Steven Ellery (born 22 August 1974 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

) is a retired Australian racing driver known from V8 Supercars.

Racing history

Early career

Ellery started racing in karts before graduation to

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

in 1992. After running near the front of the Formula Ford pack racing a

Van Diemen Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula For ...

in 1993 Ellery moved his family-run team into the

Australian Manufacturers' Championship The Australian Manufacturers' Championship was a motor racing title awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) to the winning car manufacturer in an annual series of races held throughout Australia. Whilst the first two champi ...

(later known as the

Australian Super Touring Championship The Australian Super Touring Championship (formerly known as the Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship) was a CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for Super Touring Cars. History Super Touring was introduced into Australia in 1993 ...

), driving first a

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coefficien ...

in 1994 then a BMW 318i in 1995. Ellery's appearance in an ex-

Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Racing was an Australian motor racing team which competed in the V8 Supercars Championship Series between 1989 and 2002. History Group A At the end of 1988, Philip Morris were dissatisfied with the level of signage it was offered ...

Ford Sierra at the

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 ...

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 ...

(ATCC) round in 1994 remains the most recent entry of a non-V8 powered car in the championship.

ATCC / V8 Supercars

After two

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 ...

starts 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 ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, Ellery entered the ATCC full-time in 1996 with his eponymous team, finishing 15th in the championship. He then joined

Longhurst Racing Longhurst Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the V8 Supercar series between 1995 and 1999. History At the end of 1994, Tony Longhurst sold his share in LoGaMo Racing, the team he had established in 1988 with Frank Ga ...

for the post-season endurance races in 1996, finishing 4th at the

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

and 3rd at the

with

Tony Longhurst Anthony Lawrence Longhurst (born 1 October 1957 in Sydney) is an Australian racing driver and former Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series. Longhurst is ...

. He continued with the team in 1997, as the team expanded to two cars with a second

Ford EL Falcon The Ford Falcon (EL) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1996 to 1998. It was the fifth and final iteration of the fifth generation of the Ford Falcon (Australia), Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (EL)—the lux ...

. After a falling out with Longhurst, he then raced a Holden Young Lions

Holden VS Commodore The Holden Commodore (VS) is an executive car which was produced by Holden from 1995 to 1997 and 2000 for utility versions. It was the fourth and final iteration of the second generation of the Commodore. The range included the luxury variants, ...

, prepared by

Gibson Motorsport Gibson Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1981 until 2003, though the team had its roots in Gibson's "Road & Track" team which ran a series of Ford Falcon GTHOs in Series ...

, in 1998. His time away from the family team proved to be short-lived with Ellery again choosing to team up with his father Bruce from 1999 onwards, the team contesting a partial campaign of the championship with backing from family company Chelgrave Contracting. Ellery did however take a pole position at the non-championship event supporting the

Gold Coast Indy 300 The Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event that took place at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 1991 to 2008. The challenging track, alongside a strip of beaches, had severa ...

. Ellery joined

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 ...

for the 1999 endurance events, now part of the championship, and co-driver

Paul Radisich Paul Radisich (born 9 October 1962, in Auckland) is a retired New Zealand racing driver and businessman of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years — both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Australia and New ...

was leading the

1999 FAI 1000 The 1999 FAI 1000 was an endurance race for V8 Supercars. The event was held on 14 November 1999 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and was the thirteenth and final round of the 1999 Shell Champi ...

with under 20 laps to go before a flat tyre put them out of the race. In 2000 Ellery, now with Supercheap Auto backing, won the second race of the Sandown round, what proved to be his only championship race victory. Ellery continued with his team until 2004, with a best finish of 9th in the championship in 2001. The team's highlight was a double podium for Ellery and

Luke Youlden Luke Youlden (born 28 January 1978) is an Australian Supercars series racing driver. He is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion Kent Youlden. Youlden currently drives for Kelly Grove Racing as a co-driver alongside David Rey ...

at the two major endurance races in 2003, second 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 ...

and third at Bathurst. In 2005, Ellery was selected to partner

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Supe ...

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 ...

in a two-year deal. While Lowndes mounted a championship challenge, Ellery only finished 13th in the championship with one podium at the 2005 Bathurst 1000. He was replaced after only one year for 2006 by

Jamie Whincup Jamie Whincup (born 6 February 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden Commodore (ZB), Holden Z ...

and never returned as a full-time driver in the series. Over the next three years, Ellery drove with

Paul Morris Motorsport Paul Morris Motorsport, also known as its business name of Nemo Racing, is an Australian motor racing team that competed in V8 Supercars between 2000 and 2012. The team also won the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 and four Australian Super Touring Cha ...

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 ...

as an endurance co-driver before stepping away from the sport.

Other racing

Ellery entered the first four rounds of the 2007 Australian Carrera Cup Championship before dropping out of the championship.

Business

Ellery is the chief executive officer of his family labour contracting business.

Career results

Supercars Championship results

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

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellery, Steven 1974 births Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Living people Racing drivers from Melbourne Supercars Championship drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers