By Matthew Agius
The V8 Supercar Championship Series travels to Sydney for the sole premier state round of 2006, at Oran Park Raceway, the final sprint round of the championship before the annual long-distance races.
As the final three-race round before the enduros at Sandown Park and Mount Panorama, this will be a pivotal round in the championship battle being waged between Craig Lowndes, Rick Kelly and Garth Tander. Essentially, retirements this weekend will prove costly – they can still drop this as a ‘worst round’ however none of these three men can afford to lose any ground in the points table. Oran Park has been a traditional fixture of the V8 calendar, and has been a popular venue amongst fans in recent years, but like last month’s Queensland event, has experienced upheaval in its race format over the previous few years. Generally, Oran Park has been a multiple-race round, however there was a period when it did host a three-hundred kilometre ‘mini-enduro’. In typical Oran Park fashion, this longer race was a tough act to follow and only the best polished outfits succeeded. This year’s event will feature three races, one of which will be a reversed-grid (the last for 2006) and will have only one long free practice session.
Oran Park is demanding on the car, having three races provides a double-edged sword for teams and drivers. On the upside, there is sufficient time to refine car setups in-between races, however this also means there are more chances of damaging retirements. Similar to the Suzuka circuit in
Formula One, Oran Park is so tight that it forms a figure-eight after the start of the circuit as the tarmac crosses back over itself, apart from this, and the popular dog-leg in the run to the final turn, the track is nothing else out of the ordinary – a contrast to the usually eventful racing at the circuit.
