The Supercars Championship is a
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 move ...
category in Australia, running as an International Series under
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA) regulations, governing the sport.
Supercars events take place in all Australian states and the Northern Territory,
with the
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
formerly holding the
Canberra 400
The Canberra 400 was a V8 Supercars event on the Canberra Street Circuit in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The race only had a short life, running from 2000 to 2002 over the Queen's Birthday holiday weekend in June.
Back ...
. An international round is held in New Zealand, while events have previously been held in China, Bahrain,
[Clarke, Wensley (2007), p. 16] the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
[Greenhalgh, Howard, Wilson (2011), p. 503] A
Melbourne 400
The Melbourne 400 (formally known as the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria since 2018. The 2018 edition was the first time that a championship round ...
championship event is also held in support of the
Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
. Race formats vary between each event, with sprint races between in length, street races between in length, and two-driver
endurance races held at
Sandown
Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...
,
Bathurst, and the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
. The series is broadcast in 137 countries
and has an average event attendance of over 100,000, with over 250,000 people attending major events such as the
Adelaide 500
The Adelaide 500 (also known as the VALO Adelaide 500 for sponsorship reasons) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 to 2020 and again from 2022. It is somet ...
.
The vehicles used in the series are
loosely based on road-going cars. Cars are custom made using a control chassis, with only certain body panels being common between the road cars and race cars. To ensure parity between each make of car, many control components are used. All cars currently use 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines, but since 2017 have had the option of using four and six cylinder engines, as well as turbochargers.
Originally only for
Ford Falcon
Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide.
* Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970.
* Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991.
* Fo ...
s and
Holden Commodore
The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia endin ...
s, the new generation V8 Supercar regulations, introduced in 2013, opened up the series to more manufacturers.
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
were the first new manufacturer to commit to the series with four
Nissan Altima L33s followed briefly by
Erebus Motorsport
Erebus Motorsport, (formerly known as Erebus Racing,) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki.
The team is ...
with
Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs and
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 ...
with
Volvo S60
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
s.
The series returned to a Ford and Holden duopoly in 2020 with the departure of Nissan, while Ford replaced the Falcon with the
Mustang
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...
in 2019.
Holden announced its final year of competition in 2022, to be replaced by the
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...
for the 2023 season.
History
Group 3A
![Lowndes-vr96](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Lowndes-vr96.jpg)
The concept of a formula centred around
V8-engined
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and use ...
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
s and
Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...
s for the
Australian Touring Car Championship
The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...
had been established as early as mid-1991. With the new regulations set to come into effect in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
, Ford and Holden were both keen to know the details of the new formula by the end of 1991, putting pressure on the
Confederation of Australian Motor Sport
Motorsport Australia, formerly the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), is the nationally recognised governing and sanctioning body for four-wheeled motorsport in Australia. It is affiliated with the Federation Internationale de l'Au ...
(CAMS) to provide clarity on the matter. However, CAMS was waiting to see what the
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 ...
did with its proposed international formula for 2.5- and 2.0-litre touring cars.
The new rules for the ATCC were announced in November 1991 and indicated that the V8 cars would be significantly faster than the smaller-engined cars. In 1992, CAMS looked at closing the performance gap between the classes, only to have protests from Ford and Holden, which did not want to see their cars beaten by the smaller cars. In June 1992, the class structure was confirmed:
[Greenhalgh, Howard, Wilson (2011), p. 323]
* Class A: Australian-produced 5.0-litre V8-engined Fords and Holdens
* Class B: 2.0-litre cars complying with
FIA Class II Touring Car regulations
* Class C: normally aspirated two-wheel drive cars complying with 1992 CAMS Group 3A Touring Car regulations: This class would only be eligible in 1993.
Both the
Ford Falcon EB
The Ford Falcon (EB) is a full-sized car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1991 to 1993. It was the second iteration of the fifth generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (EB)—the luxury-oriented version. It launche ...
and
Holden Commodore VP
The Holden Commodore (VP) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 1991 to 1993. It was the second iteration of the second generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VP) and Holden Calais (VP ...
ran American-based engines, which were restricted to 7,500
rpm
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
and a
compression ratio
The compression ratio is the ratio between the volume of the cylinder and combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine at their maximum and minimum values.
A fundamental specification for such engines, it is measured two ways: the stati ...
of 10:1. The Holden teams had the option of using the
Group A
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...
-developed 5.0-litre
Holden V8 engine
The Holden V8 engine is an overhead valve (OHV) V8 engine that was produced by the Australian General Motors subsidiary, Holden (GMH), between 1969 and 2000.
The engine was initially fitted to the Holden HT series in 1969 and was later utilise ...
, although this was restricted to the second-tier privateer teams from 1994 onwards, forcing the major Holden runners to use the more expensive
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
engine. The V8s were first eligible to compete in the endurance races of
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. The distinctive aerodynamics package, consisting of large
front
Front may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film
* ''The Front'', 1976 film
Music
* The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...
and
rear spoilers, was designed partly with this in mind, to give the new cars a better chance of beating the
Nissan Skyline GT-Rs in those races.
The new rules meant that cars such as the
turbocharged
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
Nissan Skyline GT-R and
Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth
The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in E ...
were not eligible to compete in 1993, while cars such as the
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986.
The initial model ...
were. However, the M3 received few of the liberal concessions given to the new V8s and also had an extra added to its minimum weight, so
[Greenhalgh, Howard, Wilson (2011), p. 324] with the Class C cars eligible for 1993 only, the German manufacturer's attention switched to the 2.0-litre class for 1994.
Cars from all three classes would contest the
1993 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for Group 3A Touring Cars. The championship, which was the 34th Australian Touring Car Championship, was contested over a nine-round series which ...
, as well as non-championship Australian touring car events such as 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 recen ...
. However, for the purposes of race classification and points allocation, cars competed in two classes:
* Over 2,000 cc
* Under 2,000 cc
Originally, the 2.0-litre class cars competed in a separate race to the V8s. This was changed for the second round of 1993 after only nine entrants were in the 2.0-litre class for the first round at
Amaroo Park
Amaroo Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day north-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1967, the road circuit served as a venue for a variety of competitions including t ...
.
