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2022 S5000 calendar confirmed featuring major events, classic circuits
A YEAR filled with high-profile events and sensational circuits highlight the calendar for the 2022 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and 2022 S5000 Tasman Series, announced today.
The 2022 Gold Star season will include six rounds, while three events have been confirmed for the return of the Tasman Series next summer.
The S5000 Australia Drivers’ Championship for the Motorsport Australia Gold Star award will commence at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania on February 12-13, at the return of the popular Race Tasmania event.
A trip to the high-speed Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in March will be followed by S5000 finally making their long-awaited racing debut at the 2022 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
S5000s field had qualified for the 2020 event prior to its untimely cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was also due to return in 2021, ensuring that the categories racing debut in Melbourne will be highly anticipated.
The return to the Grand Prix will see Australia’s top open wheel category again join the Formula 1 program on the reprofiled, faster Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on April 7-10.
An event yet to be announced is set for May before S5000 makes its debut in the Northern Territory in June at the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown, at Hidden Valley.
The six-round Gold Star season will then conclude at Sandown Raceway in September, an historic location for Australian open-wheel racing and the scene of S5000s first race.
A brief break will then see the S5000 Tasman Series commence on the streets of Surfers Paradise at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, bringing big open wheel cars back to the famous street circuit once raced by the stars of Indy Car racing.
The Supercheap Auto Bathurst International will follow two weeks later, followed by a third event at the final round of the Repco Supercars Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park on November 19-20.
Discussions are currently underway with promoters in New Zealand with a view to adding events across the Tasman later in the year, or in early 2023, to conclude the Tasman Series.
2022 S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship
- Symmons Plains Raceway (Race Tasmania) February 11-13
- Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships) March 18-20
- Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit (Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix) April 7-10
- TBC (NSW) May 2022
- Hidden Valley Raceway (Merlin Darwin Triple Crown) June 17-19
- Sandown Motor Raceway (Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships) September 16-18
2022 S5000 Tasman Series
- Surfers Paradise Street Circuit (Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) October 29-30
- Mount Panorama, Bathurst (Supercheap Auto Bathurst International) November 11-13
- Sydney Motorsport Park (Supercars Championship) November 18-20
QUOTES:
DAVID CORRIGAN – Australian Grand Prix Corporation – Division Manager
“The S5000 class features some of the country’s best up and coming drivers and we’re thrilled to welcome the championship back to the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in 2022, once again shining a light on our homegrown motorsport talent.”
“The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix is a showcase of some of the world’s best drivers and we cannot wait to watch as the S5000 Championship takes on a faster and more competitive Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit come April next year.”
MATT BRAID – CEO, Australian Racing Group
“The 2022 S5000 calendar includes a great mixture of high-profile events and fantastic circuits that will really suit the cars as we continue to grow Australia’s premier open wheel series,” Braid said.
“From the streets of the Gold Coast to our debut in Darwin and a highly anticipated return to the Grand Prix and the debut of the Bathurst International, there are key major events spread throughout the year.
“Returning to Albert Park will be incredible and allow S5000 to continue a journey working with the team at the Australian Grand Prix Corporation that began in 2020 and will hopefully result in us racing in 2022. The entire category is excited to be among the first to sample the exciting new layout next April.
“Then there’s more ‘traditional’ circuits like Symmons Plains, Phillip Island and Sandown that the drivers thrive on.
“It’s a great mixture of events and circuits that will give S5000 the season it deserves after several interrupted years since its formation.”