Winton Motor Raceway is a motor racing track in Winton, near

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

History

The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg. In 1960 it was decided to build the track at Winton Recreation Reserve and the track was completed in twelve months. The circuit hosted its first race meeting on 26 November 1961. The circuit was immediately popular - a March 1965 meeting featuring the Neptune touring car and the Victorian Formula Two championship drew a crowd of approximately 10,000 spectators. The circuit length was extended prior to the 1997 round of the V8 Supercar championship and the upgrade included a new pit complex.

The circuit

Winton Motor Raceway has a combination of long fast straights and twisty and tight bends. It is also known as "Australia's Action Track". Dick Johnson once described the circuit being "like running a marathon around your clothes-line". The original circuit (now called the Winton Club Circuit) is in length and comprises 10 turns. The circuit was lengthened to with the cars turning left prior to the esses and a series of right hand turns added before the extension rejoins the original track at the esses. The long circuit is called the Winton National Circuit.

Layouts

File:Winton Motor Raceway (Australia) track map -- with extension.svg, National Circuit (1997–present) File:Winton Motor Raceway (Australia) track map -- original track.svg, Original Club Circuit (1961–present)

V8 Supercars

The track was used as a round in the

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

series, hosting the Winton SuperSprint. The track was one of the more popular tracks in the series with spectators, especially those who live in the area. Easy access to the track and viewing areas made it very popular. It attracts some of the biggest crowds of any of the permanent race tracks in the series. Although the circuit held various rounds of national championships such as the

Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship is a motor racing championship contested annually since 1957 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category. This category was determined by the Confederation of Australia ...

and the

Australian Sports Car Championship The Australian Sports Car Championship was the national title for sports car racing drivers sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport from 1969 to 1988. Each championship was contested over a series of races with the exception of ...

, Winton was not awarded a round of the

Australian Touring Car Championship The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the troph ...

until the start of the

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

era in Australia in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. The first ATCC race was won by then triple-

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

winner Jim Richards in his JPS Team BMW 635 CSi. That race holds its place in ATCC/V8 Supercar history as not only the first all-Group A race in Australia, but the first ATCC win by

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

and the only race in history in which there were no

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

s on the grid. Richards holds the record for most ATCC round wins at Winton with four, having won in 1985 and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

for

, while winning in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

for

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

Australian Drivers' Championship

Winton has played host to 19 rounds of the

since 1980. ''* The 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over ten rounds at five race meetings at five different tracks. Although the races were held on the same day both Rohan Onslow and John Briggs are credited with separate round wins.
**The 2009 round saw two heats. Tim Macrow and Joey Foster each won a heat while also finished second on the other heat giving the pair equal points (35) on the day.''

Australian Sports Car Championship

Winton played host to a round of the

on 7 occasions between 1978 and 1985.

Australian Sports Sedan / GT Championship

1980, 1981, 1997, 1998 and 2003 were run for Sports Sedans. 1982–1985 were run for GT style cars.

Australian Nations Cup Championship

Australian Superbike Championship

Winton Raceway is one of the most prominent Superbike races on the

Australian Superbike Championship The Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) is a national motorcycle racing championship in Australia, organized by Motorcycling Australia. History The story of the Australian Superbike Championship begins in 1980, at a time in motorcycle spo ...

racing calendar. Winton Raceway has seen riders such as

Mick Doohan Michael Sydney Doohan ( ; born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions, World Champion, who won five consecutive List of 500cc/Mo ...

, Kevin Magee and

Mat Mladin Mathew Josef Mladin (born 10 March 1972, in Camden, New South Wales) is a retired Australian professional motorcycle racer who last raced in 2009, riding a Yoshimura Suzuki in the AMA Superbike series. He won the title seven times (no other r ...

ride regularly at the venue. Formula X-treme Motorcycle Championship

Drift Attack

Winton Raceway is one of Australia's most popular Drift circuits. It hosts Australia largest drift event Drift Attack. Drift Attack is promoted by the Victorian Drift Club and offers the largest Prize Pool in Australian Drifting and is contested by Australia's 32 best Drifters in the Pro class and 32 Drivers in the street class.

Events

; Current * March: Hi-Tec Oils Super Series,

, TA2 Racing Muscle Car Series, Australian Production Car Series * April: Australian Formula Ford Series * May: Historic Winton * August: Australian National Trans-Am Series ''Race Winton'', TCR Australia Touring Car Series, Touring Car Masters, National Sports Sedan Series, AU3 Championship, Winton Festival of Speed, Winton 300 * November: Hi-Tec Oils Super Series,

, TA2 Racing Muscle Car Series, Australian Production Car Series ; Former * Aussie Racing Cars (2002–2004, 2008–2009, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2022) *

Australian GT Championship The GT World Challenge Australia, formerly known as the Australian GT Championship, is a Motorsport Australia-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship ...

(1982–1985, 2011–2012, 2016–2017) *

Australian GT Production Car Championship The Australian GT Production Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title, organised by Procar Australia Pty Ltd, for drivers of Group 3E Series Production Cars. PROCAR had first promoted a national series for production b ...

(1994, 1996–1999, 2001–2002) * Australian Improved Production Nationals (1991–1992) * Australian Nations Cup Championship (2002–2004) *

(1978–1985) *

Australian Super Touring Championship The Australian Super Touring Championship (formerly known as the Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship) was a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for Super Touring Cars. History Super Touri ...

(1993–1999, 2001) *

(1992, 1998–2008, 2017–2019, 2021) *

Formula 4 Australian Championship Formula 4 Australian Championship Certified by FIA (from 2025, the AU4 Australian Championship) is an Australian motor racing series for open-wheel cars complying with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula 4 regulations. The i ...

(2018) * Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship (2003–2004, 2007, 2013, 2022) * S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship (2023) *

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

** '' Winton SuperSprint'' (1985–1986, 1988–1995, 1997–2004, 2006–2019, 2022) *

SuperUtes Series The SuperUtes Series (promoted as the V8 SuperUte Series) is an Australian pickup truck racing competition that was launched in 2018 as a successor to the V8 Ute Racing Series. The series' events are held as a support category to Supercars Champ ...

(2018–2019, 2022) * V8 Ute Racing Series (2002–2004, 2008–2010, 2012, 2016–2017)

Lap records

As of August 2024, the official race lap records at Winton Motor Raceway are listed as:

Notes

References

External links

Official raceway website
{{Australian Superbike Championship circuits Motorsport venues in Victoria (state) Former Supercars Championship circuits Sports venues in Victoria (state)