Townsville 500

The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two thirty-minute practice sessions are held on Friday. Saturday features a fifteen-minute qualifying session which decides the grid positions, succeeded by a top ten shootout for the following 250 kilometre race. A fifteen-minute qualifying session is held on Sunday, succeeded by a top ten shootout, the combined results of which decide the grid for the following 250 km race.[https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/2023-nti-townsville-500-track-schedule-confirmed/ NTI Townsville 500 track schedule confirmed] Supercars 6 June 2023

The event was announced in late 2007, following the allocation of funding from both the federal and the Queensland state government.{{cite news |last=Peskett |first=Karl |date=14 November 2007 |title=Townsville to get V8 Supercars street race |url=http://www.caradvice.com.au/8042/townsville-to-get-v8-supercar-street-race/ |newspaper=Car Advice |access-date=8 September 2015 }} The event became the third Queensland event on the calendar, joining Queensland Raceway in Ipswich and the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit on the Gold Coast. However, Townsville did become the first major motor racing event to be held in the North Queensland region. The event is generally held in early July each year, which aligns with the school holidays of the Townsville State High School which borders the track.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=Townsville willing to host Supercars without crowds |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/05/14/townsville-willing-to-host-supercars-without-crowds/ |accessdate=29 August 2020 |work=Speedcafe |date=13 May 2020}}

Jamie Whincup won the first race on the circuit in 2009, a race which was later reduced by one lap after it was discovered it had extended beyond the time certain finish without being noticed.{{cite news |last1=Dale |first1=Will |title=Strange But True: The Year Townsville's Last Lap Didn't Count |url=https://www.v8sleuth.com.au/strange-but-true-the-year-townsvilles-last-lap-didnt-count/ |accessdate=29 August 2020 |work=V8 Sleuth |date=28 August 2020}} James Courtney won the Sunday race, his first victory for Dick Johnson Racing.{{cite book | title=The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years | last1=Greenhalgh | first1=David | last2=Howard | first2=Graham | last3=Wilson | first3=Stewart | publisher=Chevron Publishing Group | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-9805912-2-4 | location=St Leonards, New South Wales}} Whincup would go on to win the Saturday race again in 2010 with Mark Winterbottom this time winning the second race. 2011 and 2012 saw four consecutive wins for Holden, with Whincup winning three more races at the circuit. In 2012, Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve commenced a three-event substitution for an injured Greg Murphy with a best finish of 24th.{{cite news |last1=Pavey |first1=James |title=How Villeneuve was lured to V8 cameo {{!}} Supercars |url=https://www.supercars.com/news/how-f1-star-jacques-villeneuve-was-lured-to-v8-cameo |access-date=29 June 2024 |work=www.supercars.com |date=29 June 2024 |language=en}} In 2013, Russell Ingall broke the all time championship event starts record at the event, while Will Davison hit the fence as part of his post-race victory celebrations in the first race of the weekend.{{cite news | url=http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/06/28/ingall-to-run-commemorative-number-in-townsville/ | title=Commemorative number for Ingall in Townsville | work=Speedcafe | date=28 June 2013 | accessdate=8 September 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Mark |title=CROCS, CARNAGE & COVID IN TOWNSVILLE – The Race Torque |url=http://www.theracetorque.com/2020/08/crocs-carnage-covid-in-townsville/ |accessdate=29 August 2020 |work=The Race Torque |date=27 August 2020 |language=en-AU}} In the Sunday race, the Holden Racing Team scored a one-two finish with Tander leading home Courtney.{{cite news | url=http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/07/07/hrt-emphatically-breaks-victory-drought/ | title=HRT emphatically breaks victory drought | work=Speedcafe | last=Bartholomaeus | first=Stefan | date=7 July 2013 | accessdate=8 September 2015}} The team would repeat the one-two finish in the second Saturday race of the 500 kilometre 2014 event, with Tander winning from 11th on the grid in the one-off dual-race Saturday format.{{cite news | url=http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/07/05/tander-leads-hrt-one-two-race-21/ | title=Tander leads HRT one-two in Race 21 | work=Speedcafe | last=Bartholomaeus | first=Stefan | date=5 July 2014 | accessdate=8 September 2015}}

