First held 1998 Distance 120 km | Number of times held 19 Laps 42 Laps 70 | |
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The Darwin Triple Crown, formally known as the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown, is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship, Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship—since 1998.
Contents
Format
The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two one-hour practice sessions are held on Friday while a fifteen-minute practice session is held on Saturday. Saturday features a fifteen-minute qualifying session which decides the grid positions for the following 120 kilometre race. A single twenty-minute qualifying session is held on Sunday, with the top ten progressing to a top ten shootout to decide the grid for the following 200 km race.
The event has been known as the Triple Crown since 2006, and features a Triple Crown trophy, which is currently awarded to a driver who is able to win both of the races during the event and qualifies fastest in the top ten shootout. As of 2015, no driver has achieved this and the trophy has never been awarded.
History
Hidden Valley Raceway had existed for several years prior to being upgraded for its first national championship event in 1998, a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC). Russell Ingall won the event despite receiving a stop-go penalty in the first race for spinning Jason Bright. Mark Skaife had been on course to take victory in the opening race when his engine died, allowing teammate Craig Lowndes past. Lowndes' car then failed to fire prior to the start of the second race and both he and Skaife failed to make the grid. In 1999, Jason Bright took Ford's only round win of the season at the event.
Marcos Ambrose scored his first Supercars round win at the 2001 event despite not winning a race. Michael Caruso took his first Supercars race win at the event in 2009, holding off a late charge from Alex Davison. In 2015, Lowndes scored his 100th race win in the ATCC and Supercars, capitalising on a collision between Rick Kelly and Fabian Coulthard on the opening lap. In 2016, Caruso provided Nissan with their first round victory since 1992.
From 2018, the event is scheduled to feature night racing, the first in the championship since 1997.