Wanneroo Raceway

Wanneroo Raceway at a glance

Location

Neerabup, Wanneroo, Western Australia

Type

road course

Length

2.411 km (1.498 mi)

Turns

7

Direction

clockwise

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1969

Owner

WA Sporting Car Club

Capacity

50,000

Address

Wattle Avenue

Website

wannerooraceway.com.au

Track map and layout

Wanneroo Raceway is a compact 2.411-kilometre, seven-turn road course on flat bushland about 30 kilometres north of Perth, and it is best known to Australians by the names of its long line of naming-rights sponsors. Built as Wanneroo Park in 1969, it became Barbagallo Raceway in 1992, reverted to Wanneroo Raceway in 2018, traded briefly as CARCO.com.au Raceway from 2022, and now carries the MotorMall Wanneroo Raceway naming-rights banner - locals and long-time fans still use several of these names interchangeably. A separate nine-turn, 2.413-kilometre motorcycle-specific layout with revised chicanes was licensed in 2019 for bike racing after safety upgrades. The main circuit's tight, technical layout and short straights reward mechanical grip and traction over outright horsepower, and it has hosted Supercars every year since 2004 despite its modest size by national-calendar standards.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Wanneroo's headline weekend is the Repco Supercars Championship's Perth round, held under various names (Perth SuperSprint, Perth SuperNight, Perth Super 440) most years since 2004, typically supported by SuperUtes and Trans-Am Australia. The 2026 event, scheduled for 31 July-2 August, is set to be the final Supercars round at Wanneroo before the Western Australian round shifts to a new Perth Street Circuit from 2027. The circuit also hosts the Australian Festival of Speed, the WA Sporting Car Club's Night Masters Cup meeting, the Australian Improved Production Nationals, and a full year-round club racing and driver-training calendar.

Getting there and parking

The circuit sits on Wattle Avenue in Neerabup, part of the greater Wanneroo district about 30-35 kilometres north of the Perth CBD, reached via Wanneroo Road or the Mitchell Freeway. Perth Airport is the only realistic gateway for interstate and international visitors and is roughly 40-45 minutes' drive south-east of the circuit, so a hire car is the practical option for anyone flying in for a race weekend.

• Perth Airport (PER) · about 40 min drive

Search for the circuit under all of its names - Barbagallo Raceway, CARCO Raceway and Wanneroo Raceway all still return useful results for maps, directions and older race reports.

Hotels and camping near Wanneroo Raceway

There is no accommodation or camping at the circuit itself, so visitors base themselves in Joondalup, the main hub for Perth's northern suburbs about 10-15 minutes away, or in Wanneroo township itself, both of which offer motels, chain hotels and short-stay apartments. Visitors wanting beach proximity or a wider range of dining and nightlife often choose Perth's northern coastal suburbs such as Scarborough or Hillarys, roughly 25-30 minutes from the track, or the Perth CBD itself for the fullest range of hotels. Rooms in Joondalup and Wanneroo can tighten up for the Supercars weekend in July/August, so booking a few weeks ahead is worthwhile.

Where to look

Joondalup (widest choice of hotels close to the circuit, 10-15 minutes away), Wanneroo township, and Perth's northern coastal suburbs (Scarborough, Hillarys) or the CBD for more choice further afield.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Wanneroo Raceway is genuinely open to the public well beyond its Supercars weekend. The circuit itself runs supercar and drift hot-lap experiences, several independent operators run V8 hot laps and drive days, and Infinite Time Attack runs regular timed track nights and track days open to street cars with in-car instruction for newer drivers. WA Sporting Car Club members and affiliated car and motorcycle clubs also use the circuit for practice and club racing through the year.

Who runs days here

• V8 Drive Day (V8 hot laps, Wanneroo Raceway)car
• Thrill Experiences (V8 Race Hot Laps, Wanneroo Raceway)car
• Infinite Time Attack (track days and track nights)car

Typical cost: Supercar hot-lap experiences from around A$75-A$250 for a handful of passenger laps; open track days/nights for your own car typically A$150-A$250

Lap records

Spectator guide

Wanneroo's small footprint means most vantage points give a view of several corners at once, and the circuit's tight, technical nature keeps the racing close even on a short lap. General admission is mostly grass-bank and temporary grandstand viewing rather than large permanent stands. Perth's dry winter climate makes the July/August Supercars weekend a comfortable, mild time to attend, though evenings can be cool.

Best places to watch

Grass banks around the tighter infield corners give the best combination of overtaking action and multi-corner sightlines.

Weather

• Jul-Aug: Perth winter: mild days around 18-19°C, cool nights, and the season's highest chance of rain

History of Wanneroo Raceway

From Wanneroo Park to a naming-rights fixture

The WA Sporting Car Club broke ground on a permanent circuit at Neerabup, north of Perth, in mid-1968, and Wanneroo Park opened on 2 March 1969 as Western Australia's first purpose-built road racing venue. The compact, seven-turn layout quickly became the state's premier circuit, and in 1979 it hosted the Australian Grand Prix for Formula 5000 cars, won by Johnnie Walker in a Lola T332 - the closest the venue has come to a true international-calibre event.

Decades of sponsor names

In 1992 a 25-year naming-rights deal with local racer and businessman Alf Barbagallo saw the circuit renamed Barbagallo Raceway, a name that stuck through nearly three decades of state and national racing before the club reverted to the more geographically obvious Wanneroo Raceway in 2018. A further sponsorship deal made it CARCO.com.au Raceway from August 2022, and from December 2025 the venue has carried the MotorMall Wanneroo Raceway naming-rights banner - a run of rebrands that means long-time fans and search engines alike still know the track under several different names.

Present day

A major resurfacing in 2004 coincided with the return of full-time national touring car racing, and Wanneroo has hosted a round of the Supercars Championship in most seasons since, alongside Trans-Am, SuperUtes and the WA Sporting Car Club's own Night Masters Cup and Australian Improved Production Nationals meetings. Safety upgrades in 2017 and a resurfacing in 2019 brought a dedicated nine-turn motorcycle configuration into use. The 2026 Perth round is scheduled to be Wanneroo's last as a Supercars venue, with the championship set to move to a new purpose-built Perth Street Circuit from 2027, closing the book on more than two decades of top-tier motorsport at the circuit while club racing, driver training and public track days continue.

Frequently asked questions