The Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event was a

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 ...

motor racing event 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 ...

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. ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. The event was held from 2010 to 2012.

History

The inaugural Yas V8 400 in 2010 was the opening event of the

2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series The 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the twelfth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the fourteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier ...

, becoming the first, and so far only, event outside Australia to open a championship season. The 2010 event was held as the first part of a double-header in 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 ...

to start the season, which included the

Desert 400 The Desert 400 was a V8 Supercar motor racing event held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama, Bahrain. It was held from 2006 to 2008 and in 2010. History First held in 2006, the Desert 400 was only the second V8 Supercar championship ...

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 ...

one week later. The first event at Yas Marina Circuit was won 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 ...

, who dominated the weekend, winning both of the races. Whincup also was the overall winner of the second event 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 ...

, taking one race win with

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. ...

taking the other following a fortuitous safety car. Whincup again dominated in the final year of the event in

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 ...

, winning all three races.

Layout

For 2010 and 2011, the race used a shorter version of the

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ( ar, سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى) is a Formula One motor racing event. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The first race took place on 1 November 2 ...

track used for

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, ...

, with a "corkscrew" section between Turn 3 and halfway down the back straight. This shortened the track to 4.7 km, with lap times of approximately 2 minutes. The 2012 race moved to the full 5.5 km Grand Prix circuit, as the V8 Supercars event was part of the support bill to the

2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (formally the 2012 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 November 2012 at the Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was the eighteenth rou ...

weekend.

Format

In 2010 and 2011, the event featured two 200 km races across the weekend. For 2012, the race format was shortened to three 66 km sprint races. These featured lunchtime starts to allow primetime Australian television broadcasts, and not to clash with the Formula One schedule.

Demise

The event was initially scheduled to continue into 2013, once again supporting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, with the Grand Prix support bill expanding to include rounds of the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...

and

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

championships, there was no longer space for the V8 Supercars, and the round was removed from the 2013 calendar.

Winners

Multiple winners

By driver

By team

By manufacturer

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official event website

Yas Marina Circuit
Supercars Championship races Motorsport competitions in the United Arab Emirates Auto races in the United Arab Emirates Recurring sporting events established in 2010