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21 November 2011 | If you thought that racing at Eastern Creek couldn't get any better, think again. The ARDC is redeveloping the track into the ultimate racer's circuit.

Hold onto your helmets! Work has begun on the most comprehensive track extension in Eastern Creek Raceway's.

The ARDC engaged World-renowned track designer Clive Bowen from Apex Circuit Design to redevelop the already world-class circuit. And the results so far are spectacular!

Using knowledge and experience gained from past projects, such as the Silverstone redevelopment and designing the Singapore F1 Street Circuit, the UK-based track designer has created a racer's dream track.

THE LINK
The first part of the redevelopment included the creation of Australia's newest race track, the Eastern Creek north circuit. The 2.8km racetrack incorporates the northern half of the existing circuit, essentially cutting the standard 3.9km layout in half.

This is achieved via a freshly laid 'link road' cutting across the infield between turns four and nine, which was built with the help of a $7 million investment from the NSW State Government.

The link road is made up of a sharp left turn at turn four, followed by a fast, slightly banked right hander which has a downhill exit to rejoin the full circuit on the exit of turn nine. This means competitors approach turn 10 at a much higher speed.

HOW DOES IT DRIVE?
Australia's newest racing circuit held its first race meeting, the NSW Motor Race Championship, on the weekend of 22-23 October. And the feedback from competitors was overwhelmingly positive - video of the racing and comments can be seen in the Trackside section of this website.

The fastest racing lap of the weekend was set by Supersports driver Adam Proctor at 58.9813 seconds. The new lap record for the north circuit equates to an average speed of 170.9km/h.

EXTENDING!
That's not all! The link road is just the first stage of a complete circuit redevelopment that will see the track having the potential to run in four separate layouts.

An extension to the track, which is about to get underway, will add approximately 400 metres between the present turns seven and eight. The new section of track turns hard right just after turn seven and climbs through a right, left, right section before plunging downhill (into what was previously the concert site) to a decreasing radius hairpin. The track then climbs back up through two right-handers to rejoin the original circuit at the present turn eight.

The rise and fall of this section will be spectacular, and highly technical, offering spectators the chance to see more action than ever before in the circuit's history.

Stay tuned over the coming months... we'll be taking you on a tour of the track extension as it is built.