Heimgartner, Love kick off 50-day countdown to Perth

There are just 50 days to go until the 2024 Perth SuperSprint.

There will be two local hopes this year: newly relocated Perth resident, Brad Jones Racing driver Andre Heimgartner, and the latest WA talent to join the Supercars ranks, Blanchard Racing Team rookie Aaron Love.

Both were in Perth on Thursday, and attended a West Coast Eagles training session to help kickstart the countdown.

Love first raced at the famous WA circuit as a 12-year-old in the Formula 1000 class. In 2024, after stints in Europe, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the Dunlop Super2 Series, Love has stepped up to full-time driving in the Repco Supercars Championship in the BRT CoolDrive Ford Mustang.

WA ready to welcome back the state's favourite motorsport event

WA Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Rita Saffioti MLA, was very excited to welcome back the biggest annual motorsport event on WA’s calendar: "For more than 50 years the Supercars Championship has been coming to Perth to excite fans at the Carco.com.au Raceway, where it has a passionate following.

"Hosting national drawcard events like the Perth SuperSprint as part of the wider Supercars Championship helps attract visitors from out-of-state, boost our tourism and hospitality industries and stimulate local economies."

Pit lane rule change

Fans in Perth will be among the first to see how the new-look Live Pit Lane rule change has its impact on racing and strategy.

For the first time in WA, teams be placed in the pit garages based on their points allocated through the opening three rounds of the 2024 Championship, rather than overall 2023 performance.

With pit stops critical in SuperSprint racing, the new positioning of teams in pit lane could be one of the key factors to success at the event.

Perth SuperSprint format

Supercars will be on track for an extended practice session on Friday, ensuring fans that make their way to the circuit get plenty of action from their favourite drivers.

Both races will have their grids set by three-part Boost Mobile Qualifying Sessions.

Q1 will be a 10-minute session where the 20 fastest cars from the session will be able to progress through to Q2. Q2 will be a 10-minute session where the 10 slowest cars from the session will be eliminated and will be confirmed to start from positions 11-20 accordingly for Saturday afternoon race. Q3 will be a 10-minute session where drivers will compete for pole position and all other positions from 1-10. Once finished based on lap times the grid will be set for the start of Saturday race.

Both races are 133km in length (or roughly 60 mins), with all cars required to make one compulsory pit stop and change at least two tyres.

History of the venue

2024 will be the 45th time the Australian Touring Car Championship/Repco Supercars Championship has visited the Western Australian permanent circuit, currently known as Carco.com.au Raceway.

The first round was held in 1973 and since 1978 it has hosted a round of the championship every year bar 2010, 2020 and 2021. The WA venue holds the mantle as the circuit to have hosted the most races in Supercars/ATCC history and in 2024 will rack up races 96 and 97.

Support categories joining the show

The combined Dunlop Super2 and Super3 Series will return to Perth in 2024 and will feature ZB Commodores and Ford Mustangs driven by up-and-coming stars of the sport.

South Australian Kai Allen, the defending Dunlop Super2 Series Champion, will be one to watch as he continues his climb through the ranks towards a full-time Supercars drive in the future.

Three other support categories will make up a packed line up for fans to watch on track including the popular Touring Car Masters Series, Aussie Racing Cars and Radical Cup Australia Series.

Ticketing information

All ticketing options including corporate, grandstand and general admission for the Perth SuperSprint are available through Supercars.com and Ticketek.

The event runs 17-19 May at CARCO.com.au Raceway in Wanneroo.