With the new regulations intended to be a
parity
Parity may refer to:
* Parity (computing)
** Parity bit in computing, sets the parity of data for the purpose of error detection
** Parity flag in computing, indicates if the number of set bits is odd or even in the binary representation of the r ...
formula, protests by the Holden teams indicated that the Fords had an aerodynamic advantage after they won the opening three rounds, beating the Commodores comprehensively. After round five at
Winton, Holden was granted a new front and rear wing package. The BMWs were also allowed new splitters and full DTM-specification rear wings. Disparity between the Fords and Holdens continued to be a talking point during the next few years, with various concessions given to each manufacturer to try to equalise the two cars.
From
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
, the 2.0-litre cars, now contesting their own series as
super touring cars
Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...
, became ineligible for the Australian Touring Car Championship. They did not contest the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst, leaving these open solely to the 5.0-litre Ford and Holden models.
V8 Supercars
![Glenn Seton 1997 EL Falcon Muscle Car Masters 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Glenn_Seton_1997_EL_Falcon_Muscle_Car_Masters_2011.JPG)
The Australian Vee Eight Super Car Company (AVESCO) – a joint venture between the Touring Car Entrants Group of Australia (TEGA), sports promoters
IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image.
img or IMG may also refer to:
* IMG (company), global sports and media business headquartered in New York City but with its main offices in Cleveland, originally known as the "International Management Group ...
and the Australian Motor Sports Commission – was formed in November 1996 to run the series. This set the foundation for the large expansion of the series during the following years. The category also adopted the name 'V8 Supercars' at this time,
[Clarke, Wensley (2007), p. 14] though the cars themselves were much unchanged. A new television deal with
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
and
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
was organised, although this had
follow-on effects for 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 recen ...
later in the year.
[Greenhalgh, Howard, Wilson (2011), p. 363]
In February,
Tony Cochrane
Anthony John Cochrane is an Australian businessman, best known for event promotion and sports administration.
Cochrane was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Event promotion
Cochrane has been i ...
and James Erskine left IMG. Together with David Coe, they formed Sports and Entertainment Limited (SEL) in April 1997. TEGA would have a 75% share in AVESCO, with SEL owning the other 25%. TEGA was responsible for the rules and technical management of the series and the supply of cars and drivers, while SEL was responsible for capturing and maintaining broadcasting rights, sponsorship, licensing, and sanction agreements.
The expansion of the series began in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, with the first round to be held in the Northern Territory taking place at
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 ...
. In
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, a
new street race on a shortened version of the
Adelaide Grand Prix Circuit became one of the first festival-style events, which would become common in later years. Australia's capital city,
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, hosted its
first event on the
Canberra Street Circuit
The Canberra Street Circuit was a temporary street circuit located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. It hosted the Canberra 400 for the V8 Supercars series from 2000 to 2002.
Layout
The track, which ran through the Par ...
in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. In
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
, a championship round was held in New Zealand for the first time, at
Pukekohe Park Raceway
Pukekohe Park is a horse racing, motor racing, and community events facility located in Pukekohe, New Zealand, approximately south of the Auckland CBD, in the Auckland Region of the North Island. The venue, owned by Counties Racing Club Inc. ...
. In
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, the V8 Supercar support event at the
Indy 300 on the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
became a championship round, having been a non-championship event since 1994.
Major format changes were made for 1999, with the incorporation of the endurance races into the championship. Control tyres were used for the first time, with
Bridgestone
is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...
selected as the supplier. The series was also renamed from the "Australian Touring Car Championship" to the "Shell Championship Series", by virtue of
Shell's sponsorship of the category. Reverse-grid races were introduced for multiple rounds in 2000 before being confined to just the Canberra round for 2001. Also in 2001, compulsory
pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit la ...
s were introduced at certain rounds and the Top Ten Shootout was used at all rounds. The control tyre supplier changed from Bridgestone to
Dunlop in 2002 and the series name was changed to the "V8 Supercar Championship Series" after Shell discontinued their sponsorship.
Project Blueprint
![Todd Kelly Barbagello](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Todd_Kelly_Barbagello.jpg)
Discussions about parity had returned in 2000, with trimmed from the front spoiler of the Commodore after Holden, in particular, the
Holden Racing Team
Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...
, had dominated in 1998 and 1999. This was in response to the removed from the Falcon in previous seasons, and coincided with a trim from the Falcon's rear spoiler. The small reduction for the Holden teams was quickly addressed with both cars receiving the same front splitter shortly afterwards, but the Falcon's rear wing remained trimmed. Ford had threatened to withdraw from the series, but nothing came of this. After Holden again dominated in 2001 and 2002, a new set of regulations, dubbed "Project Blueprint", was introduced in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
to close the performance gap between the Commodore and the Falcon,
[Greenhalgh, Howard, Wilson (2011), p. 431] thus creating closer, fairer racing.
Project Blueprint was developed by Paul Taylor and Wayne Cattach, who spent two years designing a formula which would eliminate most of the differences between the Fords and Holdens.
Project Blueprint had the chassis pick-up points,
wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
,
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
, and driving position become common across both manufacturers. The Holdens were now able and required to use
double-wishbone
A double wishbone suspension is an independent suspension design for automobiles using two (occasionally parallel) wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckle ...
front suspension, similar to that of the Falcon, rather than the
MacPherson strut
The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles, and is named for American automotive engineer Ear ...
s used previously, and a Watts link at the rear rather than a Panhard. The aerodynamic packages were comprehensively tested and revised and differences in the
porting
In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
of each of the manufacturers' engines were also removed.
The performance of the new
Ford BA Falcon
The Ford Falcon (BA) is a full-sized car produced by Ford Australia from 2002 to 2005. It was the second significantly re-engineered iteration of the sixth generation of the Falcon, and also included the Ford Fairmont (BA)—the luxury-oriented ...
and
Holden VY and
VZ Commodores was fairly even for the next four years, with Ford winning the championship in 2003,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, and
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and Holden winning in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
. Reverse-grid races were used at certain events in 2006 before unpopularity with the drivers, teams, and fans saw them abolished halfway through the season.
![Mark Skaife 2009 Sydney 500 Launch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Mark_Skaife_2009_Sydney_500_Launch.jpg)
The
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 ...
caused controversy when it was introduced 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 ...
