Fast Facts: Sydney Motorsport Park SuperSprint
1. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of Sydney Motorsport Park - originally known as Eastern Creek International Raceway.
The circuit hosted its first race in November 1990, a 500-kilometre Group A touring car race won by the Commodore V8 of Larry Perkins and Tomas Mezera.The Australian Touring Car Championship/V8 Supercars Championship first appeared there in 1992 and this year marks the 20th time a championshp event has been hosted by the venue.
2. Pepsi Max Crew Ford star Mark Winterbottom has already achieved a personal-best haul of race wins this season with eight victories so far in 2015.
His previous best season was 2008 when he won seven races, which was also the year he won his first and so far only race at Sydney Motorsport Park. Winterbottom, who grew up in nearby Doonside, is only one win away from equaling the great Allan Moffat for seventh on the all-time championship race wins list.
3. Red Bull Racing Australia's Jamie Whincup continues to be buried in a winning drought with 14 races having passed since he last greeted the chequered flag first.
The last time 14 consecutive V8 Supercars Championship races were held without Whincup in victory lane was way back in 2007, prior to him winning any of his six championships.
4. Chaz Mostert could very well erase Jamie Whincup's record from championship record books this year for the most pole positions scored in a single season.
Already the Pepsi Max Crew pilot has eight poles and is within sight of Whincup's record of 13 set in 2013.
There are still 16 ARMOR ALL Pole Positions available across the remainder of the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship, more than enough for Mostert to possibly set a new marker.
5. Mark Skaife and the Holden Racing Team loom large in the history books of ATCC/V8SC racing at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Skaife has more race wins than any other driver there in championship history - 10 - while the HRT has more race wins - 16 - than any other team.
The circuit formerly known as Eastern Creek is also the site of HRT's first championship race and round win with the late Peter Brock in 1994.
6. Picking a winner and establishing a form line at Sydney Motorsport Park is tough, especially given the fact that the V8 Supercars Championship has only raced there five times in the last decade.
Making it even harder is the fact that nine different drivers - Mark Skaife, Todd Kelly, Garth Tander, Will Davison, Mark Winterbottom, Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup, Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin - have won the last 10 races held there.
7. Holden is just one pole position away from becoming the first manufacturer to score 300 pole positions in the history of the ATCC/V8SC.
Commodore drivers took the first six pole positions of the season but have only been able to claim two of the last 14 since then.
8. Nissan Motorsport's Todd Kelly will equal Hall of Famer Glenn Seton for eighth on the all-time round starts list at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The Nissan Altima pilot will start his 209th ATCC/V8SC round at the venue where he made his championship debut back in 1999 with the Young Lions team.
Kelly is due to draw level with the great, late, Peter Brock for seventh on the starts list on the Gold Coast in October.
9. Claiming pole position is no guarantee to winning races at Sydney Motorsport Park with just three of the last 13 races there won by the car starting from pole.
Mark Skaife (2007 Race 2), Garth Tander (2008 Race 1) and Scott McLaughlin (2014 Sunday) are the only men to have started first and finished first in this period dating back to 2005.
10. Three drivers - Tim Blanchard, Ash Walsh and Andre Heimgartner - are making their first career V8 Supercars Championship race starts at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Walsh and Blanchard have raced there in junior categories and finished 1-2 in the 2007 Australian Formula Ford round at Eastern Creek while all three drivers did compete at the Sydney SuperTest earlier this year.
