Nearly a quarter of a century ago, Hidden Valley Raceway joined the V8 Supercars calendar in what has since become one of the season’s most popular events.
Originally built as a drag racing facility in 1985, Hidden Valley was expanded to include a road circuit the next year although it was a very spartan set-up compared to what it is today more suitable for state-based racing.
Improvements came following the announcement V8 Supercars was to make its debut at the circuit in 1998 as the Northern Territory Government contributed $2.5 million to update the facilities, which included a new front straight and pit building.
The opening event was met with huge praise by drivers, teams and fans alike as it provided plenty of drama in what was the penultimate round of the series.
It was the second event for the new Holden VT Commodore, a model which was to dominate in future seasons. Craig Lowndes made his first start in the Holden Racing Team example, taking over from Greg Murphy, who debuted the VT at Calder Park the previous round.
Jason Bright scored his first V8 Supercars pole position at the event to line up alongside Lowndes, but both made a bad start leaving a congested field approaching Hidden Valley’s first corner hairpin. As predicted, it was chaos behind as Jason Bargwanna spun collecting John Bowe, while Larry Perkins also rotated through the mid-corner.
Further problems were to follow for Bright when he lost out in a battle with Perkins Engineering’s Russell Ingall, as the Pirtek Falcon was pitched into a spin after contact penalising the title contender driving the only other VT Commodore in the field.
Skaife dominated the opening race until his engine let go approaching the finish line allowing Lowndes to take victory. The detonation left Skaife on the sidelines for Race 2 and in a double blow for HRT, Lowndes also joined him as his VT Commodore failed to start leaving the front row bare.
Race 2 was ‘The Enforcer’ at his best as Ingall took victory from near the back of the field from Bargwanna in a thrilling dice following a safety car.
Lowndes again struck trouble before Race 3 as HRT were forced to change an engine, but there were problems. This didn’t matter as the race was quickly red flagged due to a large pile up triggered by privateer Mark Poole and Wynns Racing’s Darren Pate tangling, with Bright being taken out in the shuffle behind.
In another tight battle once the race restarted, Ingall held off Bargwanna as the title battle closed significantly as Lowndes held a six-point margin back to his Castrol rival heading to Oran Park.
Of course, Hidden Valley continues to be a staple of the Repco Supercars Championship calendar and remains a favourite for all drivers.