Sydney Motorsport Park Opens

Photos: Ryan Lewis

Eastern Creek Raceway has recently received $12m in upgrades to its facilities, and today it received a brand new name: Sydney Motorsport Park. This already world-class venue has now elevated itself to an all new level!

We were extremely keen to get out of the office and take a look at the developments at the track, and today was our chance with the Australian Racing Drivers' Club open day for media personnel.

The Hon Graham Annesley MP, NSW Minister Sport & Recreation was there to represent the state government who have backed this project and made it possible. ARDC President, Andrew Leithhead and ARDC CEO Glenn Matthews gave their take on why these upgrades are so important.

Most interesting for us were the demo runs from drivers and riders, with Kevin Magee giving us a look here at the new section of track from a one-wheeled perspective.

The name change to Sydney Motorsport Park reflects the venues position as the only permanent race facility in the Sydney basin.

Central to the development is the 830-metre strip of brand new tarmac, allowing for a 4.5-km Full Circuit.

The new section of track plus the build-up of two existing service roads also allows the track to be split in two and used as two independant tracks simultaneously.

Radical Sportscars are based at Eastern Creek, so naturally they were on hand to show what their machines are capable of on the new circuit.

Tekno Autosports V8 Supercars driver, Jonathon Webb, got behind the wheel of a Radical SR8 with Minister Graham Annesley riding shotgun.

Power and grip are plentiful in these cars, and the resultant speed on corner exit was truly mind-blowing. Check out the flying lap with Garth Walden at the bottom of this post for a first hand look at the new track and the speed of these Radicals.

One special guest today was this magnificent McLaren MP4-12C - a truly spectacular car to see and hear. A seat in this monster was the hottest ticket at the track.

This map shows the Full Circuit as demonstrated to us today. The V8 Supercars will utilise this layout later in the year. It's a phenomenal overall package with a great array of corners and elevation changes. New pit facilities are being built between turns four and five for the South Circuit to operate independantly.

Below is a flying lap from the roof of the Radical SR8 driven today by Garth Walden. You can experience the track as seen by the drivers. Plenty of amazing motor racing is in store at the new Sydney Motorsport Park!