Supercars Darwin Triple Crown car-by-car event guide
Supercars heads north to Larrakia country for one of the most special occasions of the year, Indigenous Round.
For the second straight year every Supercar will be showcasing a special livery celebrating First Nations people and culture.
Whilst the event is about more than racing, there is a lot on the line at the Darwin Triple Crown as the season races along towards the halfway mark.
Download the full Supercars Darwin Round 5 Event Guide with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles HERE
Erebus Motorsport remains the team to catch with both drivers now at the top of the table.
Although Brodie Kostecki’s consistency has allowed him to maintain a solid advantage at the top of the standings, he now has his teammate for company in second, who has all of the momentum.
Will Brown has won three of the last five races and appears to have the most outright speed on the grid.
With the front of the field being covered by Camaros in Tasmania, Triple Eight Race Engineering also carried on its solid form with Broc Feeney taking another win.
In a sign of how strong Erebus and Triple Eight have been, Andre Heimgartner is the only driver outside of those teams to stand on the podium in the last four races.
Triple Eight will also field a third entry for the first time at a solo round in five years with Zane Goddard steering the Supercheap Auto wildcard.
Ford needs to fire back after a tough podium-less showing at Symmons Plains, where Cameron Waters and Chaz Mostert were the only Mustang drivers to record multiple top 10 results.
Any differences between the respective engines will come to light as cars charge down the mammoth 1.1km pit straight, while no parity adjustments are anticipated between the fourth and fifth rounds.
Although recent history cannot be a direct form guide given the differences between Gen2 and Gen3, enjoyable racing can be a certainty.
The mammoth high-speed run down to the sweeping hairpin at Turn 1 provides ample
opportunity for overtaking, plus plenty of drama, especially after the start.
The heavy braking Turn 5 is another hot spot, plus the following hairpin up in the valley where the cars are almost at crawling speed.
These are often a recipe for action, especially last year where there were three winners from as many races.
The highlight was the final race where Mostert held off De Pasquale on old tyres in a nail- biter, who knows if a similair grandstand finish will appear this year.
It was so unpredictable that it was the only round of the entire 2022 season where a Triple Eight car did not appear in victory lane.
Ford has scored 12 of the last 14 pole positions on offer at Hidden Valley, including all of the last six, but needs its teams to lift if it is to maintain this proud record.
Heat is always a factor with a forecast almost guaranteed to suggest cloudless skies all weekend.
The three 100km race sprint format stays in place and will be the second straight Super Soft tyre round.
If a driver performs a clean sweep, they will become just the third driver alongside Scott McLaughlin (2019) and Jamie Whincup (2020) to get their hands on the coveted Darwin Triple Crown.
In 2020 it was awarded to the driver, who accumulated the most points but it has since been reverted back to the original high watermark of a clean sweep.
Darwin is second of six free-to-air rounds broadcast live on Channel 7, while Fox Sports and Kayo will provide its wall to wall coverage.
Burson Auto Parts Australian Top Fuel Championship, Australian Superbikes, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Aussie Racing Cars and Combined Sedans are the support acts.
Download the full Supercars Darwin Round 5 Event Guide with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles HERE
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