Race Information | |
Venue | Canberra Street Circuit |
Number of times held | 3 |
First held | 2000 |
Last held | 2002 |
Race Format | |
Race 1 | |
Laps | 25 |
Distance | 100 km |
Race 2 | |
Laps | 25 |
Distance | 100 km |
Race 3 | |
Laps | 50 |
Distance | 200 km |
Last Event (2002) | |
Overall Winner | |
Mark Skaife | Holden Racing Team |
Race Winners | |
Mark Skaife | Holden Racing Team |
Russell Ingall | Perkins Engineering |
Mark Skaife | Holden Racing Team |
The Canberra 400, also known as the GMC Canberra 400 or Stegbar Canberra 400 for sponsorship reasons, was a V8 Supercar event on the Canberra Street Circuit in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The race only had a short life, running from 2000 to 2002 over the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend in June.
The inaugural race, titled the GMC 400, was staged in Canberra, for the first time in 2000 after what was then known as the Shell Championship Series and its governing body AVESCO, now V8SA offered Canberra a five-year opportunity to stage a round of the V8 Supercars. In the initial stages, the race was known as the National Capital 100. The race was to be run inside the Parliamentary Triangle which created some debate in the media about the appropriateness of the event for Canberra in general, and for the zone in particular. In 1999 the then Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Kate Carnell put forward the idea to the ACT Legislative Assembly. The Assembly voted to stage the event, with the only opposition coming from the Greens Party who believed that the race would create both air and noise pollution.
The Assembly voted to appropriate A$4.5million in capital works and A$2.5million for recurrent expenditure over five years to operate the event. This included the creation and removal of the concrete barriers that lined the circuit. Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation (CTEC) were given the responsibility of delivering the GMC 400 on time and within budget.