The VHT S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship (known originally as the Australian S5000 Championship, or simply S5000) is a current

open-wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

road racing Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

series in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The series was created by a merger between two proposed series, Formula Thunder 5000 and Super5000. The series is promoted by the Australian Racing Group. The inaugural race of the series was originally set to be in

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 May 2019, but was delayed to September due to supply issues from Ligier's Charlotte area factory where the chassis are manufactured.

History

Australian circuit racing, since the end of

Tasman Series The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

racing in the 1970s, been heavily focused on

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 ...

at the professional level.

Open wheeler An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have the ...

formula racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single- ...

series such as

Formula Holden Formula Holden was an Australian open wheel racing category introduced in 1989. History Known during its development as Formula Australia, it was initially for chassis constructed from aluminium only, running a 3.8-litre Buick V6 engine a ...

and

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

struggled to gain spectator and sponsor interest, and eventually folded. The idea for a modern interpretation of the historic

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 ...

class was first raised in 2016, and was initially called the Formula Thunder 5000. The original car used a Swift FN09 chassis that raced in

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...

between 2009 and 2013. A year later in 2017, the Super5000 series was later created by former

Supercars 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 ...

CEO James Warburton, as part of his plan to sustain growth of motorsport in Australia. The series would originally be used as a support category for the Supercars series, alongside the Super2 and SuperUtes series. The creation of this series led to controversy, and the founder of Formula Thunder 5000, Chris Lambden, disapproved of the idea, claiming it would threaten his own plans. Later that same year, both series announced a merger in a bid to further ensure the return of a

series in Australia. The formation of the S5000 series came as a result, and would incorporate technical elements from both the Formula Thunder 5000 and the Super5000 series. A preliminary schedule was originally announced in 2018, with

as the season opener. However, in April 2019, the organisers announced that the series would be delayed four months and that the inaugural season would instead kick off in September 2019 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 ...

, due to supply issues from Ligier's Charlotte area factory. The organisers also wanted to ensure that the S5000 car would be properly tested. The first event attracted an entry of 13 drivers, including former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...

. The feature race was marred, however, by an accident involving

Alex Davison Alexander Davison (born 3 November 1979) is an Australian racing driver. He won the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup Championship. As part of the Davison motorsport family, he is the older brother of Will Davison, grandson of Lex Davison and cousin ...

which caused damage to safety barriers and forced organisers to red-flag the race after just 10 of the scheduled 25 laps. The race was won by James Golding, with Barrichello second and John Martin in third. A second event was held at The Bend, with the feature race being won by John Martin. For 2020, a six round championship was planned, set to start as a support event for the 2020 Australian Grand Prix held at Albert Park, with the championship to be followed by a non-championship race at

Mount Panorama 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 ...

. It was also announced in early 2020 that the championship would see the revival of the

Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing championship contested annually from 1957 to 2014 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor ...

title, last awarded in 2014 Australian Drivers' Championship for

cars. This was accompanied by a plan to award trophies named after prominent Australian racing drivers to the winners of each feature race, with the winner of the feature race at Albert Park to be awarded the Alan Jones Cup. The opening round attracted a larger entry, including inaugural feature race winner Golding, two-time Australian Drivers' Champion

Tim Macrow Tim Macrow (born 13 May 1984 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian racing driver. He has competed in Australian Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup, winning the Australian Drivers' Championship twice in the former category. In 2019, Macrow ra ...

, and international entrants including the return of Barrichello and fellow Formula One veteran

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has d ...

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...

driver

Jack Aitken Jack Aitken (Korean: 한세용, ''Han Se-yong''; born 23 September 1995 in London) is a British- South Korean racing driver who currently competes for Racing Team Turkey in the European Le Mans Series and for Emil Frey Racing in the ADAC GT ...

and 2019 Bathurst 1000 winner

Alexandre Prémat Alexandre Prémat (born 5 November 1982) is a French racing driver. He won the Pirtek Enduro Cup for Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside Shane van Gisbergen in 2016. He also won the 2019 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Scott McLaughlin, d ...

. After practice and qualifying sessions on Thursday 12 March, Golding had pole position. However, on Friday morning the entire Grand Prix meeting was called off as a result of the escalating

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 ...

, so no race was held. Due to ongoing difficulties surrounding the pandemic, modified calendars were announced a few times over the year, with plans made for a championship running over late 2020 into early 2021. In the end, however, no races were held in 2020 and instead a short four race calendar was announced to be run in early 2021, with a second, longer summer series to run from late 2021 to early 2022. The first championship event, and first race of the 2021 season, finally got underway in January at

Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about south of Launceston, Tasmania. Since the closure of the Longford circuit in the 1960s it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit is one of th ...

, with

Thomas Randle Thomas Randle (born 7 April 1996) is an Australian racing driver. He currently races in the Supercars Championship for Tickford Racing in the No. 55 Ford Mustang GT. Randle has also won the 2014 Australian Formula Ford Series, 2017 Toyota Ra ...

winning the feature race.

Car specification

The S5000 car's chassis is based on a

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 ...

-compliant

bespoke chassis manufactured by French motorsport company Onroak-Ligier. The car uses a 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated quad-cam Ford Coyote V8 that is modified by InnoV8, and has an output of and of torque. All of the power is driven through a 6-speed gearbox by Holinger. Holinger also supplies the transaxle. The suspension set and the wing package are supplied by

Borland Racing Developments Borland Racing Developments is an Australian championship winning manufacturer of open-wheel racing cars, principally in the junior categories of Formula Ford and Formula Vee. Borland Racing Developments was formed in 1984 to prepare and eng ...

, and are then fabricated by

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 ...

, who also perform the assembly of the S5000 car. The tyres are supplied by

Hoosier Hoosier is the official demonym for the people of the U.S. state of Indiana. The origin of the term remains a matter of debate, but "Hoosier" was in general use by the 1840s, having been popularized by Richmond resident John Finley's 1833 poem "T ...

. The S5000 car has been certified by the FIA under the 2018 safety certification. The S5000 car made its first public appearance taking part in demonstration runs at the

2018 Newcastle 500 The 2018 Coates Hire Newcastle 500 was a motor racing event for the Supercars Championship, held on the weekend of 23 to 25 November 2018. The event was held on the Newcastle Street Circuit in Newcastle East, New South Wales and consisted of two ...

event with drivers such as

Greg Murphy Gregory Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first internati ...

, John Bowe, and

Garth Tander Garth Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineer ...

going behind the wheel. The race car received a positive reaction from the audience.

Media coverage

The races are to be aired on streaming service

Stan Sport Stan (stylized as Stan.) is an Australian over-the-top streaming service. It was launched on 26 January 2015. Stan originally was founded as StreamCo Media, a 50/50 joint venture between Nine Entertainment Co. and Fairfax Media. In August 2014, ...

, and they will also be live-streamed by website Motorsport.com through their Motorsport.TV platform.

Champions

Teams

There are currently 7 teams in the S5000 Australian Drivers Championship. These are; Gary Rogers Motorsport, Team BRM, 88 Racing, Macrow Racing, Modena Engineering, Willmington Motorsport and Astuti Motorsport.

References

External links

*
2019 S5000 Australia - Sporting and Technical Regulations, www.cams.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
{{Australian Drivers' Championship Formula racing Formula racing series Auto racing series in Australia One-make series Recurring sporting events established in 2019