. The production model was longer, wider, and taller than the rival
Ford BF Falcon
The Ford Falcon (BF) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 2005 to 2008. It was the third and final iteration of the sixth generation of the Falcon. The station wagon body design continued until 2010, alongside the new se ...
and outside of the limits set by Project Blueprint. As a result, the VE race car was granted custom bodywork – namely shortened rear doors and a lowered roofline to meet the regulations. Despite this, the VE was approved for use in the series, along with the BF Falcon, after several months of preseason testing.
Sequential gearbox
A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox, or a sequential transmission, is a type of non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly for motorcycles and racing cars. It produces faster shift times than traditional s ...
es were introduced in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and became compulsory by the end of the year. 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 ...
,
E85
E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to an ethanol fuel blend of 85% ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume.
In the United States, the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 that ...
(a fuel consisting of 85%
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
and 15%
unleaded petrol
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic com ...
) was introduced in an effort to improve the environmental image of the sport. Carbon dioxide emissions decreased by up to 50%, but fuel consumption was increased by 30% to produce the same power as before. 2009 also had the introduction of a soft compound tyre at certain events to try to improve the quality of the racing and create different strategies.
In 2005, AVESCO changed its name to V8 Supercars Australia (VESA).
The series continued to expand during this time, with races held outside of
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
for the first time. The series travelled to the
Shanghai International Circuit
The Shanghai International Circuit () is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019 and was scheduled again fro ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 2005, originally on a five-year agreement, however the promoter of the race dropped their support and the series did not return thereafter. 2006 saw the series travel to the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, with an event held at the
Bahrain International Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrai ...
in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
.
Multiple new street circuits appeared on the calendar in 2008 and 2009, with new events held in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
in
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...
and at
Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...
. The series' Middle East expansion continued in 2010 with a second round held at the
Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina was ...
in
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
.
In November 2010, the series was granted international status by the FIA for the
2011 season, allowing the series to race at up to six international venues each year. As a result, the series name was changed to the 'International V8 Supercars Championship'.
2008 saw the separate boards of directors of VESA and TEGA merge into a single board that was solely responsible for the administration of the category. The new board of directors was composed of four TEGA representatives, two members from SEL and two independent directors. In 2011, TEGA and SEL entered a sale agreement with Australian Motor Racing Partners (AMRP), which had significant financial backing from
Archer Capital
Archer Capital is an Australian private equity investment firm based in Sydney. It was founded as GS Private Equity in 1996. Archer Capital hosts multiple investment funds which invest in businesses across a wide array of industries and sectors, ...
. This agreement saw SEL lose its 25% stake in V8 Supercars, with Archer Capital taking up a 60% share and TEGA the other 40%. A new board of directors was appointed, with two TEGA representatives and two AMRP representatives.
In 2011, Archer Capital purchased a 65% shareholding in the series with the teams owning the other 35%. In December 2021, both Archer Capital and the teams sold their shareholdings to Race Australia Consolidated Enterprises.
New Generation V8 Supercar
In the middle of 2008, a project led by
Mark Skaife
Mark Skaife (born 3 April 1967) is a retired Australian motor racing driver. Skaife is a five-time champion of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, including its predecessor, the Australian Touring Car Championship, as well as a six-time Bath ...
was organised by V8 Supercars to investigate future directions for the sport. The project had the primary objective of cutting costs to
$250,000 per car through the use of control parts and to create a pathway for new manufacturers to enter the series, provided that they have a four-door saloon car in mass production. The new formula, called "Car of the Future", was scheduled to be introduced before or during the
2012 season. The plan was publicly unveiled in March 2010 and was shown to incorporate several key changes to the internal workings of the car. The chassis and the cooling, fuel and electronics systems would all be changed to control parts, with changes to the engine, drivetrain, rear suspension, wheels and the control brake package. The safety of the cars was also to be reviewed and improved.
While the plans were well received by all of the teams, Holden Motorsport boss Simon McNamara warned potential new manufacturers to stay out of the championship just hours after the plans were released, claiming that they would "gain nothing" from entering the series.
Major changes were revealed to include a switch from a
live rear axle to
independent rear suspension
Independent suspension is any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically (i.e. reacting to a bump on the road) independently of the others. This is contrasted with a beam axle or deDion axle system in w ...
; the use of a
rear transaxle instead of a mid-mounted gearbox; the repositioning of the
fuel tank
A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propel ...
to in front of the rear axle to improve safety; replacing the windscreen with a
polycarbonate
Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...
unit; and a switch from to wheels.
In 2011, it was announced that the Car of the Future would not be introduced until
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 ...
. In February 2012,
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
confirmed that they would enter the series under Car of the Future regulations with
Kelly Racing
Kelly Grove Racing (formerly known as Kelly Racing and Nissan Motorsport) was an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team made its debut in 2009, and raced Holden VE Commodores until the end of the ...
.
Later in 2012,
Australian GT Championship
The Australian GT Championship is a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 ...
team
Erebus Motorsport
Erebus Motorsport, (formerly known as Erebus Racing,) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki.
The team is ...
announced they would be running
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
cars in the championship, taking over
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 ...
.
In June 2013,
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
announced it would enter the series in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
in a collaboration with its motorsport arm,
Polestar Racing
Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Geely Group Motorsport, formerly the Volvo factory auto racing team, and runs the FIA WTCR programme for Lynk & Co, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The team’s current drivers are Thed Björk, Yv ...
and
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 ...
.
In November 2013 the Car of the Future moniker was dropped in favour of the name "New Generation V8 Supercar".
The series continued its international expansion in 2013, with the first event in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
held at the
Circuit of the Americas
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand ...
in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
In 2015, five drivers took part in a series of demonstration races at the
Kuala Lumpur Street Circuit
The Kuala Lumpur Street Circuit was a temporary street circuit located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The track hosted the 2015 Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix for several categories and was contracted to host Supercars from 2017 to 2019. Ongoing leg ...
as part of the
KL City Grand Prix The Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix (also known as the KL City Grand Prix) was a motor racing event held on the Kuala Lumpur Street Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The track and event overlay was designed and delivered bApex Circuit Design Ltd
The ...
. This was intended to be a precursor to the series holding a championship event at the circuit in 2016, in a push from CEO
James Warburton to build series exposure in Asia. The event was later cancelled due to legal issues affecting the circuit.
