Action from Tasmania's home of motorsport
SYMMONS Plains holds a special place in Tasmanian motorsport history and on this release we take a look back at three classic rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship held at the Apple Isle venue.
First opened in March 1960, the venue first hosted the ATCC in 1969 and has been the site of plenty of classic races and big-name star drivers over the years.
The three rounds on this DVD release come from the Group A and early five-litre V8 eras of the championship featuring a wide range of manufacturers and models.
The first is Round 3 of the 1985 championship, the debut year of international Group A touring car racing in Australia and the field that year in Tasmania featured a turbo Volvo, local V8 Commodores, Dick Johnson’s Mustang, six-cylinder thoroughbred BMWs, Mitsubishis, Toyotas and Alfas.
Kiwi Robbie Francevic’s Volvo claimed victory in this particular round, the classic Channel 7 race coverage showing all the action as he battled Ford legend Dick Johnson, eventual champion Jim Richards and ‘King of the Mountain’ Peter Brock.
The second round on this release is the 1992 Symmons Plains event, Round 3 of that year’s championship as Glenn Seton’s turbo Ford Sierra whistled away from the chasing Sierras, Commodores, Nissans and BMWs to record a solid double win.
All of the big stars of the era are in these pair of sprint races – Seton, Johnson, Brock, Skaife, Longhurst, Richards, Bowe, Bond – and, as a special bonus, we’ve also included the support races from that day featuring Formula Brabham open wheelers and Superbikes.
To finish with, we’ve got Round 2 of the 1995 ATCC from Symmons Plains, the third year of the modern five-litre V8 rulebook pitting traditional rivals Ford and Holden against one another.
Hometown hero John Bowe and Peter Brock battle it out as the Commodores and Falcons roar up and down the long straights of the compact and action-packed layout.
Also included are the Formula Ford and HQ Holden support races from that ’95 event.
On the DVD, we’ve included all of the action we could find in the archives filmed during the commercial breaks of the telecasts, so you don’t miss a second of these important races from Australian touring car history!
This DVD is a must-have for your collection of Seven Sport Magic Moments of Motorsport titles, celebrating a brilliant era of racing at one of Australia’s long-serving venues.
Run Time: Approximately 4 Hours