V8 Supercar

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V8 Supercars Australia

Image:V8Supercars_logo.png
General Information
Founded 1997
Sport Auto racing
Teams 17
Drivers 32
Current Countries Australia Australia
Bahrain Bahrain
New Zealand New Zealand
Former Countries People's Republic of China China
2006 Season
Drivers Champion Australia Rick Kelly
Team Champion Toll HSV Dealer Team
Constructors Champion Ford

V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category. It is the most popular motorsport in Australia, has a considerable following in New Zealand, and is steadily growing in popularity across the world where television coverage allows. The series is generally regarded as a commercial success, with full grids and large crowds at events.

V8 Supercar Events are held in all states of Australia, as well as rounds in New Zealand and Bahrain. In 2005, an event in at the Shanghai International Circuit in China was held. V8 Supercars have drawn crowds of over 250,000 spectators. The 2007 Season will be held over 14 race weekends, held on various purpose-built racetracks and street circuits in the aforementioned countries. Race formats range from sprint races, where three 150 km races are held over a weekend, or endurance races such as Bathurst, which is run over a 1000 km race distance.

The V8 Supercars themselves are based on either the Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore, and bear some resemblance to the production models outwardly, but are highly modified to suit the motorsport application, and are strictly governed in all aspects of performance in an effort to keep all the drivers on an even footing to create closer, more exciting racing. Because of this, entire fields of 30+ drivers are separated by just one second over qualifying laps at some events.

Historically, the Falcon and Commodore are the two most popular passenger cars on the Australian market. Rivalry between the two makes is a major aspect of the sport's appeal.

Contents

[edit] History

The Australian Touring Car Championship was transformed into V8 Touring Cars in 1993 (when there was only 13 cars in the championship), when Holden and Ford became the two competitors in the series. Event management company IMG was given the rights to the series in 1997 after a bitter battle against CAMS and the ARDC, and led the championship on a rapid expansion. Network Ten began televising the series in the same year, taking over from Channel Seven. The Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company (AVESCO) was later formed to run the series directly and later became an independent organisation from its IMG origins. In 2005 the name was changed to V8 Supercars Australia.

V8 Supercars Australia introduced carnivale street-race V8 Supercar events such as the Clipsal 500, and strived to turn Australian touring car racing into a world-class product. The name "V8 Supercar" was invented, and "Shell Australian Touring Car Championship" was replaced by "Shell Championship Series", now called the "V8 Supercar Championship Series"

[edit] Champions

Year Driver Make Team
1993 Glenn Seton Ford Glenn Seton Racing
1994 Mark Skaife Holden Gibson Motorsport
1995 John Bowe Ford Dick Johnson Racing
1996 Craig Lowndes Holden Holden Racing Team
1997 Glenn Seton Ford Glenn Seton Racing
1998 Craig Lowndes Holden Holden Racing Team
1999 Craig Lowndes Holden Holden Racing Team
2000 Mark Skaife Holden Holden Racing Team
2001 Mark Skaife Holden Holden Racing Team
2002 Mark Skaife Holden Holden Racing Team
2003 Marcos Ambrose Ford Stone Brothers Racing
2004 Marcos Ambrose Ford Stone Brothers Racing
2005 Russell Ingall Ford Stone Brothers Racing
2006 Rick Kelly Holden Toll HSV Dealer Team

[edit] Level Two V8 Champions

[edit] The V8 Supercar 2007 Schedule

  • Please note all dates and locations are subject to change
Round Date Event Location
1 March 1-4 Clipsal 500 Adelaide, South Australia
2 March 23-25 Perth V8 400 Perth, Western Australia
3 April 20-22 Placemakers V8 Supercars Pukekohe Park Raceway, New Zealand
4 May 18-20 Winton Winton, Victoria
5 June 9-11 Eastern Creek Sydney, New South Wales
6 June 22-24 Hidden Valley Darwin, Northern Territory
7 July 20-22 BigPond 300 Ipswich, Queensland
8 August 17-19 Oran Park Sydney, New South Wales
9 September 14-16 Betta Electrical 500 Melbourne, Victoria
10 October 4-7 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Bathurst, New South Wales
11 October 18-21 Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge/Indy Surfers Paradise, Queensland
12 November 1-3 Desert 400 Sakhir, Bahrain
13 November 16-18 Ferodo Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains, Tasmania
14 November 30 - December 2 Caterpillar Grand Finale Phillip Island, Victoria