Supercars Championship
In April 2016, the series reached an agreement with
Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...
to rename the series to the ''Virgin Australia Supercars Championship'' on 1 July.
Gen 2 Supercar
In December 2014, Supercars released details concerning the future of the category. New regulations, dubbed Gen2 Supercar, were introduced in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
to allow the use of
two-door coupé body styles and
turbocharged
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...
four- or six-cylinder engines. However, no teams have elected to build cars to these alternate engine specifications as of 2020. Cars are still required to be based on front-engined, rear-wheel drive, four-seater production cars that are sold in Australia. The chassis and control components will be carried over from the New Generation V8 Supercar regulations, while engine and aerodynamic parity will be reviewed.
Supercar specifications
The current New Generation V8 Supercar regulations are an evolution of the previous Project Blueprint regulations. The regulations control many aspects of the car to ensure parity between the manufacturers, allowing for minor differences in the engines and body shapes so that the cars bear some resemblance to their production counterparts. The regulations were also designed to lower the costs of building and repairing a car.
Bodyshell
The body of each car is based on its corresponding production car. However, due to the regulations governing the dimensions of the cars to ensure parity, the race cars are lowered and shortened or lengthened to meet the regulations.
As of 2020, only the
Ford Mustang GT
The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...
and
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 ...
are competing. To save costs, the front guards, passenger-side front door, rear doors and rear quarter panels are made from composite materials. The tail lamps are carried over from the road car, while the windscreen is replaced by a polycarbonate unit.
The bodies are built around a control chassis, featuring a full
roll cage
A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...
, originally designed by PACE Innovations but which can be made, or partially made, by other accredited builders, including certain race teams.
Many safety features are utilised to protect the driver in the event of a crash. The fuel tank is positioned in front of the rear axle to prevent it from being damaged or ruptured in a rear end impact. The driver is seated towards the centre of the car and extra reinforcement is used on the roll cage on the driver's side to lessen the risk of injury in a side-on collision. The cars also feature a collapsible steering column and a fire extinguisher system.
Aerodynamics
All cars have an aerodynamics package consisting of a front spoiler and
splitter, side skirts and a
rear wing
A spoiler is an automotive aerodynamic device whose intended design function is to 'spoil' unfavorable air movement across a body of a vehicle in motion, usually described as turbulence or drag. Spoilers on the front of a vehicle are often ca ...
. The aerodynamics package for each manufacturer is homologated after a series of tests which ensure that the different body styles produce near-identical
downforce
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip. ...
and
drag numbers.
Weight
The minimum weight of each car is including the driver, with a minimum load of 755 kg over the front axle. The minimum weight for the driver is 100 kg and includes the driver dressed in a full racing suit, the seat and seat mountings and any ballast needed to meet the minimum weight. Some other components also have a minimum weight, such as the engine (200 kg) and the front uprights (10.5 kg each).
Engine and drivetrain
All cars must be
front-engined and rear-wheel-drive, powered by an engine configuration, be that 4, 6, or 8 cylinders (or other) that do not exceed the Supercars accumulated engine power output and weighted average. All cars currently use a 5.0-litre,
naturally aspirated
Naturally may refer to:
;Albums
* ''Naturally!'', an album by Nat Adderley
* ''Naturally'' (Houston Person album)
* ''Naturally'' (J. J. Cale album)
* ''Naturally'' (John Pizzarelli album)
* ''Naturally'' (Sharon Jones album)
* ''Naturally'' ...
, V8-engine with indirect
electronic fuel injection
Manifold injection is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines with external mixture formation. It is commonly used in engines with spark ignition that use petrol as fuel, such as the Otto engine, and the Wankel engine. In a mani ...
, capable of producing between 460 and 485
kW (620–650
bhp
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
) at the maximum allowed 7500rpm. Manufacturers are free to choose between using an engine based on one from their own line up or a generic engine provided by Supercars. Both Ford and Holden use US-based racing engines with
pushrod
A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...
actuated valves and two valves per cylinder. Mercedes, Nissan, and Volvo used modified versions of their own engines, with hydraulic-lift valves and four valves per cylinder.
All engines are electronically limited to 7,500 rpm and have a compression ratio of 10:1.
Power is transferred from the engine to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential transaxle with an integrated
spool differential.
The individual
gear ratio
A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage.
Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...
s and the
final drive ratio
A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage.
Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...
are fixed with drop gears at the front of the transaxle allowing the teams to alter the overall transmission ratio for different circuits. The cars use a
triple plate clutch. The cars run on E85 fuel with a fuel tank capacity of 112 litres.
An
electronic control unit
An electronic control unit (ECU), also known as an electronic control module (ECM), is an embedded system in automotive electronics that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a car or other motor vehicle.
Modern vehic ...
(ECU), provided by MoTeC, is used to monitor and optimise various aspects of the engine's performance. Numerous sensors in the car collect information which is then transmitted to the team, allowing them to monitor things such as tyre wear and fuel consumption and find potential problems with the car. The ECU is also used by officials during the scrutineering process.
Suspension
All cars are required to use a double wishbone setup for the front suspension and independent rear suspension. Both the front and rear suspension systems feature adjustable
shock absorber
A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat) which is then dissipated. Most sh ...
s and an
anti-roll bar
An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels ...
which can be adjusted from the cockpit.
Brakes
The cars use
disc brake
A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...
s supplied by
AP Racing
Brembo S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of automotive brake systems, especially for high-performance cars and motorcycles. Its head office is in Curno, Bergamo, Italy.
History
Brembo was established in Paladina, Italy on January 11, 1961 ...
on the front and rear, with the master cylinders provided by AP Racing or former control brake supplier Alcon. The front discs have a diameter of and a six-piston caliper, while the rear discs are diameter and have a four-piston caliper.
Wheels and tyres
The cars use control wheels, produced by Rimstock and supplied by Racer Industries, and control tyres from Dunlop. The
slick tyre
A racing slick or slick tyre is a type of tyre that has a smooth tread used mostly in auto racing. The first production slick tyre was developed by M&H Tires in the early 1950s for use in drag racing. By eliminating any grooves cut into the tre ...
is available in both hard and soft compounds, with teams required to use either or both compounds in each race, depending on the event. A grooved
wet tyre
Rain tires or wet tires ("tyres" in British English, commonly shortened to wets) are special tyres used in motorsport in wet weather as opposed to a slick tyre used in dry conditions. They are very similar in many ways to the tyres found on norma ...
is used in damp conditions.
