Michael Caruso (born 25 May 1983) is an Australian professional motor racing driver. Caruso competes in the

Pirtek Enduro Cup The Enduro Cup (formally known as the Pirtek Enduro Cup for sponsorship reasons), was an award given out to the highest points scorers over the three endurance events in Supercars Championship, Supercars; the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and the Gol ...

, co-driving a

Holden ZB Commodore The Opel Insignia is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) developed and produced by the German car manufacturer Opel since 2008. Taking its name from a 2003 concept car, the model line serves as the flagship Opel car line, slotted above th ...

for

Team 18 Team 18 (formerly known as Charlie Schwerkolt Racing) is an Australian motor racing team currently competing in the Supercars Championship, running two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye. Histor ...

alongside

Mark Winterbottom Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom (born 20 May 1981) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving the No. 18 Holden ZB Commodore for Team 18. His career highlights include winning the ...

Early career

Caruso began his career in

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...

s at age 12,http://www.michaelcaruso.com.au/about/ About Michael Caruso before graduating to

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

in 2001. He moved to

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

in 2002 and won the

Australian Formula 3 Championship Australian Formula 3 has been the name applied to two distinctly different motor racing categories, separated by over twenty years. The original Australian Formula 3 was introduced in 1964 based on the FIA Formula 3 of the period and intended a ...

in 2003. Despite offers to move to

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

in Europe, he chose to join the

Holden Young Lions Holden Young Lions was a brand used by Australian motor vehicle manufacturer Holden for its young racing driver development program. First appearing in 1997, the program was operated by a number of teams over the years. In 2014 the Holden Youn ...

team in the V8 Supercars Development Series for 2004. After a poor start he quit the team mid-season. In 2005 Caruso competed in the first two rounds of the Australian Formula 3 Championship, before moving to Europe to be test and reserve driver for the F3000 outfit

Team Astromega Team Astromega was a racing team from Belgium, headquartered in Heist-op-den-Berg and created in 1995 by Mikke Van Hool. The team competed in A1 Grand Prix and Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium. History Team Astromega was created in 1995 by Belgian In ...

Touring cars

Development Series

In 2006 he returned to Australia and to the V8 Supercars Development Series with Jim Morton's Decina Racing, finishing 4th in the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

he was runner-up in the Development Series, again with Jim Morton's renamed Ford Rising Star program. He also made three main-game

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

starts in this period. The first of which was at the

2006 Bathurst 1000 The 2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was an endurance race for V8 Supercars, held on 8 October 2006 at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was Round 9 of the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series. The ...

as a replacement for Mark Porter in a

Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team owned by Brad Jones based in Albury. The team competes in the Supercars Championship and the Super2 Series. Recently they have also returned to Australian Formula Ford where Brad and Kim be ...

entry. Porter had a serious crash on the Friday of the event and later died in hospital. In 2007, Caruso entered the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (formally known as the Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The event's name, distance – and the category of cars comp ...

and

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 recen ...

with

WPS Racing WPS Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian V8 Supercar racing between 2004 and 2007. It was owned by Queensland businessman Craig Gore and sponsored by his Wright Patton Shakespeare company. History In 2003, W ...

Garry Rogers Motorsport

In 2008, Caruso was signed to compete in his first full

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in V8 Supercars, driving a

Holden VE Commodore The Holden Commodore (VE) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2006 to 2013. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VE) and Holden Calais (VE ...

for

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the te ...

, where he replaced

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 ...

. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Caruso won his first championship race at the

Skycity Triple Crown The Darwin Triple Crown (formally known as the Betr Darwin Triple Crown) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Champions ...

Hidden Valley Raceway Hidden Valley Raceway is part of the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex, located at 171 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley, from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex includes a 1 km drag racing trac ...

. He also finished on the podium at the

2009 Bathurst 1000 The 2009 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor race for V8 Supercars. It was the thirteenth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It is the 52nd race tr ...

, co-driving with

Lee Holdsworth Lee Holdsworth (born 2 February 1983) is a semi-retired Australian racing driver. He won the 2021 Bathurst 1000 alongside Chaz Mostert and finished his full-time career after the 2022 season, after nearly two decades of racing. He plans to retur ...

, and in the second race of the

Sydney 500 The Sydney 500 (known for sponsorship reasons 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 ...

. Caruso stayed at the team until 2012, only scoring one further podium in this period. Holden VE Commodore of Michael Caruso 2012

Nissan Motorsport

In 2013, Caruso moved to

Nissan Motorsport , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departme ...

, a four car team running the

Nissan Altima L33 The Nissan Altima is a mid-size car that has been manufactured by Nissan since 1992. It is a continuation of the Nissan Bluebird line, which began in 1955. The Altima has historically been larger, more powerful, and more luxurious than the Ni ...

. The team was the first to introduce a new manufacturer to the category under the New Generation V8 Supercar (then known as Car of the Future) regulations in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. The team largely struggled with the new package and Caruso finished 23rd in the championship. The highlight of the year for Caruso was at the

Winton 360 The Winton SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at Winton Motor Raceway in Winton, Victoria, Winton, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championshi ...

, where he finished second in the opening race. Caruso had been leading the race at the conclusion of the first half of the split race, however was beaten by teammate James Moffat (racing driver), James Moffat to victory in the second half. In 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship, 2014, Caruso finished a career-high 10th in the championship, despite only scoring one podium, in the second race of the Gold Coast 600. Caruso also took pole at the non-championship V8 Supercars Challenge race, a support event to the Australian Grand Prix. Having featured Norton 360 sponsorship in 2013 and 2014, from 2015 onwards, Caruso sported a corporate Nissan Motors, Nissan and Nismo livery. After another lean year in 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship, 2015, Caruso began 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship, 2016 strongly at the season-opening Adelaide 500. Caruso finished second in the Sunday race and led the championship following the event. At the 2016 CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown, Caruso won his second career championship race, seven years after his first and coincidentally once again at Hidden Valley Raceway. On the 30th of January 2019 it was announced that Caruso would lose his drive with Nissan Motorsport. He will not compete full time in 2019 and is yet to announce an ENDURO drive. File:Nissan L33 Altima of Michael Caruso 2014.JPG, Caruso placed tenth in the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship driving a Nissan L33 Altima File:Nissan Altima of Michael Caruso (Adelaide, 2018).jpg, The Nissan Altima of Michael Caruso at the 2018 Adelaide 500

Career results

Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Bathurst 1000 results

† Porter was the entered driver but was killed in a support race. Caruso would replace him.

References

External links

Official Website

V8 Supercars Official Profile

Driver Database profile

Profile on Racing Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caruso, Michael 1983 births Australian Formula 3 Championship drivers Living people Racing drivers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales Supercars Championship drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers Kelly Racing drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers Nismo drivers