[edit] 2007 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series

Round Date Event Location
1 March 1-4 Clipsal 500 Support Adelaide, South Australia
2 March 30 - April 1 Wakefield Park Goulburn, New South Wales
3 May 18-20 Winton Support Winton, Victoria
4 July 20-22 Queensland 300 Support Ipswich, Queensland
5 August 17-19 Oran Park Support Sydney, New South Wales
6 October 4-7 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Support Bathurst, New South Wales
7 November 20 - December 2 Grand Finale Support Phillip Island, Victoria

[edit] Television Coverage

As of 2007, The V8 Supercars will be again Broadcast by Channel Seven who secured the rights, taking over from Channel Ten, who had successfully broadcast the events since taking over from Seven in 1997. The deal is worth roughly $120 million. Channel Seven will show increased live coverage, as well as a 25-minute show specific to the series on weekends there is no racing.

The coverage by Channel Seven may also reveal why the V8 Supercars are not planning to do the traditional support races at the Australian Formula 1 GP, as Channel Ten still has the rights to it.

Coverage of all rounds in New Zealand is by Television One, who also produce and provide footage of the New Zealand rounds for international networks.

[edit] TEGA

The Touring Car Entrants Group Australia (TEGA) is owned by all of the teams, and owns half of V8 Supercars Australia. TEGA has a board of 4 representatives and drafts the regulations.

To the disappointment of a majority of fans who had watched a long history of Ford-Holden battles in Australian touring car categories since the 1960s, international touring car regulations (which moved from Group A to Supertouring) seemed destined to preclude the Australian-built Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in the early 90s. However V8 only regulations were drafted, in partnership with Ford and Holden, to avoid this and to showcase their large Australian made cars.

Nissan, who had dominated in the early 1990's, had their Turbo AWD Skyline GT-R controversially excluded from the series, whilst BMW (with their non-turbo M3s) were allowed to continue for a brief period. Nissan vowed never to return to touring car racing in Australia again, and a short time later ceased Australian production.

Eventually the works BMW team left to head a separate new Australian Super Touring Championship (ASTC), and in the mid-1990s this Super Touring series ran in opposition to the V8 category. Super Touring with its many makes had the backing of the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) and sensationally two Bathurst 1000s were held each year in 1997 and 1998, one for V8s and the other (backed by traditional custodian ARDC) for Super Touring. Ultimately, the bulk of sponsorship, driver talent, and fan attention remained with the more popular V8 category during this era, leaving the ASTC to later collapse in 2002 as an amateur category.

TEGA are now looking to instigate control floor pans and cylinder heads for both Commodores and Falcons so they are cheaper and easier to build and fix, potentially meaning that more rounds can be raced in a season and teams can afford to run multiple cars and have spares in case a car is severely damaged.

[edit] The V8 Supercar

The regulations are designed to balance the desire for technical competition and fast vehicles with the requirement that costs are kept reasonable. Racing is close, and the cars bear some resemblance to production models. The recent application of "Project Blueprint" - introduced at the beginning of the 2003 season (where both makes of car were examined to ensure parity) the racing between Holden and Ford has become closer than ever (reducing the risk of a one make dominated series).

  • Power: A V8 supercar is powered by either a 5.0 L Ford "Windsor" SVO or Chevrolet Aurora race engine (depending on the make) which produces 620-650+ bhp. Engines have pushrod actuated valves and electronic fuel injection. Both Ford and Holden engines are based on racing engines from their respective US parent companies. Engines are electronically restricted to 7,500 rpm.
  • Weight: The minimum category weight is 1,355 kg (not including driver) 80 kg driver allocation.
  • Cost: Reported to be approximately $AU 600,000 per car and $AU 130,000 per engine. Teams spend up to $10 million per year running their two car teams.
  • Bodyshell: Each V8 Supercar is based on either Commodore or Falcon production bodyshells, with an elaborate roll cage constructed into the shell from aircraft grade materials. Other modifications include wider wheel arches.
  • Some common components: differentials and gearboxes are identical in all cars in the category. The category uses 6 speed Holinger gearboxes (Australian made), in the familiar 'H' pattern. Differential ratios used throughout the season are 1:3.75, 1:3.5, 1:3.25 and 1:3.15. The 1:3.15 ratio differential was introduced in 2005 to be used at Bathurst - cars with this ratio now reach over 300 km/h (hypothetically, this has yet to be proven, but Jack Daniel's Racing/Perkins Motorsport claims to have exceeded this speed multiple times in the 2005 event) on Conrod straight. With a maximum speed of 306 km/h. All cars have a 120 L fuel tank.
  • Suspension: Basic front suspension configuration is double wishbone (made compulsory for both makes through Project Blueprint), whilst rear suspension is a "live axle" design. Spring and damper design is unrestricted.
  • Tyres: A Dunlop "control tyre" is supplied to all teams. During the year, there are large restrictions on the number of testing days (6 a year), along with the number of tyres used during those days. During race meetings, teams are allocated a set number of tyres for the entire weekend.
  • Aerodynamics: A standard "aerodynamic package" of spoilers and wings is supplied to the teams of each make. Testing is conducted so the two makes have as similar aerodynamic characteristics as possible.

