The Homebush Street Circuit, also known as the Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit, was a temporary street circuit around the former Olympic precinct at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, Australia. The track hosted the Sydney 500 and was used for the first time at the final round of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series. The circuit was used for the final time in December 2016 due to a relocation to Newcastle after it was announced the ANZ stadium precinct would be upgraded and block the track location.
Layout
The circuit was designed by Mark Skaife, who focused on creating a track with a variety of bumps, camber changes and fast and slow corners making it difficult to complete the perfect lap. It was constructed on Australia Avenue, Kevin Coombs Avenue, Edwin Flack Avenue and Dawn Fraser Avenue. 140 mature trees needed to be removed and kilometres of tarmac needed to be torn up to accommodate the race. Overall the track had a mixture of track surfaces.
V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards suggested that there were many difficult braking areas, interesting corners and good passing spots. The main straight was the single widest section of race track in Australia, while the straight along Edwin Flack Avenue was one of the narrowest. The outside of turn eight had an unusual negative camber that caught many drivers out in the inaugural race, resulting in several cars crashing into the outer barriers.
The first race was won by the Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander from pole position while, the second 250 km race was won by Dick Johnson Racing's James Courtney (who started from second position on the grid). Jamie Whincup secured winning the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series after finishing fifth in race 1 and fourteenth in race 2.
Environmental concerns
The conversion of part of the Sydney Olympic Park precinct into a V8 street-car race circuit was widely criticised. The Total Environment Centre said that the New South Wales Government overrode the threatened species law, as well as the Homebush Bay Authority's planning principals, and would cause social, environmental and economic disruption at Sydney Olympic Park. Tony McCormick, who led the team that designed Sydney Olympic Park, said "I find it truly a travesty... The site was supposed to be a legacy for generations and we can’t even make it last a decade."
Closure In 2015, V8 Supercars proposed to shorten the circuit to reduce the event's costs. This proposal failed, and in March 2016 it was announced that the ongoing costs of running the event would result in 2016 being the final running of the Sydney 500.
Lap records As of 4 December 2016, the official race lap records at Homebush Street Circuit are listed as: Category Time Driver Vehicle Date Street Circuit (2009–2016): Supercars Championship 1:27.9481 Shane van Gisbergen Holden VF Commodore 3 December 2016 Super2 Series 1:28.3668 Cameron Waters Ford FG Falcon 7 December 2014 GT3 1:28.6368 Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 2 December 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup 1:30.2244 Jonny Reid Porsche 911 (997) GT3 Cup 4 December 2011 Formula Ford 1:34.1651 Anton De Pasquale Mygale SJ13a 8 December 2013 Formula 4 1:34.2658 Nick Rowe Mygale M14-F4 6 December 2015 Touring Car Masters 1:36.8400 John Bowe Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 4 December 2016 Aussie Racing Cars 1:43.0750 Blake Sciberras Toyota Aurion-Yamaha 5 December 2015 V8 Ute Racing Series 1:43.5860 David Sieders Holden VE SS Ute 3 December 2016 Australian Mini Challenge 1:46.2661 Chris Alajajian Mini JCW R56 5 December 2010 Toyota 86 Racing Series 1:49.3997 Will Brown Toyota 86 3 December 2016 Stadium Super Trucks 1:54.9534 Sheldon Creed Stadium Super Truck 5 December 2015
See also Sochi Autodrom – a Formula One circuit built around the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Beijing Olympic Green Circuit – a Formula E circuit built around the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
References
External links Official Website of Sydney 500