Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about 30km (20miles) south of Launceston, Tasmania. Since the closure of the Longford circuit in the 1960s it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit is one of the longest serving circuits of the combined history of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Since 2005 it has hosted the Falken Tasmania Challenge for V8 Supercars.
In 2004, the facility received a A$3 million upgrade which included some modifications to the layout of the track, including moving the start/finish line back to a more conventional location opposite the pits. It had previously been on a curve (which is now located just after the first corner), unusual for a road course. Symmons Plains is also known for its extremely tight hairpin bend, known as Brambles Hairpin, at the end of the old front straight.
Symmons Plains Raceway is 2.411km (01.498miles) long and is very hard on brakes. The banking at the hairpin is a unique opportunity to overtake. The other overtaking opportunity is the left hander at the end of the back straight.[1]
See main article: Tasmania SuperSprint. The circuit has hosted rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship and Supercars Championship since 1969. The circuit was left off the V8 Supercar calendar in 2000 before returning in 2004 after the upgrades were completed.
From 1980 to 2021, Alfredo Costanzo held the outright race lap record by setting a time of 50.16 seconds with Lola T430 Formula 5000. The closest anyone had come since 1980 was British driver James Winslow who set a time of 50.5036 seconds on 1 April 2012 while driving a Dallara F307.
Then, that outright lap record was broken in 2021 by driver Joey Mawson. Driving a Ligier JS F3-S5000, the Australian driver set a time of 0:49.7242 seconds. In 2022, the record was improved again by himself, by setting a time of 0:48.5598 seconds.[2]
The 'Tassie Tin Tops' category included below is a combined closed car category not built to any specific set of regulations, it usually runs at major national meetings bringing together a collection of vehicles that usually compete in specific categories at Tasmanian State Championship race meetings, it usually includes Sports Sedans, Improved Production and Sports GT category vehicles.
As of August 2024, the fastest official race lap records at Symmons Plains Raceway are listed as:[3]
| Class | Driver | Car | Time | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Circuit: 2.412 km (1960–present) | ||||
| S5000 |  Joey Mawson | Ligier JS F3-S5000 | 0:48.5598 | 12 February 2022 |
| Formula 5000 | Alfredo Costanzo | Lola T430 | 0:50.16 | 23 March 1980 |
| Formula 3 | Tim Macrow | Dallara F307 | 0:50.3278 | 6 April 2013 |
| Sports Sedans | Bradley Sherriff | Nissan Skyline R32 | 0:50.6025 | 19 November 2022 |
| Supercars Championship | Mark Winterbottom | Holden ZB Commodore | 0:51.2276[4] | 7 April 2019 |
| Porsche Carrera Cup | Clay Osborne | Porsche 911 (991 II) GT3 Cup | 0:52.1160 | 18 August 2024 |
| Tassie Tin Tops | Ben Purtell | Nissan 180SX | 0:52.2713 | 18 August 2024 |
| GT3 | Bryce Washington | Lamborghini Gallardo | 0:52.5247 | 2 September 2007 |
| Super2 Series |  Chris Pither | Holden VF Commodore | 0:52.7091 | 8 April 2018 |
| Superbike | Josh Waters | Suzuki GSX-R1000 | 0:53.387[5] | 13 November 2011 |
| Trans-Am Australia | Kyle Gurton | Ford Mustang | 0:53.9755[6] | 12 February 2022 |
| Sports GT | Tony Warren | Mitsubishi Evo | 0:53.9882 | 7 April 2019 |
| Australian Formula 2 | Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk8 | 0:54.73 | 9 March 1986 |
| Formula Ford | Richie Stanaway | Mygale SJ09 | 0:55.3004[7] | 31 May 2009 |
| N-GT | John Bowe | Ferrari 360 N-GT | 0:55.3797 | 27 April 2003 |
| Supersport | Jason O'Halloran | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 0:55.493 | 10 September 2006 |
| TCR Touring Car | Jay Hanson | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR (2021) | 0:55.7811[8] | 12 February 2022 |
| Formula 4 | Cameron Shields | Mygale M14-F4 | 0:55.8236 | 8 April 2018 |
| Group A | Jim Richards | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 0:55.97 | 10 March 1991 |
| Improved Production | Jason House | BMW M3 (E92) | 0:57.0638 | 18 May 2024 |
| Touring Car Masters | Steven Johnson | Ford Mustang Trans-Am | 0:55.9563[9] | 25 February 2023 |
| Super Touring | Geoff Brabham | BMW 318i | 0:58.2963[10] | 7 May 1995 |
| Group C (Australia) | Peter Brock | Holden VH Commodore SS | 0:58.51 | 11 March 1984 |
| 125cc Grand Prix | Blake Leigh-Smith | Aprilia RSW 125 | 1:00.681 | 4 April 2009 |
| Aussie Racing Cars | Kody Garland | Ford Mustang (S197) | 1:00.8755 | 18 April 2021 |
| Group Nc | Leon Bell | Holden HQ Monaro | 1:01.5586 | 10 November 2013 |
| V8 Ute Racing Series | Ryan Hansford | Ford FG Falcon Ute | 1:01.7761 | 3 April 2016 |
| V8 Superute Series | Ben Walsh | Toyota Hilux | 1:01.8467 | 26 March 2022 |
| Moto3 | Tom Bramich | Honda NSF250R | 1:02.716 | 6 September 2015 |
| Improved Production - U2L | Kyle Smith | Datsun 1200 | 1:03:5487 | 18 May 2024 |
| Group Nb | Phillip Shepherd | EH Holden | 1:07.7233 | 25 October 2020 |
| Supersport 300 | Justin Hall | Kawasaki Ninja 300 | 1:09.166 | 6 September 2015 |
| Excel Cup | Jackson Shaw | Hyundai Excel | 1:09.9997 | 18 May 2024 |
| HQ Holden | Phil Ashlin | HQ Holden | 1:11.6103 | 25 October 2020 |
| Boost Mobile Super Trucks | Paul Morris | Stadium Super Truck | 1:12.2884 | 18 April 2021 |
| 250cc Production | Lachlan Keogh | Kawasaki Ninja 250R | 1:13.693 | 5 September 2015 |