[edit] Championships

Two separate V8 Supercar Championships are held. The first is the main "Level One" championship called the 'V8 Supercar Championship Series'. A "Level Two" championship called the 'Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series' (formerly the 'HPDC Supercar Series'), is intended for privateers who formerly raced in the same races as the former before bulging grids forced a split, however, many "Level One" teams run secondary teams in the Fujitsu series to "blood" new drivers. The only way to compete in the "main game" is to purchase a licence from an existing team (TEGA are no longer involved in creating new licences for V8 teams).

[edit] Level One

The Level One Australian Touring Car Championship now known as the V8 Supercar Championship Series caters for the 31 fully professional cars run by the 14 two-car and 3 one-car well-sponsored V8 Supercar teams. The series is commercially successful and highly competitive, with races all over Australia, one in New Zealand, and in 2006, the first race in Bahrain. Tracks range from street circuits (such as the Adelaide circuit) to more permanent road courses (such as the Phillip Island circuit). The largest single event is the Bathurst 1000.

The racing is very close and aggressive between all the V8 Championship Series teams, with usually less than a second separating the top 25 cars. Teams design and construct their own cars and engines (Some teams opt to buy engines from stronger teams, eg SBR, 888, BJR, & PCR use SBR developed Ford V8's, while HRT, HSVDT, Perkins Engineering and Super Cheap Auto Racing use HMS developed Holden V8's while the rest of the Holden teams use their own developed Holden V8's) leading to minor/major (depending on teams) engineering differences among teams despite the cars being the same make.

Both Ford and Holden provide significant, though varying, levels of sponsorship to all teams that run their cars. From 1996 to 2002, V8 Supercars Holden Racing Team, had a decisive competitive edge over most of the opposition. More recently, the sport has seen the return to prominence of Ford through Marcos Ambrose and Stone Brothers Racing, winning in 2003 and 2004, as well as teammate Russell Ingall who kept the title at SBR, winning a tight series in 2005

V8 Supercars is Australia's third largest sport behind AFL Football and Cricket.

The first Australian Touring Car Championship under the V8 Supercar rules was won by Glenn Seton with his team-mate former Formula 1 world champion Alan Jones taking second in the championship.

In 2005, the Constructors' Championship was created by simply adding together the points of the team's drivers. Stone Brothers Racing won the inaugural Constructors' Championship in 2005 with Russell Ingall (1st in Series) and Marcos Ambrose (3rd) combining for a winning 3778 point haul.

[edit] Level Two

The privateers were split from the main series in the year 2000.

Their Level Two category is now known as the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Championship Series (known as the development series) and runs identical specification V8 Supercars, apart from differences with engine management systems and older chassis'.

The Development series has been such a success that it itself has also fielded full grids up to 34 cars on many occasions.

Both young up-and-coming drivers hoping to break into a Level One drive, and privateer hobby racers, race in the Level Two category.

[edit] Formats

V8 Supercar rounds are held over many different formats.

[edit] Practice and warm-ups

Practice Sessions can be held over a single two-hour session for sprint races, two half-hour sessions, or four sessions of varying lengths for enduros. For most rounds, a short pre-race warm-up time is given.

[edit] Qualifying

The drivers are split into a lower 50% and upper 50% (based on practice laptimes) for qualifying. The lower 50% first get a half-hour session, followed by the same for the upper 50%. This determines the starting order from Postion 11, and downwards. The ten fastest drivers then advance to the Top-10 shootout.

[edit] Top 10 Shootout

The ten fastest drivers from qualifying then advance to the Top-10 Shootout, where each driver is given one lap to produce a fast time. The running order is determined by the times from qualifying, with the slowest going first. The resulting times from the Top-10 Shootout determine the Top-10 starting order. The Shootout is to be axed from all non-enduro rounds as of 2007, in favour of using conventional qualifying to determine the entire grid.

