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Drivers to win Sydney, Supercars championship in same season

Supercars
05 Feb
As the record books show, win in Sydney, and you've a red hot chance of winning the championship
3 mins by James Pavey
  • 40% of races in Sydney have been won by the season's eventual champion

  • 62.5% of all Sydney rounds featured a win taken by the season champion

  • Brodie Kostecki the last driver to do Sydney-championship double

The first battleground of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship, Sydney Motorsport Park, has often proved a crucial breeding ground for champions.

The 2025 season will commence at the Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round on February 21-23, with a Friday night 100km sprint followed by 200km refuelling races on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets on sale now.

As the record books show, win in Sydney, and you've got a great chance at being in the championship hunt, if not champion.

Since the Eastern Creek's championship debut in 1992, 40% of races won in Sydney have been taken by the season's eventual champion, with 62.5% of all Sydney rounds featuring a win taken by the season champion.

Sydney Motorsport Park also has a 100% record of a driver becoming champion after winning a race when the circuit hosted the first round of a championship season.

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Craig Lowndes became champion in 1996 and 1999 after starting new seasons with wins in Sydney, with Shane van Gisbergen taking the first of his record 21 race wins in Sydney in 2022.

The first driver to convert Sydney wins to championship success was Glenn Seton, who went two from two in 1993, and three from three in 1997. A rookie Lowndes won the last two heats in 1996, and won again in 1999.

Mark Skaife won a record 10 races at Sydney Motorsport Park, and five of those came across eight starts in three consecutive championship seasons between 2000 and 2002.

Skaife's mantle as the dominant Sydney star was taken by Marcos Ambrose, who sealed both championships at Eastern Creek in 2003 and 2004, the years the circuit hosted two rounds. Ambrose won six of seven races at Eastern Creek in 2003 and 2004, including clean sweeps of the multi-race rounds in 2003 and 2004.

Jamie Whincup, the all-time wins and championships record holder, also won in Sydney en route to title victories in 2012 and 2017.

Then, there's van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin, who dominated the circuit in the early 2020s. McLaughlin won three of the six COVID-19 races in 2020, while van Gisbergen won at three of the four Sydney rounds in 2021, before adding another in 2022.

The latest Sydney-to-champion driver was Brodie Kostecki, who smashed the field in the 2023 opener. New Dick Johnson Racing recruit Kostecki is now armed with the chance to become just the fifth driver in 33 seasons of the V8 era to win at his first round with a new team.

Purchase your tickets here to be trackside for the first races of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship on February 21-23 at Sydney Motorsport Park.

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