Phillip Island 500

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Victoria (state) Phillip Island 500
Race Information
Venue Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Number of times held 13
First held 1971
Last held 2018
Race Format
Race 1
Laps 57
Distance 250 km
Race 2
Laps 57
Distance 250 km
Last Event (2018)
Overall Winner
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
DJR Team Penske
Race Winners
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
DJR Team Penske
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
DJR Team Penske

The Phillip Island 500 was an annual

V8 Supercars
and from 2017 to 2018 as a Supercars Championship event consisting of two 250 km races.

History

Background

From 1960 to 1962, Phillip Island hosted the

Armstrong 500, a 500-mile race which later evolved into the Bathurst 1000
.

1971–77

The 1971 and 1972 races were open to

Australian Championship of Makes and the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1976 and 1977
. The event name changed throughout this period according to the sponsorship (or lack thereof) each year.

Colin Bond and Peter Brock dominated the event in the 1970s, winning five of the seven events between them. In 1972, Allan Moffat won the event, in what is to this day the only Phillip Island 500 win for Ford.

2008–11

The race was revived in 2008 as two-driver endurance event for V8 Supercars, replacing the

V8 Supercar Championship Series for four consecutive years before the Sandown 500
was reinstated as the host of the 500 km championship race for the 2012 season.

This iteration of the event was dominated by the

Triple Eight Race Engineering, winning two races each. The Triple Eight entry of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup also led the other two events late in the race, before being overtaken by the Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander. The 2008 event saw Tander, driving with Mark Skaife, win after Whincup lost the lead due to an error.[3] In 2009, Tander, this time driving with Will Davison, passed Lowndes, who had a slowly deflating tyre, on the final lap.[3] For the 2010 season, a rules change forced a team's primary drivers to be split across their two cars, therefore Lowndes and Whincup were split up, with vastly different outcomes. Whincup lost a third race from the lead in three years following an engine failure, whilst Lowndes would go on to win, this time with Skaife.[3] This occurred ten years after Lowndes and Skaife had won the Queensland 500 driving together. The final running of the event in 2011 saw Lowndes and Skaife win again, leading home a Triple Eight one-two finish ahead of Whincup and Andrew Thompson.[3]
The win saw Skaife level Colin Bond as the only drivers to win the event three times.

2017–18

In 2017, the Phillip Island SuperSprint format was dropped in favour of two 250 km races, which led to the revival of the Phillip Island 500 name.[4] The event itself was marred by a spate of tyre failures across the weekend, while Ford were also able to break their 45 year drought at the event.[5]

The 2018 event was staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two thirty-minute practice sessions were held on Friday. Saturday featured a twenty-minute qualifying session which decided the grid positions for the following 250 kilometre race. A twenty-minute qualifying session was held on Sunday which decided the grid for the following 250 km race.[6] The Phillip Island event returned to SuperSprint status in 2019.

Winners

Year Event Driver(s) Team Car
1971 Phillip Island 500K Australia Colin Bond[7] Holden Dealer Team
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1
1972 Phillip Island 500K Canada Allan Moffat[8]
Ford Motor Co. of Aust.[9]
Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III
1973 Phillip Island 500K Australia Peter Brock[10] Holden Dealer Team
Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1
1974 RE-PO 500K Australia Colin Bond[11] Holden Dealer Team
Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34
1975 Phillip Island 500K Australia Peter Brock[12] Gown - Hindhaugh
Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34
1976 Rover 500K Australia Colin Bond[13] Holden Dealer Team
Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34
1977 Ready Plan Insurance Phillip Island 500K Australia Allan Grice[14] Craven Mild Racing
Holden LX Torana SS A9X
1978
–
2007 		not held
2008 L&H 500 Australia Garth Tander
Australia Mark Skaife
Holden Racing Team
Holden VE Commodore
2009 L&H 500 Australia Garth Tander
Australia Will Davison
Holden Racing Team
Holden VE Commodore
2010 L&H 500 Australia Craig Lowndes
Australia Mark Skaife 		Triple Eight Race Engineering
Holden VE Commodore
2011 L&H 500 Australia Craig Lowndes
Australia Mark Skaife 		Triple Eight Race Engineering
Holden VE Commodore
2012
–
2016 		not held
2017
WD-40 Phillip Island 500
 Australia Mark Winterbottom
Prodrive Racing Australia
Ford FG X Falcon
2018
WD-40 Phillip Island 500
 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
DJR Team Penske
Ford FG X Falcon

Multiple winners

By driver

Event Wins Driver Years
3 Australia Colin Bond 1971, 1974, 1976
Australia Mark Skaife 2008, 2010, 2011
2 Australia Peter Brock 1973, 1975
Australia Garth Tander 2008, 2009
Australia Craig Lowndes 2010, 2011

By team

Event Wins Driver
4 Holden Dealer Team
2
Holden Racing Team
Triple Eight Race Engineering

By manufacturer

Event Wins Manufacturer
10 Holden
3 Ford

Event sponsors

  • 1974: RE-PO
  • 1976: Rover
  • 1977: Ready Plan Insurance
  • 2008–11: L&H
  • 2017–18: WD-40

See also

References

  1. ^ Phillip Island 500 here to stay
  2. ^ Phillip Island 500 set to stay
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4
    .
  4. ^ Dale, Will (19 January 2017). "Supercars: Clipsal 500, Phillip Island and Pukekohe get new race formats for 2017". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  5. ^ Howard, Tom (22 April 2017). "Supercars launches PI tyre investigation". Speedcafe. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  6. ^ 2018 WD-40 Phillip Island 500 Schedule & Results Supercars
  7. ^ Racing Car News, December 1971
  8. ^ Racing Car News, December 1972, Pages 74 & 75
  9. ^ Official Souvenir Programme, Phillip Island, October 22nd, 1972
  10. ^ Australian Competition Yearbook, 1974 Edition, Pages 139 & 140
  11. ^ Australian Competition Yearbook, 1975 Edition, Pages 144 & 145
  12. ^ Australian Competition Yearbook, 1976 Edition, Pages 114 & 115
  13. ^ Australian Competition Yearbook, 1977 Edition, Pages 72 & 73
  14. ^ Australian Competition Yearbook, 1978 Edition, Pages 70 & 71
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