[edit] Races

  • ENDUROS: For the Sandown 500, a single race is run over a distance of 500 km (161 laps of the Sandown circuit). Compulsory pitstops are taken for tyres, brake-pads, and fuel, as well as any others that may be required. For the Bathurst 1000, the race is run over 1000 km (161 laps of the Mt Panorama circuit), with the same rules for pitstops.
  • CLIPSAL 500: For the Clipsal 500, two races are run over a distance of 250 km each (78 laps of the Adelaide Street Circuit), with compulsory pitstops for fuel and tyres, as well as any others that may be required.
  • SPRINT RACES: For all other rounds, three races over 150 km each are held across the weekend. Compulsory Pitstops are held for fuel and tyres. From Rounds 2-7 of 2006, the second race of the sprint round was made a reverse grid race, in an effort to spice up the action. Unfortunately, this initiative was unpopular with fans, drivers, and team owners, because it was expensive (repairing cars that otherwise wouldn't have been damaged), and didn't really make the racing any better.

[edit] Tyre allocation

  • BATHURST: Each car is given 24 slicks only.
  • 500 km EVENTS: For the Clipsal 500 and Sandown 500, each car is given 16 slicks only.
  • SPRINT RACES: Each car is given 12 slick tyres, and 12 wet-weather tyres.
  • AUSTRALIAN F1GP SUPPORT: Each car is given 8 slick tyres, and 8 wet-weather tyres.

[edit] Marquee events

The Bathurst 1000, Clipsal 500 and Sandown 500 are the marquee events of the V8 Supercar calendar. In 2005 there was also a marquee round in Shanghai, however the promoter discontinued with this race in 2006.

[edit] Bathurst 1000

Known as the "Great Race", the Bathurst 1000 is a traditional 1000 km test of drivers, teams and machines held at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales. It has been the preeminent domestic motor racing event in Australia for decades - well before the development of the V8 Supercar category. It is conducted over 161 laps, on a track that features two long straights, that contrast with a tight section of fast blind corners across the top of the mountain.

In the early years, the race was open to almost anybody with a car that met (considerably more relaxed) regulations and held an Australian motorsport licence. The resulting wide variety of cars, driver talent, and budgets ensured that large margins split the placings. In the modern V8 era, the field has consistsed of professional teams only.

With the introduction of the "safety car" bringing the field together - when an accident makes the track unsafe - has radically changed the nature of the race. But Bathurst has always been an intensely tactical race, hinging on pit stop strategy (fuel economy, tyres, etc) driver talent and outright overall speed.

The 2006 Bathurst 1000 became a very emotional event to all drivers, teams, friends and fans of one of it's greatest drivers in its history, the late 9 time winner of the "Great Race", Peter Brock (killed in the Targa West rally event the month before).

The inaugaral & perpetual Peter Brock Trophy was handed out to eventual race winner Craig Lowndes (with Jamie Whincup as co-driver). An emotional Lowndes, who was a protegé of Peter Brock, dedicated his win to his mentor, former team member and very good mate/friend.

[edit] Clipsal 500

The Clipsal 500 is held in Adelaide on a shortened version of the former Grand Prix Circuit. The event in the heart of the city has a carnival atmosphere, and crowds of over 200,000 racing fans and socialites turn out each year. Two 250 km races are held on each of Saturday and Sunday, and this has proven to be a very successful format. It is the first event to be inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame and is a winner of various awards.

[edit] Sandown 500

The Sandown 500 is the first of the 2 endurance races on the race schedule, raced at Sandown International Raceway. Since its inception it has been referred to as Bathurst's "Little Brother" as it serves as an amazing entre to the 'Great Race'. Contrary to popular belief, the weather is statistically more predictable and favourable than its 'big brother' as well as many other courses. Its current official name is the Betta Electrical 500.

[edit] Grand Finale

With the change to the 'Blueprint' formula in 2003, AVESCO created a special season ending round. Initially this round was held as the thirteenth championship event in late November at Eastern Creek Raceway near Sydney. It was sponsored by VIP Petfoods and was branded 'The Main Event'. The round was won by Marcos Ambrose in a fitting conclusion to his 2003 championship win, but made headlines when Ambrose's teammate Russell Ingall and Holden Racing Team rival Mark Skaife spectacularly brought the sport into disrepute with an on-track/off-track stoush. In 2004 the event became known as the 'Bigpond Grand Finale', and was again held at Eastern Creek - won again by Marcos Ambrose. In 2005 the venue moved to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as the final round of the championship and the base for Russell Ingall's series win. In 2006, the event will be known as the 'Caterpillar Grand Finale'.

