Sydney 500
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|
| Race Information | |
| Venue | Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit |
| Number of times held | 8 |
| First held | 2009 |
| Last held | 2016 |
| Race Format | |
| Race 1 | |
| Laps | 74 |
| Distance | 250 km |
| Race 2 | |
| Laps | 74 |
| Distance | 250 km |
| Last Event (2016) | |
| Overall Winner | |
 Shane van Gisbergen
|
Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| Race Winners | |
 Jamie Whincup
|
Triple Eight Race Engineering |
|
Shane van Gisbergen
|
Triple Eight Race Engineering |
The Sydney 500 (formally known as the Coates Hire Sydney 500) was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Homebush Street Circuit in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. The event was a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnation, the V8 Supercars Championship—between 2009, and 2016, being the final event on the calendar each year.
The event was staged over a three-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Two forty-minute practice sessions were held on Friday while Saturday featured one 20 minute qualifying session which decided the grid positions for the following 250 kilometre race. A twenty-minute qualifying session was held on Sunday, succeeded by a top ten shootout, the combined results of which decided the grid for the following 250 km race.
From 2009 to 2013, a single 250 km race was held on the Saturday. This was changed to two 125 km races in 2014 as part of the Super Street format introduced that year. In 2016, the event returned to the original 2 x 250 km format.
Sydney had long hosted touring car events, however only at permanent circuits such as Sydney Motorsport Park and Oran Park Raceway. With Oran Park being demolished after 2008 for a housing redevelopment, and Sydney Motorsport Park failing to draw large crowds, the idea of building a street circuit at Sydney Olympic Park was devised by the state government and Supercars to create a new showpiece Sydney event. The Sydney 500, then sponsored by Telstra, was launched on 16 May 2009, at Martin Place in Sydney. The launch began with six V8 Supercars driving across the Sydney Harbour Bridge before the morning peak hour traffic.
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