Winterbottom won both races in 2015 to become the only driver other than Whincup, who achieved the feat in 2012, to achieve a clean sweep of the event.{{cite news | url=http://www.speedcafe.com/2015/07/12/mark-winterbottom-takes-townsville-double/ | title=Mark Winterbottom takes Townsville double | work=Speedcafe | last=Bartholomaeus | first=Stefan | date=12 July 2015 | accessdate=8 September 2015}} In the first ten years of the event, Whincup's record was unsurpassed, winning ten of the twenty-one races held at the track.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/whincup-reignites-title-defence-after-storming-to-victory-in-townsville-400-20180707-p4zq5q.html|title=Whincup reignites title defence after storming to victory in Townsville 400|last=Jackson|first=Ed|date=7 July 2018|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=9 July 2018}} Only Tander and Winterbottom (three each) and van Gisbergen (two) won multiple races at the circuit up to 2018. 2019 saw the first wet race in the event's history on the Sunday, beginning with Scott McLaughlin and David Reynolds clashing on Lap 1 which led to tensions between the drivers and teams involved extending for over a year.{{cite news |last1=Phelps |first1=James |title=Supercars war of words stokes bitter bosses feud |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/motor-sport/v8-supercars-team-penske-boss-ryan-story-and-erebus-chief-barry-ryan-involved-in-online-spat-as-feud-escalates/news-story/c4843a0aa6339e7dee3c9e362ca37461 |accessdate=29 August 2020 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 August 2020 |language=en}} The race eventually saw van Gisbergen prevail after a chaotic race featuring several incidents and a pit lane fire at Brad Jones Racing.{{cite news |last1=Herrero |first1=Daniel |title=Van Gisbergen wins under Safety Car in Townsville chaos |url=https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/07/07/van-gisbergen-wins-under-safety-car-in-townsville-chaos/ |accessdate=7 July 2019 |work=Speedcafe |date=7 July 2019}}

The 2020 event was initially delayed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before a second Townsville event was announced to be held one week later in early September. Both 2020 events, the only Queensland events on the final calendar, used a three-race sprint format under the Townsville SuperSprint event name.{{cite news |last1=McCarthy |first1=Dan |title=DARWIN AND TOWNSVILLE FORMATS CONFIRMED |url=https://autoaction.com.au/2020/08/19/darwin-and-townsville-formats-confirmed |accessdate=29 August 2020 |work=Auto Action |date=19 August 2020 |language=en-AU}} 2021 again saw a double-header as the impacts of COVID-19 in Australia persisted, with the first of the two a return to a 500 kilometre event distance last used in 2014.{{cite news |last1=van Leeuwen |first1=Andrew |title=Townsville double-header finally confirmed |url=https://au.motorsport.com/v8supercars/news/townsville-double-header-confirmed/6626978/ |access-date=12 July 2021 |work=Motorsport.com |date=6 July 2021 |language=en}} Triple Eight Race Engineering dominated the Townsville 500, leading all but one of the 176 laps, with van Gisbergen prevailing over Whincup in both races.{{cite news |last1=Dale |first1=Will |title=HOW REYNOLDS STOPPED TRIPLE EIGHT FROM ACHIEVING RARE FEAT {{!}} V8 Sleuth |url=https://www.v8sleuth.com.au/how-reynolds-stopped-triple-eight-from-achieving-rare-feat/ |access-date=12 July 2021 |work=V8 Sleuth |date=12 July 2021}}

;Notes:

• {{note|1|1}} – In 2020 and 2021, Townsville hosted two consecutive rounds of the Supercars Championship.

;Notes

• {{note|2|2}} – Tickford Racing was known as Ford Performance Racing from 2003 to 2014 and as Prodrive Racing Australia from 2015 to 2017, hence their statistics are combined.
• {{note|3|3}} – Dick Johnson Racing was known as DJR Team Penske from 2015 to 2020, hence their statistics are combined.

• 2009: Dunlop Townsville 400
• 2010–13: Sucrogen Townsville 400
• 2014: Castrol Townsville 500 – Driven by TAFE Queensland
• 2015–16: Castrol Edge Townsville 400
• 2017–19: Watpac Townsville 400
• 2020: NTI Townsville SuperSprint{{ref|1|1}}
• 2020: Robson Civil Projects Townsville SuperSprint{{ref|1|1}}
• 2021–present: NTI Townsville 500{{ref|1|1}}
• 2021: WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint{{ref|1|1}}

• List of Australian Touring Car Championship races

{{reflist}}

{{V8 Supercar Teams}}

Category:Supercars Championship races

Category:Sport in Townsville

Category:Motorsport in Queensland

Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2009