[edit] V8 Shanghai Round

The V8 Shanghai Round was held in China on a shortened version of the Shanghai Grand Prix circuit. In 2005, the entire V8 circuit was air freighted overseas for the first time, and encouraging crowd figures of 70,000 were recorded before an enthusiastic Chinese audience. The winner of the inaugural Shanghai round was Todd Kelly (HRT)(188pt/192pt), 2nd place was Steven Richards (Castrol Perkins) (186pt/186pt) and 3rd was Paul Radisich (TKR) (170pt/180pt).

After difficulties in securing a date for the 2006 fixture, the V8 Supercar organising body announced that it had terminated its contract with the Shanghai Round promoter in March 2006. Although not ruling out a return to the Shanghai circuit one day, any further races at the circuit have been placed on an indefinite hold.

[edit] Bahrain Round

In 2005 a contract was confirmed to hold V8 Supercar races at the Bahrain International Circuit in the Bahraini capital of Manama from 2006 onwards, the same track that hosts the Formula 1 race each year.

[edit] The V8 Supercar teams

Championships: 1 (2006), Bathurst Wins: 2

The HSV Dealer Team started as the Holden Racing Team junior team called the Holden Young Lions in the year 1998. The Holden Young Lions expanded to 2-cars in the year 2001 after a solution was desperately needed to accommodate Greg Murphy and his K-Mart sponsorship after Murphy's former team Gibson Motor Sport had hurriedly switched to run a Ford for former Holden star Craig Lowndes. With Holden Racing Team machinery the team which was then known as K-Mart Racing were instant winners, and collected two Bathurst wins in 2003 and 2004. K-Mart quit the sponsorship after 2004, and the team became known as the HSV Dealer Team. In 2006 they acquired the Toll Express sponsorship package which used to fund the Paul Little Racing team, renaming the team to Toll HSV Dealer Team and giving the team a new livery. In 2006 Garth Tander and Rick Kelly will drive the cars, with Fujitsu series driver Tony D'Alberto and Carrera Cup racer Anthony Tratt joining the teams for the enduros. Kelly's brother Todd and team mate Garth Tander were swapped to increase each other's championship buffer, with the Kelly brothers gaining runner-ups at Sandown and at Bathurst. In 2006, Rick Kelly took out the championship.

Championships: 6, Bathurst Wins: 4

Founded by Holden in the late 1980s in partnership with Tom Walkinshaw (TWR) to promote Holden Special Vehicles, who produce highly tuned road V8 Commodores. The 'HRT' took over where Peter Brock's Holden Dealer Team (HDT) empire and vehicles left off, after the collapse of HDT with, among other things, a debacle over the fitment of crystal energy polarizers to HDT cars. Initially HRT struggled through a number of lean years, in one year only attending a handful of rounds, however later the team improved after the drafting back in of Brock, his sponsorship from Mobil and input from Harrop Engineering. In their hey-day from 1996-2002 this well-financed team collected 6 championship wins. After the collapse of TWR, the team is now owned by successful team driver Mark Skaife and is to be managed once again by Tom Walkinshaw, this is likely to help the team owner perform better on the track. 2006 endurance drivers are Jim Richards and former Toyota Formula One test driver and Indy Racing League part-time driver Ryan Briscoe. The enduro line-up caused much controversy this year as Todd Kelly was swapped with Toll HSV Dealer Racing driver Garth Tander in a bid to maximise the HSV drivers chances of winning the chamionship. But the experiment backfired, with the team DNFing at both Sandown and Bathurst.

Championships: 4, Bathurst Wins: 3

The oldest team in V8 supercar Racing was formed by Dick Johnson, evolving from the Bryan Byrt Ford dealer entered team in 1980 after spending half a season in hiatus searching for a new direction. Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) provided formidable competition for the Holden Dealer Team of Peter Brock in the 1980s, and were a consistent force up to the year 2001 regularly winning races. They had been known for their consistent results but have struggled for form in the past few years. Son Steven Johnson contunies the legacy by carrying historically the most famous Ford number in the series - the legendary #17. Will Davison replaces legend Glenn Seton in the second DJR Ford. The team entered 2006 without major sponsorship and carrying signage from sister DJR companies First Rock Home Loans & V8 Telecom and later, long time sponsor APVC replaced V8 Telecom on Will's car. Davison's brother Alex and Australian T.V personality Grant Denyer are to drive in the endurance races for the famed team.

