Held at the popular Hidden Valley Raceway, the fifth event of the 2023 season will once again pay tribute to the traditional custodians of this land and run as Indigenous round.
In celebration of the rich and timeless culture of the original settlers of Australia, the teams and drivers have made Aboriginal-inspired changes to their livery designs to honour the occasion.
Whether it be the NAIDOC Week “For Our Elders” theme on both the Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustangs and Bryce Fullwood’s Camaro or Tom Randle’s “journeys’ inspired livery, which highlights his own personal story of reliance after being diagnosed with cancer in 2020 – the newly released liveries of cars each tell a story.
Of course, the slick new liveries and cultural background of the round aren’t the only things that make this event so significant.
The Triple Crown is a hard honour to win and has proved elusive to win since being introduced in 2006 – in fact it has only ever been won on two occasions.
Awarded to a driver who wins every race over the weekend, Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup remain the only two drivers to have won the Triple Crown.
In 2019, McLaughlin was awarded the Crown for winning both scheduled races and topping the ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout, while Whincup was awarded the coveted trophy the following year after scoring the most points over the course of the weekend.
Since 2021, it has been reverted to three races and no one has come close.
However, in a new season with new cars and where two drivers have stood tallest amongst most, that hoodoo could be broken.
Those two drivers are Championship leader Brodie Kostecki and Erebus Motorsport teammate Will Brown – the two of which sit first and second on the overall standings.
While they will be hunting the ever-elusive Triple Crown, the major goal for them will be to continue adding valuable points to their tallies to move closer to a championship title.
Should they deliver on their aspirations and secure a one-two finish, Erebus will be just the seventh team to do so in Supercars/Australian Touring Car Championship history – with the feat having been achieved 12 times over 63 seasons.
Standing in their way will be their main title rivals in 2023 – Red Bull Ampol Racing, who have reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen and two-time race winner Broc Feeney part of its calvary.
The team will also welcome a wildcard entry for this weekend, with former Matt Stone Racing driver Zane Goddard to be behind the wheel of the #888 Chev Camaro.
It will be the first time in Goddard’s career that he has raced a brand new Supercar as he becomes the first wildcard driver of the Gen3 era, and the youngster will be hoping to replicate the efforts of Zak Best at The Bend last year, who enjoyed a wildcard record placing of fifth.
In addition to the main game action, the four support categories will complement the exciting weekend schedule, with the Australian Superbike Championship and Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia the
The Betr Darwin Triple Crown takes place at Hidden Valley Raceway on 15-17 June.
Schedule
Friday 15 June
10:45am – 11:15am Practice 1
2:05pm – 2:35pm Practice 2
Saturday 16 June
11:30am – 12:20pm: ARMOR ALL Qualifying – Race 13
3:25pm-4:25pm: Race 13
Sunday 17 June
9:30am – 9:45am: ARMOR ALL Qualifying – Race 14
9:50am – 10:05am: ARMOR ALL Qualifying – Race 15
11:50am – 12:50pm: Race 14
3:25pm – 4:25pm: Race 15
*All times are in ACST
The Top 10 after Perth
Brodie Kostecki – 784 points
Chaz Mostert – 684
Shane van Gisbergen – 648
Will Brown – 613
Broc Feeney – 564
David Reynolds – 533
Cam Waters – 523
Andre Heimgartner – 492
Will Davison – 463
Jack Le Brocq – 433
Support Categories
Combined Sedans
Australian Superbike Championship
Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia
Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series
Entry List
Walkinshaw Andretti United
#2 Ford Mustang GT – Nick Percat
#25 Ford Mustang GT – Chaz Mostert
Tim Blanchard Racing
#3 Ford Mustang GT – Todd Hazelwood
Brad Jones Racing
#4 Chevrolet Camaro – Jack Smith
#8 Chevrolet Camaro – Andre Heimgartner
#14 Chevrolet Camaro – Bryce Fullwood
#96 Chevrolet Camaro – Macauley Jones
Tickford Racing
#5 Ford Mustang GT – James Courtney
#50 Ford Mustang GT – Cameron Waters
#55 Ford Mustang GT – Thomas Randle
#56 Ford Mustang GT – Declan Fraser
Grove Racing
#19 Ford Mustang GT – Matthew Payne
#26 Ford Mustang GT – David Reynolds
Erebus Motorsport
#9 Chevrolet Camaro – Will Brown
#99 Chevrolet Camaro – Brodie Kostecki
Dick Johnson Racing
#11 Ford Mustang GT – Anton De Pasquale
#17 Ford Mustang GT – Will Davison
Team 18
#18 Chevrolet Camaro – Mark Winterbottom
#20 Chevrolet Camaro – Scott Pye
PremiAir Racing
#23 Chevrolet Camaro – Tim Slade
#31 Chevrolet Camaro – James Golding
Matt Stone Racing
#34 Chevrolet Camaro – Jack Le Brocq
#35 Chevrolet Camaro – Cameron Hill
Triple Eight Race Engineering
#88 Chevrolet Camaro – Broc Feeney
#97 Chevrolet Camaro – Shane van Gisbergen
#888 Chevrolet Camaro – Zane Goddard