 Australian Touring Car Championship at Oran Park Raceway
-
1992 Australian Touring Car Championship at Oran Park Raceway
-
Festival of sports cars. Oran Park, Australia. June 2009
-
Battle for the Super Lap supremacy at Oran Park Raceway in 2009
-
Oran Park Raceway being demolished on February 13 2010
References
- ^ Clyde Hodgins (18 February 1962). "New Track for Racing". The Sun-Herald. p. 59.
- ^ ISBN 0908031556.
- ^ "Champion At Oran Park". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 February 1963. p. 27.
- ^ Ray Bell, Lucky Stewart Bags AGP, Racing Car News, December 1974, page 60
- ^ NOTICE OF CANCELLATION - LAST EVER RACE MEETING 23–24 JANUARY 2010 As archived at www.webcitation.org on 7 February 2010
- ^ Race Results Archive 2010 Archived 4 September 2012 at archive.today Retrieved from www.natsoft.biz on 7 February 2010
- ^ Oran Park lap records - 2004 V8 Supercar Oran Park round official programme
- ^ Oran Park lap records - 2007 V8 Supercar Oran Park round official programme
- ^ "Australian Formula Vee tracks". Official Australian Formula Vee website. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
- ^ Natsoft Race Results
- ^ "ASTC 1998 » Oran Park Round 15 Results". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ "1974 Australian Grand Prix". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ "1974 Oran Park Tasman". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ "ASTC 1998 » Oran Park Round 4 Results". Retrieved 11 December 2022.
External links
- Oran Park Track Days Archived 15 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Oran Park Hot Laps Archived 15 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Oran Park LIDAR
- "Oran Park Race Track Details and Motorsport Sport Facilities". Norrgard Motorsport Development. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2006.