Championships: 3, Bathurst Wins: 1

Established in 1996, after Alan Jones left Glenn Seton Racing and joined forces with former Dick Johnson Racing engineers Ross and Jim Stone to form a new team. The team was originally known as Pack Leader Racing and had underhanded cigarette backing from the former Glenn Seton Racing sponsor. Jones left the team after two seasons, with the Stone Brothers buying out his share in the team. The following year result started to reverse and became occasional race winneres, starting with a tactical triumph at the 1998 Bathurst Classic. The team rapidly expanded and has dominated the series for the last three seasons with Marcos Ambrose winning the 2003 and 2004 championships and veteran team mate Russell Ingall keeping the championship within the team in 2005. With Marcos Ambrose driving in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Team Australia in 2006, the team have signed former Jaguar F1 test driver James Courtney to drive the #4 Jeld Wen car. Luke Youlden and Glenn Seton are 2006 endurance drivers.

Championships: 2

Glenn Seton formed his own team in 1989, using Ford Sierras. Seton had been a protege of the works Nissan team, and took the cigarette sponsorship of that team with him. Former F1 champ Alan Jones was secured as his team-mate late in 1992. The team was one of the first to debut the new V8 Touring Car regulation car in place of the Sierra. GSR were a top V8 Supercar team in the early V8 years and won championships in 1993 and 1997. Glenn Seton came famously close to winning the Bathurst 1000 in 1995, retiring due to a minor part breakage while in the lead with just 8 laps to go. The team became known by the new name "Ford Tickford Racing" in 1999, and the team gradually slipped in performance as V8 Supercar became more competitive. Ford diverted their attention to 00 Motorsport in 2002, and GSR reverted to a small battling one car outfit for that year before being purchased by Prodrive and reinvented as "Ford Performance Racing" to promote the high performance road Falcons built by "Ford Performance Vehicles". The drivers racing in 2006 are Jason Bright in the #6 CAT sponsored car, and Mark Winterbottom, in his debut year for FPR, in the #5 FPV car. New Zealand A1 Grand Prix driver Matthew Halliday and V8Supercar veteran Cameron McLean join the team for the endurance race at Sandown. World Touring car racer and son of the legendary Sir Jack Brahbam, David Brahbam was selected for the Bathurst round.

Bathurst Wins: 3

Former F1 driver Larry Perkins has long been an identity of the Australian Touring Car Championship. His team has collected three Bathurst wins, although championship wins have often slipped away in the V8 Supercar era and the team has had to settle for a number of runner-up positions. The team faces 2006 re-invigorated with a new title sponsor in Jack Daniels, allowing Steven Richards to challenge the front running teams more regularly. Richards got his 2006 season of to a great start, winning the Panasonic V8 Support Races at the Australian F1 Grand Prix. Perkins formed a new Fujitsu V8 Supercar Devolpment series team for son Jack and Shane Price, who will be the Jack Daniels sponsored team's endurance drivers.

Formed by V8 driver Greg Murphy's father Kevin Murphy, in partnership with Steve Reed and Trevor Ashby, owners of the long-time privateer team; Lansvale Racing Team. The team formed into a two car team in 2005 which has helped their performance. Tasman has enlisted the support of engineer Ron Harrop and his large engineering business in their attempt to establish themselves as a prominent force in V8 racing and have established a name for themselves after coming 3rd at the Sandown 500 and narrowly missing out on first at the Bathurst 1000. 2005 major sponsor Dodo have left the nest to join the Holden Racing Team. Former Team Kiwi Racing driver, Jason Richards drives for the team, with new signing Andrew Jones driving the second car. Tasman has announced that Owen Kelly and Mark Noske will drive for the team in the endurance races.

Bathurst Wins: 1

Garry Rogers started out as privateer in the late 70's running a Holden Torana. The team disbanded in the early 80s and re-emerged in the late 80's running a Commodore. Over the next ten years the organisation ran in several categories, NASCAR, AUSCAR and Production Cars, as well as supporting some Formula Ford teams. A Super Touring team was established in 1995 and ran for three years utilising Alfa Romeo, Honda and Nissan cars, before concentrating on their V8 Supercar Holden Commodore team, established in 1996, and eventually going on to challenge for the year 2000 championship with Garth Tander finishing runner up, and also to win the Bathurst 1000 in that year. Devolpment series champion Dean Canto and Lee Holdsworth have been signed on as 2006 race drivers. Greg Ritter and Phillip Scifllet have been announced as endurance drivers. After the Sandown 500, Scifllet was fired and GRM announced that Ford Performance Racing's Sandown 500 driver (And ironicly, Ritter's 2005 FPR enduro team mate) Cameron McLean was going to join Ritter at Bathurst.

