Fast Facts: CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown

1. An amazing eight different drivers – Jamie Whincup, James Courtney, Michael Caruso, Shane van Gisbergen, Will Davison, Craig Lowndes, Scott McLaughlin and Mark Winterbottom – representing all four makes of car on the grid have led the championship at some point this year, even with just 11 races completed for the season.

2. Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin has been a track dominated in recent years by the cars of Triple Eight Race Engineering and Prodrive Racing Australia – between them the teams have won the last 11 races in Darwin in a row in a streak dating back to 2012.

3. The last team other than Triple Eight or Prodrive to win in Darwin was Stone Brothers Racing, which won on the Sunday in 2011 with Shane van Gisbergen at the wheel.

4. This year is the 19th time the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship has competed at Hidden Valley since the first event was held there back in 1998. A total of 50 races have been held in that time with Mark Skaife holding the record of most race wins – eight.

5. No driver has ever claimed the ‘Triple Crown’ in Darwin since it was first introduced in 2006. This year a driver will have to win both races plus record the fastest time in the Sunday Top 10 Shootout to claim the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown.

6. Five different drivers have won the last five VASC races at Hidden Valley – Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom, Chaz Mostert, Craig Lowndes and David Reynolds.

7. The Holden Racing Team holds the record for most race wins by a team in Darwin. The factory Holden squad has won 14 races at Hidden Valley though none since Garth Tander won back in 2008.

8. Todd and Rick Kelly move further up the list of rounds started in ATCC/VASC history books at Hidden Valley. Todd starts his 221st round and moves past Mark Skaife for sixth on the all-time list while Rick starts his 201st round and moves to 11th place past former teammate Greg Murphy.

9. The closest race-winning margin ever seen in the championship at Hidden Valley came in 2013 when Craig Lowndes beat Mark Winterbottom to the line by just 0.1165s.

10. The closest pole position-winning margin seen at Darwin came back in 2010 when Alex Davison’s IRWIN/Stone Brothers Falcon took pole by just 0.0002s over Jamie Whincup’s Vodafone Commodore.

The CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown kicks off this Friday with tickets still available. Click here for more information.