Track times for Townsville opener

An action-packed track schedule has been locked in for the NTI Townsville SuperSprint as the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship races in Queensland for the first time this year.

Supercars will split time on the Reid Park street circuit with a pair of support categories – the Townsville Tin Tops, which is effectively a combined sedans class, and the local North Queensland Supersprinters.

Townsville was the site of a dramatic wet race last year, involving a high-profile opening lap collision between Scott McLaughlin and David Reynolds, a rare crash for Jamie Whincup and a pitlane fire for Nick Percat.

With McLaughlin cruising to a 177-point lead in the 2020 championship following a perfect CoreStaff Darwin SuperSprint, he’ll be hoping for anything but such chaos this time around.

Last year’s Sunday race aside, Whincup has had a remarkable affinity with Townsville, winning 10 races there since its 2009 debut event. No other driver has won more than three.

With six races across two weekends coming up, it’s approaching now or never status for Whincup to claw back some ground in the points.

And with a rapid-fire schedule and a track described as a “concrete jungle” by Mark Winterbottom, there could be a hefty penalty to pay for any driver pushing the limits a tad too far.

The NTI Townsville SuperSprint will be broadcast live on Ten and Fox Sports, with streaming available on Kayo.

NTI Townsville SuperSprint schedule

Saturday August 29

8:05-8:25 – North Queensland Supersprinters – Session 1

8:35-9:05 – Townsville Tin Tops – Practice 1

9:20-9:40 – Supercars – Rookie-only practice

10:00-10:30 – Supercars – Practice 1

10:45-11:05 – North Queensland Supersprinters – Session 2

11:20-11:50 – Supercars – Practice 2

12:10-12:30 – Townsville Tin Tops – Qualifying

12:45-12:55 – Supercars – Qualifying part 1 for Race 19

1:00-1:10 – Supercars – Qualifying part 2 for Race 19

1:20-1:45 – Supercars – Top 10 Shootout for Race 19

2:10-2:30 – North Queensland Supersprinters – Session 3

2:40-3:10 – Townsville Tin Tops – Race 1

3:40-4:48 – Supercars – Race 19 (39 laps)

Sunday August 30

10:05-10:25 – North Queensland Supersprinters – Session 4

10:40-10:50 – Supercars – Qualifying for Race 20

11:00-11:10 – Supercars – Qualifying for Race 21

11:35-11:55 – North Queensland Supersprinters – Session 5

12:05-12:35 – Townsville Tin Tops – Race 2

1:05-2:13 – Supercars – Race 20 (39 laps)

2:40-3:10 – Townsville Tin Tops – Race 3

3:40-4:48 – Supercars – Race 21 (39 laps)