The current PWR Racing outfit was formed in 2003 as Kees Weel reinvented his Queensland based Ford team into a Victorian Holden team aligned with the powerful Holden Motorsport (Holden Racing Team) group. Initially a deal was done to call the team "Team Brock" after the late Peter Brock, but this deal fell through after one season and since then the team has been known as "PWR Racing". PWR Racing recruited Holden star Greg Murphy for the 2005 season, re-named it self as Super Cheap Auto Racing, had their engines made from Perkins Engineering, after a few seasons with Walkinshaw Engineering and got a new title sponsor; Super Cheap Auto, after leaving Ford and Steve Ellery Racing. And has also recruited former Garry Roger's Motorsport driver Cameron McConville for 2006, replacing Paul Weel who is focussing on the PWR Performance products business. Weel and Fujitsu series driver Nathan Pretty will join the team as endurance drivers.

  • Triple Eight Engineering (Ford)

Bathurst Wins: 1

Formed by UK group Triple Eight Racing with their purchase of Briggs Motorsport in 2003. Triple Eight owner Roland Dane attracted significant Ford funding for their team, and set about turning Briggs Motorsport into a winning operation. Subsequently Craig Lowndes narrowly lost the 2005 title. Jamie Whincup replaced Steve Ellery for 2006, proving his ability quickly after winning the opening round in Adelaide. International drivers, Denmark's Allan Simonsen and Ulsterman Richard Lyons to drive in the endurance races.

  • Brad Jones Racing/Team BOC (Ford)

Brad Jones' Albury based team Brad Jones Racing (BJR), managed by his brother Kim Jones, joined the V8 Supercar Series in the year 2000 after buying Tony Longhurst's old licenses. BJR had formerly run the works Audi team in Australia for the Australian Super Touring Championship, and were multiple champions in Super Touring and Australian NASCAR based series. A feature of this team has been their tactical savvy through team manager Kim Jones, and vehicle set-up through veteran 1995 series champion John Bowe. In 2005, BJR was parneted by gas giant, BOC and was re-named as Team BOC/ They start 2006 rejuvenated, after a disappointing 2005 season with a bold, new livery. Team management announced that development series frontrunner Mark Porter and former Team Dynamik driver Dale Brede as endurance drivers. But due to injuries (that he died from) sustained in a crash while drving his Msport Commodore in the Fujitsu Series at Bathurst, Porter was unable to drive with Brede in the 1000. Team BOC announced that Porter's rival, Micheal Caruso would drive with Brede.

  • WPS Racing (Ford)

WPS Racing was formed in 2004 from the folded team 00/Gibson Motorsport by businessman Craig Gore who also is actively involved in the funding and management of Champcar team Team Australia. In 2006 the team purchased Larkham Motor Sport and installed Mark Larkham and several senior members of his team, along with lead driver Jason Bargwanna to run the team. Brazilian Max Wilson drives the second WPS Falcon. The teams 2005 drivers Craig Baird and David Besnard rejoin the team for the long distance races.

Two single car Holden teams merged for the sake of expediency in 2005 but retaining separate identities. Paul Morris Motorsport was originally a Formula Ford team in 1990 and had a long invlvement with BMW's works supported operation in 90's, winning four Super Touring titles. Converting to a V8Supercar operation in 2000, PMM expanded to a second car for 2006, which was shared by young prospects Fabian Coulthard and Alan Gurr and veteran Steven Ellery on a rotational basis. Ellery, Gurr and Fujitsu series racer Kayne Scott supported Morris in the long races. Currently, Jack Daniel's Racing's Fujitsu drivers Jack Perkins and Shane Price have been sharing car #39 (A Larry Perkins built Commodore now serviced by PMM, with sponsorship coming from both Sirroment Wines and Perkins Engineering) with Price to do races at Tasmania and Phillip Island while Perkins will race at the round in Bahrain.

Team Kiwi Racing was formed late in 2000, carrying a strong nationalist New Zealand identity and was centred around Jason Richards for several seasons. After Richards left Craig Baird drove with them for a single season before Paul Radisich joined. Carrera Cup racer Fabian Coulthard has joined the team for the endurance races. At the Bathurst 1000, Radisich was forced out wide at the Chase, hitting a tyre bundle hard. Radisich was freed after saftey marshalls had to cut the roof of the car off. Radisich broke his sturnem and ankle and the car was written off. TKR was forced to re-vert to their 2004 car (Which was driven earlier in 2006 as car #39 for Ellery, Coulthard and Gurr) and enlisted the uses of ex-TKR driver Craig Baird and Fujitsu Series driver, Chris Pither. The team has since announced it will become a Ford team in 2007, aligned with Ford Performance Racing and Prodrive.

