The Australia A1 Grand Prix
Eastern Creek International Raceway was built to host the 1991 Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix and is the only international race circuit in Sydney. The 2.45 mile circuit is used for car, bike and superkart racing.
The circuit winds through landscaped hills at 12 metres width, widening to 15 metres on the main straight. The circuit is tackled anti-clockwise and has a good mix of bends, turns, curves, and straights offering many challenges to the driver. The circuit ends with a typical hairpin bend followed by a wider turn into the finishing straight.
The 2005 A1 race was a gruelling contest with only 14 of the 24 starters completing the full 35 laps and some dramatic incidents and a brief period when Team Lebanon took the lead. Team France started on pole having won the sprint race but immediately dropped to 3rd after a poor start, re-taking the lead when Portugal were given a false start and finally winning from Great Britain and Switzerland. The most dramatic incident was when Japanese driver Hayanari Shimoda went off the circuit at high speed, flipping his car several times and destroying it as it slammed into the wall. Amazingly Shimoda was declared fit after some precautionary hospital checks.
Eastern Creek has excellent facilities. The 4,000 seat grandstand looks over the start finish straight and has views of 80 per cent of the track and there are also VIP suites with closed circuit TV, race times on computer screens and views over the pit lane and main straight.
The circuit is situated 25 miles west of Sydney on Brabham Drive, about a 45 minute drive from both the city and airport. From Sydney take the M4 and exit at Reservoir road, turn left into the Great Western highway and then left again into Brabham drive. From the other direction on the M4 take the Wallgrove road exit then right into Great Western and right again for Brabham drive.
The nearest train station is Blacktown, 7.5 miles from Eastern Creek Raceway.