Falken Tasmania Challenge
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|
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Symmons Plains Raceway |
| Number of times held | 45 |
| First held | 1969 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 50 |
| Distance | 120 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 84 |
| Distance | 200 km |
| Last Event (2017) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Fabian Coulthard
|
DJR Team Penske |
| Race Winners | |
|
Shane van Gisbergen
|
Triple Eight Race Engineering |
|
Fabian Coulthard
|
DJR Team Penske |
The Tasmania SuperSprint (formally known as the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Symmons Plains Raceway in Launceston, Tasmania. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship, Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship—since 1969.
Behind Sandown Raceway, which has most commonly hosted the Sandown 500 and Sandown Challenge, Symmons Plains has hosted the most events in championship history. The only hiatus for the event was between 2000 and 2003 during which the circuit received a A$3 million upgrade. The event is seen as one of Tasmania's largest sporting events, providing a variety of benefits to the local economy.
The event is staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two forty five-minute practice sessions are held on Friday while a further forty five-minute practice session is held on Saturday. Saturday features a fifteen-minute qualifying session which decides the grid positions for the following 120 kilometre sprint race. A twenty-minute qualifying session is held on Sunday to decide the grid for the following 200 km race.
When the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) was first held over a series of races in 1969, Symmons Plains was included on the calendar as the final race of the series. The race would decide the championship that year, as Alan Hamilton could take the title from Ian Geoghegan if he won the race and Geoghegan failed to score. Geoghegan's car failed to start at the one-minute signal and his pit crew push started the car. This was not allowed under the regulations of the time and Geoghegan was disqualified. Hamilton ended up finishing the race in second place behind Norm Beechey, losing the title to Geoghegan by a single point.
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