WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The first event of the 2016 V8 Supercars season is here – the Clipsal 500! As the Holden Racing Team (HRT) heads to Adelaide this week, Garth Tander and James Courtney line up for their sixth season as teammates becoming the longest serving HRT driver combination ever.

HRT first raced at this event back in 1999 and has had an impressive 13 race wins and seven overall wins at the famous street circuit, and they are the only team to have ever won on three straight occasion (2001-2003). In 2016, Courtney could become the first driver to ever win three in a row.

Tander has had his share of success here too, winning three races and starting from pole position three times. He is also one of only two drivers to have lined up on the grid for every Clipsal 500 race.

Another milestone will take place on Saturday at the event with the introduction of soft tyre compounds to the one of the races. This is the first time this type of tyre compound will have been used on the streets of Adelaide.

The Clipsal 500 is 3.220kms of non-forgiving concrete and kerbs. No race at the Clipsal 500 has ever had all cars finish the race, which is no surprise considering 31 of the 35 races held at the event have featured the safety car. That means of the 2,643 racing laps completed at this event, 361 of them have been behind the safety car, that’s a whopping 13.65% of race time.

FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT

Garth Tander, #2 Holden VF Commodore
“Clipsal is such a big event in its own right and the fact that it is the start of the Championship is always exciting. It’s a really enjoyable weekend but it is also a prestigious race, so when you couple those thing together it’s a great event and I am really looking forward to getting there.”

“I have done more driving this off-season than ever before. I did the Bathurst 12-hour in early February, and I also did about five test day since I jumped out of the car at the Sydney 500. So I have done a lot of laps, albeit in a different type of car, but just being at the race track and driving is good to keep yourself sharp. The test day at Winton went well, it felt like I had not been out of the car.”

“James and I are entering our sixth year as teammates which is great for continuity and consistency. It’s a nice little milestone. From a team point of view having the same drivers, engineers, mechanics and management is a great thing.”

“When we first started working together everyone said it wouldn’t work but here were are six years later the longest running HRT partnership. It’s amazing how the experts get it right and get it wrong sometimes.”

James Courtney, #22 Holden VF Commodore
“It’s the start of the season and I am feeling good, it’s always exciting to be heading to the first event of the year. It’s been a relaxing off-season and I have been spending a lot of time with my family which has been really good because once we go racing there is little time spent at home.”

“The first race of the year is always a good one, there is always a great atmosphere with planes flying over and flame throwers. All the cars have new liveries and the feeling right before the first race is fantastic. The crowd always really gets behind the event – when you are driving around the circuit the fence is just lined with spectators.”

“Clipsal is a circuit I have always enjoyed and I have been successful there in the past. Of course I would like do well again this year. But I will approaching the event like everyone else and will just be focussed on getting the most out of the car and doing the best I can.”

“Garth and I being together at the team for six years is a great milestone and we have a good relationship. I respect what Garth does, who he is and what he has achieve, and I don’t think anyone thought we would last this long.”

TRACK FACTS

Track Length: 3.220kms
Direction: Clockwise
Average Speed: 146km/h
Top Speed: 251km/h
Qualifying Lap Record: 1.20.0084s
Race Lap Record: 1.21.0507s
Event Format: Super Street
Tyre Allocation: 24 hard tyres, 8 soft tyres