The Dunlop Super2 Series (formerly known as Dunlop Series, Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, HPDC V8 Supercars Series, Konica Minolta V8 Supercars Series and Konica V8 Supercars/Lites Series) is an Australian
touring car racing
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not mov ...
competition, specifically the second tier series for
Supercars competitors. Competing vehicles are older than those utilised in the Supercars Championship series and are usually run by smaller teams with lower budgets. The series is a critical stepping stone in driver development, the pathway to the Repco Supercars Championship and a place where young drivers can hone their skills and showcase their talent in front of the championship teams.
Events
The series was first held in 2000 as the
2000 Konica V8 Lites Series and this inaugural contest was won by
Dean Canto
Dean Justin Canto (born 24 September 1980) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver. Best noted as a Supercars driver, Canto was the inaugural winner of the second-tier V8 Supercar development series in 2000, and the fir ...
. Towards the end of the season
Stone Brothers Racing
Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones's shares in Alan Jones ...
entered a car for
David Besnard
David Besnard, (born 21 January 1977 in Sydney, Australia) is a retired professional racing driver.
Career history
Starting in karts in 1991, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Easte ...
as preparation for the long distance races, in the main V8 Supercar series, the
Queensland 500
The Queensland 500 was a motorsport endurance race held at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was best known as a V8 Supercars race held from 1999 to 2002. It was also very famous for The Ford AU Falcon taking two of i ...
and the
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...
, which unlike the other races require two drivers for each competing vehicle. Since then main series teams have used the series to help get their endurance co-drivers up-to-speed, or have employed drivers competing for other Fujitsu Series teams. While originally Fujitsu Series teams were allowed to enter main series events, this has since been discontinued as all main series events are limited to those teams carrying valid franchise slots for the main series, although in limited circumstances Fujitsu series teams have been able to lease entries from main series teams.
The 2007 champion,
Tony D'Alberto
Antonio 'Tony' D'Alberto (born 9 December 1985) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently drives the No.11 Ford Mustang GT for Dick Johnson Racing as a co-driver in the Bathurst 1000.
Racing career
Formula Ford
D'Alberto began ...
, drove for the
Tony D'Alberto Racing
Tony D'Alberto Racing, was a motor racing team which competed in the V8 Supercars Championship, an Australian based motor racing series. The team, which was owned by the D'Alberto family, operated a single entry for Tony D'Alberto while on occasi ...
team, and like many of his predecessors, graduated to the V8 Supercar series in 2008, again with the family team.
From 2009 onward all Super2 Series have run on the Supercars calendar.
This series carries the colloquial title of 'Development Series' which was the name given to the series by V8 Supercar Australia between the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The colloquial title is referred to in many conversations, even though there has never been a Development Series race because a naming rights sponsor was found before the start of the 2005 season.
Started during in the 2016 year season of the Dunlop Super2 Series (Named as Supercars Dunlop Series) Car of The Future specification cars were eligible in the series.
During in the 2021 season of the series. The Kumho Tyre V8 Touring Car Series (Later named as
Kumho Tyre Super3 Series in 2019 before being named as Dunlop Super3 Series) joined alongside the Dunlop Super2 Series category for the first time as a class racing on track at the same time.
Series winners
Rookie of the Year Winners
Records (Top-5)
:''Note: bold text indicates active drivers and teams.''
References
External links
Dunlop Super2 Series website
{{V8 Supercar support categories
Supercars Championship
Supercars Development Series