Cost
The New Generation V8 Supercar regulations were intended to reduce the cost of building a car (without engine) from around
$450,000 to $250,000,
with the cost of an engine coming down from around $120,000 to $50,000.
Unfortunately the regulations didn't reduce the costs of making a new Supercar with costs estimated to be around $600,000 for a new car.
The costs of competing in the championship are considerably higher than the purchase price of a car. There is no budget cap, though caps have been proposed. One estimate puts the season cost for teams at "1.2 to 3 million (Australian) dollars per car" per season.
Series structure
Teams and drivers
In order to compete in the Supercars Championship, drivers are required to hold a CAMS National Circuit Competition Licence, or a licence of an equivalent or higher level. Each car entered is required to have a Teams Racing Charter (TRC), formerly known as a Racing Entitlements Contract. A TRC is a contract between Supercars and a team which outlines the team's entitlements and obligations. TRCs may be leased by their owners to another party for a maximum of two years, after which the owner must either use it themselves or sell it. A racing number is tied to each TRC, with teams able to apply for a TRC number to be changed. The defending series champion is entitled to use the number 1, with the original TRC number of that car reserved and not able to be used by another team without the agreement of its owner.
The TRCs were originally issued in 1999. Known as TEGA franchise agreements, they were divided into three categories – Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Twelve Level 1 franchises were issued to those teams that had competed in the series full-time since its inception in 1997:
A thirteenth was later issued to
Bob Forbes Racing
Bob Forbes Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship between 1988 and 1993.
History
Bob Forbes Racing was founded in 1988 by former Australian touring car competitor Bob Forbes. A partia ...
. A Level 1 franchise required a team to race at least one car at all events, and at various times allowed a team to enter up to four cars. Other teams received Level 2 and Level 3 franchises based on their level of participation.
[ The structure was changed a number of times before the present system of 28 RECs was arrived at in 2011. Supercars bought a number of RECs as they became available in order to achieve a long-held desire to reduce the field to 28 cars.
At the end of 2013, ]Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. The team was sold to Phil Munday and re-branded as 23Red Racing at the end of 2017.
Background
Lucas Dumbrell comes f ...
, 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 ...
and Triple F Racing
Triple F Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 2009 and 2013. The team was based on the Gold Coast in Queensland but continued to have strong links with the team's origi ...
each returned a REC to Supercars. These were put up for sale in 2014, but no bids were received. One was reclaimed by Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in 2015 after a legal fight. At the end of 2014, a further REC was returned by James Rosenberg Racing
James Rosenberg Racing was a V8 Supercar racing team owned by South Australian agricultural business identity, James Rosenberg. The team was reformed in 2010 with Tim Slade as the team's driver after a toe-in-the water year working with Paul Mo ...
. In April 2015, Supercars launched a tender for one REC for the 2016 season, with Triple Eight the successful bidder.
Teams consist of one to four cars, with most one-car teams forming a technical alliance with a larger team. Only the REC holders are allowed to compete at each event, although "wildcard" entries are accepted for the endurance races, with a maximum of six extra cars on top of the regular 28. Both Supercars and Development Series teams have entered wildcard entries in previous years. In 2014, the first wildcard entry for a sprint race was issued when Dick Johnson Racing
Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske), is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison respective ...
entered a third car for Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 and 2004.
In 2006, Ambrose relocated to the Un ...
at the Sydney 500.
Teams are required to employ a co-driver for each car during the three endurance races due to the increased race distance and the need for driver substitutions during the race. Teams were able to pair their full-time drivers in one car until a rule change in 2010 that required each full-time driver to remain in his own car and be joined by a co-driver not competing full-time in the series. The Drivers Championship title is awarded to the driver who accumulates the most points over the course of the season. If there is a points tie for the series win, the champion will be decided based on the number of races won by each driver (if there is still a tie, it is based on second-place finishes and so on). Teams also compete for the Teams Championship, with the champion team being decided in the same manner as the Drivers Championship. For Teams Championship points scoring purposes, teams with four cars are separated into a pair of two-car teams, while teams with three cars are split into a two-car team and a single-car team. The Teams Championship dictates the pit lane order for the following season.
The defending driver has the right to carry the number 1 the following year. However, Shane van Gisbergen
Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989) is a New Zealand racing driver in the Supercars Championship racing in the Number 97 Holden ZB Commodore car for Triple Eight Race Engineering. With three Supercars Championship wins (2016, 2021, 202 ...
and Scott McLaughlin
Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously raced in the Supercars Championship, in which he won ...
elected to retain their existing numbers in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Development series
A second-tier series, the Dunlop Super2 Series, is run as a support category to the main series at certain events. Initially for privateers who did not have the funding of the professional teams in the late 1990s, the series now serves the dual purpose of developing young drivers before they compete in the main series and a means for main series teams to give their endurance co-drivers more racing experience prior to the endurance races. Teams in the Dunlop Super2 Series compete with cars previously used in the main series.
A third V8 Supercar-based series, the Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series, has been run since 2008 but has no involvement with the Supercars Championship or Dunlop Super2 Series, instead running on the programme of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships
The Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships is a series of motor racing events held across five states of Australia. It was first held as the CAMS National Racing Championships in 2006 and adopted its present name the following year when it g ...
. However, since 2016, several rounds have been run as support categories at Supercars events.
Race formats
There are four types of events held in Supercars, each with its own race format: SuperSprint events, International SuperSprint events, SuperStreet events and Enduro Cup events.
SuperSprint
The SuperSprint format is used at the Tasmania SuperSprint
The Tasmania SuperSprint (formally known as the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Symmons Plains Raceway in Launceston, Tasmania. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championshi ...
, Phillip Island SuperSprint
The Phillip Island SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The event was a semi-regular part of the Supercars Championship, and its previous incarnation ...
, Perth SuperNight, Winton SuperSprint
The Winton SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Winton Motor Raceway in Winton, Victoria. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car C ...
, Darwin 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 Championshi ...
, Ipswich SuperSprint
The Ipswich SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland. The event was a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Shell Championship Serie ...
