Fast Facts: Coates Hire Ipswich 400
1. Red Bull Racing Australia's Jamie Whincup will start his 150th V8 Supercar Championship round at the Coates Hire Ipswich 400.
The Holden driver becomes just the 19th man in the 55-year history of the Australian Touring Car Championship/V8SC to reach the mark.
It's appropriate Whincup reaches the milestone at Queensland Raceway. Not only is it his team's home test track but it's also where he made his championship debut (in 2002) and scored his first V8 Supercar Championship Pole Position (in 2007).
2. VIP Petfoods-backed Tekno Autosports driver Shane van Gisbergen will also achieve a milestone at Queensland Raceway - his 100th V8 Supercar Championship round start.
The Gold Coast-based New Zealander debuted at Oran Park in 2007 and becomes the 38th driver in championship history to reach the '100' milestone.
Queensland Raceway has been his home test circuit for his entire V8SC career however he's never been able to score a victory there - three third places remain his best result, the last coming in the Sunday race in 2011 for Stone Brothers Racing.
3. Ford is in something of a pole position drought in the V8 Supercar Championship given a Falcon driver is yet to claim an ARMOR ALL Pole Position award in 2014.
The last Ford driver to take pole in the V8SC was Mark Winterbottom last November at Phillip Island - a drought of 24 races and counting.
The last time a Ford driver failed to take a pole in an ATCC/V8SC season was way back in 1986.
4. It's hard to go past Craig Lowndes when analysing the potential race winners at the Coates Hire Ipswich 400, given past form at Queensland Raceway.
He's won more V8 Supercar races at the circuit than any other driver - a whopping 11.
The next best is Garth Tander with five.
5. Queensland Raceway is the home test track for seven of the 25 cars that will line up at the Coates Hire Ipswich 400 (Red Bull Racing Australia x 2, Tekno Autosports x 1, Wilson Security Racing x 2 and Erebus Motorsport V8 x 2).
Recent history shows the home teams are hard to beat there given they have claimed 10 of the last 12 races from 2009 onwards.Red Bull Racing Australia has claimed seven of those wins with Dick Johnson Racing collecting the other three.
6. There are a total of nine former Queensland Raceway V8 Supercar race winners in the field for the 2014 Coates Hire Ipswich 400.
Four drivers with wins this season - Shane van Gisbergen, Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright and Lee Holdsworth - have never won a V8 Supercar race at the circuit.
Neither Coulthard nor Holdsworth have ever finished on the podium at the circuit in their V8 Supercar careers.
7. Supercheap Auto Racing driver Tim Slade will celebrate his 29th birthday on the Sunday (August 3) of the Coates Hire Ipswich 400.
Queensland Raceway holds happy memories for Slade given it's the circuit where he scored his first V8 Supercar podium result in 2011. He backed it up with two more podiums in the two remaining races.
8. Three drivers - Dale Wood, Robert Dahlgren and Nick Percat - are making their first start at Queensland Raceway in the V8 Supercar Championship.
Wood and Percat have both raced there before in the Dunlop Series while the Swedish Volvo driver is making his very first appearance at the 3.12-kilometre circuit.
9. Repair Management Australia Racing's Russell Ingall has an impressive record at Queensland Raceway - his home test track for nine years with Stone Brothers Racing (2003-2007) and Paul Morris Motorsports (2008-2011).
The 2005 V8 Supercar Champion has started all 34 V8 Supercar races held there with 25 top 10 finishes and an impressive 20 top five finishes.
Ingall has three race wins to his name at Queensland Raceway, including the very first V8 Supercar race held there in 1999.
10. The Dunlop Series will celebrate a major milestone at Queensland Raceway with the running of its 250th race on the Saturday.
The development category of V8 Supercar racing made its debut at Sydney Motorsport Park in March 2000 and has competed at Queensland Raceway ever year from 2004 onwards.
Tickets are still available for this weekend's Coates Hire Ipwsich 400 - click here for more information.
