The Super3 Series (formerly the Kumho Tyres Super3 Series, Kumho Tyres Australian V8 Touring Car Series and V8 Touring Car National Series) is an Australian motor racing competition for

touring cars 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 mo ...

. In 2019 it became the official third tier series for

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 ...

competitors, while the series itself remains independently owned and managed from Supercars. The cars must be deregistered cars from official Supercar teams and series, this is mainly as a preventive measure against a team building a brand new car to suit the regulations. The series is currently known by the commercial identity of the Dunlop Super3 Series.

History

The series came into existence as an acknowledgement that there are many old V8 Supercars no longer eligible or competitive in the second-tier

Dunlop V8 Supercar 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 ...

and, other than as overweight and uncompetitive

Sports Sedans A sports sedan (also known as sports saloon in British English) is a subjective term for a sedan car that is designed to have sporting performance or handling characteristics. History The term was originally introduced in the 1930s an ...

, had nowhere else to race. The series has also attracted competitors from the now defunct

Australian Touring Car Challenge Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

which had run on the now collapsed Australian Motor Racing Championships program. The inaugural series was held 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; ...

as a completely new category, running on 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 ...

schedule. The series struggled to find a grid in its opening year, with the low point coming in the second round at

Eastern Creek Eastern Creek is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Creek is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regi ...

where just three cars were entered. The series has since swollen with the deregistration of the

Ford AU Falcon The Ford Falcon (AU) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1998 to 2002. It was the sixth generation Ford Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (AU)—the luxury-oriented model range. The AU series replaced the EL Fal ...

and

Holden VX Commodore The Holden Commodore (VX) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2000 to 2002. It was the second iteration of the third generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VX) and Holden Calais (VX ...

from the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, with a number of fresh cars and teams stepping straight out of the second-tier series. Chris Smerdon, a former V8 Supercar driver, was the inaugural series champion, dominating the 2008 series in an ex-Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon. The

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 ...

series saw former Fujitsu Series drivers Adam Wallis and Terry Wyhoon battle with Smerdon for the crown, with Wallis coming out on top over Wyhoon and Smerdon. Another former Fujitsu Series driver, Tony Evangelou, won the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

series, being the only driver to compete in all five rounds. Wyhoon won the series 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 ...

after a close battle with Smerdon and Scott Loadsman. In 2019, the series was rebranded to Super3.V8 Touring Cars to Become Super3
''

Auto Action ''Auto Action'' is an Australian motorsport magazine. The first edition was published on 24 February 1971. It became part of Australian Consolidated Press and was included in its 2012 sale to Bauer Media Group. After unsuccessfully trying to sell ...

'' 22 October 2018 In 2020, only two rounds of the series were completed - therefore no champion was awarded. In 2021 the Super3 Series sat to join alongside the Dunlop Super2 Series for the first time as a class.

Format

Each weekend consist of two races, the first usually held on Saturday and the second on Sunday. To score points, the driver must complete at least 75% of the race distance and must cross the finish line at the completion of the race. At least 50% of the planned race distance must be completed for the result to be valid and championship points awarded.

Series winners

References

External links

* {{Super3 Series Supercars Championship