, The Bend SuperSprint
The Bend SuperSprint (formally known as the OTR SuperSprint – The Bend) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at The Bend Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend, South Australia since 2018. In 2020, after originally being intended to be ...
.
The Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park events feature a single one-hour practice session on Saturday, while all other SuperSprint events have two one-hour practice sessions on the Friday with a fifteen-minute practice session on Saturday. The Winton and Ipswich events feature an extra thirty-minute session on Friday for endurance co-drivers. The SuperSprint format features a fifteen-minute qualifying session held on Saturday to decide the grid for the race on the same day. A single twenty-minute session is held on Sunday morning to decide the grid for the Sunday race. The Darwin event also features a top ten shootout (a session where the fastest ten qualifiers complete one flying lap each to determine the top ten on the grid) following the Sunday qualifying session. A single race is held on Saturday with a single race held on Sunday.
International SuperSprint
The International SuperSprint format is used at the Auckland SuperSprint
The Auckland SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Pukekohe Park Raceway in Pukekohe, New Zealand. The event was a regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Shell Championship Ser ...
.
Three thirty-minute practice sessions are held on Friday, while Saturday and Sunday both consist of two ten-minute qualifying sessions which set the grid for the pair of races held on each day.
SuperStreet
The SuperStreet format is used at the Melbourne 400
The Melbourne 400 (formally known as the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria since 2018. The 2018 edition was the first time that a championship round ...
, Townsville 400
The Townsville 500 (formally known as the NTI Townsville 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held on the Reid Park Street Circuit in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The event has been held since 2009.
The event was known as t ...
and Newcastle 500
The Newcastle 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Thrifty Newcastle 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Newcastle Street Circuit in Newcastle, New South Wales since 2017. The event has not been held since 2019 ...
.
Two forty-minute practice sessions take place on the Friday at each SuperStreet event, while a twenty-minute practice session is held on the Saturday at Adelaide. The Adelaide event features a twenty-minute qualifying session on Friday to determine the grid for the Saturday race, while the Townsville and Newcastle events have a single twenty-minute session on Saturday. All three events feature a twenty-minute session followed by a top ten shootout on Sunday. Both the Adelaide 500 and the Newcastle 500 feature a single race on each of Saturday and Sunday, while the Townsville and Melbourne event features a race on each of Saturday and Sunday.
Enduro Cup
Until 2020, there were three endurance events held during the year: 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 ...
, 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 recen ...
and the Gold Coast 600
The Gold Coast 500 (formally known as the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The event has been a regular part o ...
. These events require two drivers per car and together they form the Enduro Cup, a prize awarded to the driver or drivers who score the most points across the three events.
The Sandown 500 and the Gold Coast 600 both featured three thirty-minute practice sessions held on Friday, with Sandown having an extra session on Saturday. Practice for the Bathurst 1000 consists of six one-hour sessions held across Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Qualifying for the Sandown 500 involves a twenty-minute session followed by a pair of "qualifying races" held on Saturday. The grid for the first race is based on the qualifying session; the grid for the second race is based on the results of the first. The results of the second race determine the grid for the main race on Sunday. Co-drivers must compete in the first of the qualifying races while the main driver must compete in the second. The Bathurst 1000 features a single forty-minute qualifying session on Friday afternoon followed by a top ten shootout on Saturday. The Gold Coast 600 has two twenty-minute qualifying sessions, one each on Saturday and Sunday, with the Sunday session followed by a top ten shootout. The Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 both have a twenty-minute warm-up session on Sunday morning.
The Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000 feature single races held on Sunday, at and in length respectively. The Gold Coast 600 consists of two races with one held on Saturday and one on Sunday. Since 2020, there has only been one endurance event, the Bathurst 1000.
Points system
Points are awarded as follows at all championship events. Various different points scales are applied to events having one, two, three or four races, ensuring that a driver will be awarded 300 points for winning all races at any event. Points are awarded to all cars that have covered 75% of the race distance, provided they are running at the completion of the final lap and with a final lap time within 200% of the race winner's fastest lap. At the endurance events, both drivers earn the total points awarded to the finishing position of the car.
Notable events
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000, also known as the "Great Race" and held in some form since 1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, is the most famous race on the Supercars calendar, as well as the longest both in terms of race distance and race time. The race is run over 161 laps of the Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...
, in total, taking between six and seven hours to complete. The event has historically attracted crowds of nearly 200,000 people. The Peter Brock Trophy, named after nine-time Bathurst 1000 winner Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...
, is awarded to the winners of the race. The trophy was introduced in 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
following Brock's death in a crash at the Targa West
Targa West was a rally racing, rally event held in and around Perth, Western Australia between 2005 and 2021. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily, as well as more recent Australian ...
rally one month prior to the race.
Adelaide 500
The Adelaide 500
The Adelaide 500 (also known as the VALO Adelaide 500 for sponsorship reasons) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 to 2020 and again from 2022. It is somet ...
, also known as the "Clipsal 500" and "Superloop 500" under former sponsorship names, is the premier car race in South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It is the largest 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 ...
race in the country by crowd numbers. Beginning in 1999, the race is held in the eastern streets of the Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
CBD, on a reduced version of the Adelaide Street Circuit
The Adelaide Street Circuit (also known as the Adelaide Parklands Circuit) is a temporary street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the Adelaide central business district in South Australia, Australia.
The "Grand Prix" version of t ...
previously used by the Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
. After being shut down in 2020 by former Liberal premier Steven Marshall
Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is an Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He has been a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...
over alleged "cost-blow outs" due to Coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
, the race has been revived by the victory of SA Labor Leader Peter Malinauskas
Peter Bryden Malinauskas ( ; born 14 August 1980) is an Australian politician, serving as the 47th and current premier of South Australia since March 2022. He has been the leader of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party (AL ...
in the 2022 South Australian state election
The 2022 South Australian state election was held on 19 March 2022 to elect members to the 55th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 2018 election), and half th ...
, and is set for a blockbuster return in early December 2022, with Supercars Australia committed to bringing it back "bigger then ever". Held over four days, the event consists of two 250 kilometre races for the 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 ...
, and additionary practise and qualifying races. The event has several categories of races throughout the four days, including Super2 Series
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 competition, specifical ...
, Formula 5000
Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...
, SuperUtes Series
The SuperUtes Series (known for commercial reasons as the Haltech V8 SuperUte Series) is an Australian pickup truck racing competition that was launched in 2018 as a successor to the V8 Ute Racing Series. The series' events are held as a support ca ...
, Touring Car Masters
The Touring Car Masters is an Australian motor racing series open to modified Touring car racing, touring cars manufactured between 1 January 1963 and 31 December 1978.[Australian GT
The Australian GT Championship is a CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 title was contested over a single race a ...]
, and the Australian Carrera Cup
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia (known commercially as the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia) is an Australian motor racing series open to Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. First held in 2003, it is administered by Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd ...
as well as others. The race is accompanied by live music performances, of which the likes of Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
, Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...
and Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
have previously performed, as well as food, activities, and an RAAF
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
F/A 18A Hornet display each day in the skies above the city. The last champion of the Adelaide 500
The Adelaide 500 (also known as the VALO Adelaide 500 for sponsorship reasons) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 to 2020 and again from 2022. It is somet ...
was Scott Mclaughlin
Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously raced in the Supercars Championship, in which he won ...
in 2020.
Sandown 500
The Sandown 500 was first held as a six-hour race in 1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
and has been labelled as the traditional "Bathurst warm-up" race. Like the Bathurst 1000, the Sandown 500 is run over 161 laps. Due to the shorter track length of Sandown Raceway
Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its " drag strip" front and back straights be ...
, the race is only and runs for between three and four hours. The Sandown 500 was not held for Supercars from 1999 to 2002 and from 2008 to 2011. During these years, the endurance races took place at Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located at Willowbank in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. The circuit did host Supercars Championship until 2019, drifting as well as club level racing and ride days.
Qu ...
(1999–2002) and the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1956.
History Road circuit
Motor racing on Phillip Island began in 1928 with t ...
(2008–2011).
Gold Coast 600
The Gold Coast 600 was introduced 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 ...
after the American IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
elected not to return to the Surfers Paradise circuit that year. The A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...
series was scheduled to fill the void left by IndyCar, however the owners of the series went into liquidation
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
in June 2009 and, as a result, the A1 Grand Prix cars were withdrawn from the event. In order to compensate for this, Supercars introduced a new four-race format, with two races held on each day. In 2010 the format changed to include two races and it became a two-driver event. To restore the event's previous international flavour, each team was required to have at least one co-driver with an 'international reputation' (that is, they were recognised for exploits in motorsport outside of Australia). In 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
and 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, all entries required an international co-driver. In 2013 the international co-driver rule was dropped, due to a number of incidents during the 2012 event and the formation of the Endurance Cup, but teams could still choose to employ an international driver for the endurance races.
Newcastle 500
In 2004, Supercars introduced the name "Grand Finale" for the final round of the season (having called it "The Main Event" in 2003 and the "V8 Ultimate" in 2001 and 2002). The Grand Finale was held at Sandown Raceway
Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its " drag strip" front and back straights be ...
in 2001 and 2002, Sydney Motorsport Park
Sydney Motorsport Park (known until May 2012 as Eastern Creek International Raceway) is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD), New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sy ...
in 2003 and 2004, Phillip Island
Phillip Island (Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explorer ...
in 2005, 2006 and 2007 and Oran Park Raceway
Oran Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit at Narellan south west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia which was operational from February 1962 until its closure in January 2010. The track was designed and started by George Murray and Jac ...
in 2008. The Grand Finale name was used until 2008 before the Sydney 500 became the final event of the series in 2009. The Sydney 500 was held around the streets
The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner.
The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), ''The Hardest Way to M ...
of Sydney Olympic Park
Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...
. Its format was similar to the Adelaide 500, with a race held on both Saturday and Sunday. Despite having a relatively simple layout, the circuit was one of the more challenging on the calendar – as evidenced in the 2010 Saturday race when, in wet conditions, the top three championship runners all slid into the wall at the same time – effectively handing the title to James Courtney
James Anthony Courtney (born 29 June 1980) is an Australian racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 5 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. ...
. The Sydney 500 was held for the final time in 2016. The event at Sydney Olympic Park was replaced in 2017 with a new street race in Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, north of Sydney, which consists of the streets
Streets is the plural of street, a type of road.
Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music
* Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh
* ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...
in the eastern suburbs of the city.
Media coverage
Television
The series is currently broadcast on Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
and the Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
. Fox Sports shows all practice and qualifying sessions live along with the races. Seven shows only seven events live which are Adelaide, Melbourne, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Newcastle with the rest shown as a highlights package after the races have finished. The coverage is produced by Supercars Media, a specialist production company for Supercars Australia. Supercars Media provides the commentary for each race, with former champion and Bathurst winner Mark Skaife
Mark Skaife (born 3 April 1967) is a retired Australian motor racing driver. Skaife is a five-time champion of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, including its predecessor, the Australian Touring Car Championship, as well as a six-time Bath ...
as lead commentator, along with Neil Crompton
Neil Crompton (born 30 July 1960) is a well-known Supercars presenter and commentator.
Racing career Highlights
According to the official V8 Supercars website, Crompton has competed in 357 various motor racing events, finishing in the first ...
as expert commentator. Both Fox Sports and Seven use their own commentary team for pre- and post-race coverage. Supercars Media records the series in 1080i
1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...
high-definition, with many cars carrying four or more onboard-cameras, though HD coverage is available only to subscribers of Foxtel HD.
In 2020, Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
and Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
signed a five-year deal worth $200 million to televise the Repco Supercars Championship from 2021 to 2025. Seven Network will broadcast six rounds live and show highlights for other races it is not able to broadcast. Foxtel's deal remains the same, it will show all races live and ad free on Fox Sports.
The series had previously been broadcast on Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
, from 1963 to 1996 and from 2007 to 2014, Network Ten and Fox Sports from 1997 to 2006 and from 2015 to 2020, During the years of Network Ten and Fox Sports continued to broadcast the series once a year for the Melbourne 400
The Melbourne 400 (formally known as the Beaurepaires Melbourne 400) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria since 2018. The 2018 edition was the first time that a championship round ...
championship races, which are a support category at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix, which was broadcast by Ten and Fox Sports. Previously when the Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
held the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix broadcast rights in Australia, they would broadcast the Supercars support races at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix. All support category races were tied up with the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix broadcast rights as a package.
Ten's television series ''RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'', which has aired from 1997 to 2008, in 2011 and from 2015 onwards, has covered Supercars, alongside other motorsports. From 2007 to 2014, Seven broadcast a weekly 25-minute show titled ''V8Xtra
''V8Xtra'' was an Australian V8 Supercar focused sports panel television program, that aired weekly on the Seven Network from 5 May 2007 to 6 December 2014. It was hosted by former racing driver Neil Crompton and featured former drivers Mark Sk ...
'' on non-racing weekends. The dedicated Supercars program covered news and feature items relating to the series. Since 2015, Fox Sports has broadcast a similar show, ''Inside Supercars
''Inside Supercars'' was an Australian television series, based on the Supercars Championship, that aired on Fox Sports.
Format 2015–16
Each episode featured a panel of guests, led by two regular hosts; journalist Greg Rust and former champio ...
'', a weekly one-hour long program featuring a panel led by Rust and Mark Skaife. In the same year, Fox Sports also launched an observational show ''Supercars Life
''Supercars Life'' is an Australian television series based on the Supercars Championship that airs on Fox Sports Australia, Fox Sports.
Format
The series features a combination of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and off-track features. ...
'', featuring behind the scenes footage from race weekends and features on drivers' lives away from the track. In 2018, ''Inside Supercars'' was superseded by a new show on Fox Sports, ''Supercars Trackside
A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...
''. Instead of being filmed in a studio midweek, the show is filmed on the Thursday before and the Sunday after each race meeting at the circuit.
The television broadcast of the Bathurst 1000 has won a Logie Award
The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
for the Most Outstanding Sports Coverage seven times, most recently for the 2017 Bathurst 1000
The 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor racing event for the Supercars Championship, held from October 5 to 8 2017 at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, and consisted of a 1000 kilometre race. It was the elevent ...
. Foxtel broadcast the 2018 Bathurst 1000
The 2018 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor racing event for Supercars, held on the weekend of 4–7 October 2018. It was staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and featured of a 1000 kilometre ra ...
in 4K resolution
4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K Ultra-high-definitio ...
, the first such broadcast in Australian sport.
Current TV broadcasters
Supercars races are broadcast on the following channels:
Other media
The series has its own live streaming pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
service, Superview. The service, which started in 2013, currently shows all races as well as qualifying sessions. The service is not available in New Zealand and Australia due to their current broadcasting rights with Sky Sport and Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
.
The series has its own website, which contains information about the series, drivers, teams and events and news articles, and a radio show, V8 Insiders. News is also featured on motorsport websites such as Speedcafe
Speedcafe.com is an Australian-based motorsport news website that launched on 23 October 2009. The site had over 50 million page views in 2020.
Speedcafe.com is a source of news and race reports for the Supercars Championship, Formula One, and oth ...
, V8X Magazine and Touring Car Times. A media deal with News Corp Australia
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,00 ...
has been in place since 2009.
Video games
Supercars have made several licensed appearances in video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
, including in Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...
' ''V8 Supercars'' series in the 2000s and Turn 10 Studios
Turn 10 Studios is an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington. The company was established in 2001 under Microsoft Game Studios (now known as Xbox Game Studios) to develop the ''Forza Motorsport'' series for Xbox platform ...
' ''Forza
''Forza'' ( , ; Italian for "force" and "strength") is a series of simulation racing games for Xbox consoles, Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android devices published by Xbox Game Studios. The series seeks to emulate the performance and handling ...
'' series in the 2010s. From 2011 to 2014, an online championship, sanctioned by Supercars, was contested on iRacing
''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...
. In 2017, Supercars launched an eSports
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
competition using Forza Motorsport 6
''Forza Motorsport 6'' is a 2015 racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One. It is the sixth ''Forza Motorsport'' and eighth overall installment in the '' Forza'' series, and available world ...
and Forza Motorsport 7
''Forza Motorsport 7'' is a 2017 racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios, serving as the tenth installment in the ''Forza'' series. It was released on Windows 10 and the Xbox One family of consoles on Octo ...
, which expanded to six rounds in 2018. The Supercars Eseries moved to the iRacing platform in 2019 with championship teams including Triple Eight Race Engineering
Triple Eight Race Engineering, (branded as Red Bull Ampol Racing) is an Australian motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team has been the only Brisbane based V8 Supercar team since its formation, originally operating ...
and Walkinshaw Andretti United
Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche ...
entering teams into the series alongside eSports teams. An additional Eseries was held in mid 2020 with all championship drivers competing during the hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Records
* Figures accurate as of 9 October 2022 (after Race 30 of the 2022 Supercars Championship
The 2022 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship) was a motor racing series for Supercars. It was the twenty-fourth running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-sixth series in whic ...
).
* Bold text indicates active full-time drivers, teams and manufacturers.
* Italics indicates drivers who are still active, but not on a full-time basis.
* The above records relate to the Australian Touring Car Championship (1960–1998), the Shell Championship Series (1999–2001), the V8 Supercar Championship Series (2002–2010), International V8 Supercars Championship (2011–2016) and the Supercars Championship (2016–present).
See also
* Australian Touring Car Championship
The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...
* List of Australian Touring Car and V8 Supercar champions
The Australian Touring Car Championship, presently known as the Repco Supercars Championship, is a motor racing competition open to Australia's premier touring car category. A driver's title has been awarded since 1960 and titles for teams and ma ...
* List of Australian Touring Car Championship races
The list of Australian Touring Car Championship Races is a list of all the races or rounds which have been held in the combined 60-year history of the Australian Touring Car Championship, V8 Supercars Championship and Supercars Championship.
As o ...
*
* Supercars Hall of Fame The Supercars Hall of Fame is a collection of individuals and events that recognise the efforts of past champions and prominent figures within the Supercars Championship. A new inductee is announced annually at the championship's end of season gala ...
References
Works cited
*
*
*
External links
Supercars Australia website
{{Class of Auto racing
Auto racing series in Australia
Motorsport categories in Australia
Professional sports leagues in Australia
Recurring sporting events established in 1997
Sports leagues established in 1997
Touring car racing series
1997 establishments in Australia