  • Britek Motorsport/Fujitsu Racing (Ford)

Established in 2005 under the ownership of Ford Performance Racing driver Jason Bright, Britek struggled through their debut season with regulation limited testing and their second car only running a partial season. The team showed strong signs of improvement at Bathurst and enters 2006 with a new driving line-up with Warren Luff and Development Series graduate Jose Fernandez. Australian Sports Sedan Champion Tony Riciardello signed on with the team to drive in selected races as well as the Sandown and Bathurst endurance races. 2006 Development Series leader Adam Macrow joins Riciardello in the endurance races. It has been announced that Bright will leave FPR and move to Britek for 2007

  • Rod Nash Racing (Holden)

Rod Nash was a privateer driver in the late 1990's, and received a Level 2 licence when the V8 Supercars began their licensing arrangement. Nash has run Tony Longhurst, Cameron McConville, and Alex Davison, to name a few, in his time as team owner and enters 2006 as a solo team again after spending several season running with Perkins Engineering support, now with Paul Morris Motorsport Engineering and with Steve Owen spending his first full season as a V8 Supercar driver. They again continue with Autobahn sponsorship. Former Bathurst 1000 winner Tony Longhurst joins Owen in the drivers seat for the endurance races.

  • Paul Cruikshank Racing (Ford)

While new to the championship in 2006, Cruikshank has run several cars in the Development V8Supercar series and the Australian Carrera Cup since starting his own team in the early part of the decade. Former Champcar racer Marcus Marshall (Son of Super Cheap Auto major sponsor No Limt CEO John Marshall) will lead the single car team in 2006, with Glenfords Tool Centres being the primary sponsor. Carrera Cup frontrunner Jonathon Webb is announced as team's endurance partner to Marshall.

[edit] Notable figures

Notable figures involved in the category include:

  • Peter Brock (Feb. 26, 1945 – Sep. 8, 2006 ), 3 x Series Champion plus record 37 wins, 9 x Bathurst winner plus a record 6 poles & largest winning margin of 6 laps, 1 x Bathurst 24hr Winner, 9 x Sandown 500 winner, Repco Around Australia Rally winner, Father of James Brock. See also the Peter Brock Trophy.
  • Jim Richards, 3 x Series Champion, 7 x Bathurst Winner, 7 times Targa Tasmania winner, winner several times Australian Carrera Cup.
  • Dick Johnson, Current V8 team owner, 5 x Series Champion, 2 x Bathurst winner.
  • Craig Lowndes, 3 x Series Champion (youngest ever championship winner), 2 x Bathurst winner. '2006 Bathurst Champion and 1st winner of the Peter Brock Trophy'.
  • Glenn Seton, 2 x Series Champion, Son of 1965 Bathurst Winner Bo (Barry) Seton.
  • Marcos Ambrose, 2 x Series Champion (Currently in the USA working on a top level NASCAR drive).
  • Russell Ingall, 2 x Bathurst Winner, 2005 Series Champion.
  • John Bowe, 1 x Series Champion, 2 x Bathurst Winner.
  • Mark Skaife, Current V8 team owner, 5 x Series Champion, 5 x Bathurst Winner. In 2006 he equaled Peter Brock's 37 Championship wins.
  • Greg Murphy, 4 x Bathurst Winner (Current holder of the Quali'flying'(!) lap record).
  • Larry Perkins, ex-F1 driver and current V8 team owner, 6 x Bathurst Winner (father of Jack Perkins).
  • Steven Richards, 2 x Bathurst Winner - Son of Jim Richards.
  • Rick Kelly, 2006 Series Champion, 2 x Bathurst Winner, youngest ever winner in 2003 (Younger brother of Todd).
  • Garth Tander, 1 x Bathurst Winner.
  • Jason Bright, Current V8 team owner, 1 x Bathurst Winner.
  • Alan Jones, former Formula 1 driver for Williams.
  • Todd Kelly, 1 x Bathurst Winner (Older brother of Rick).
  • Max Wilson, ex-F1 test driver, ex-Champ Car World Series.
  • Paul Radisich, World Touring Car Cup Winner and former BTCC Champion.
  • James Courtney, former Jaguar Racing (now in the Marcus Ambrose seat at SBR).
  • Brad Jones, Current V8 team owner, 5 x AUSCAR Series Champion, 1 x Australian NASCAR Series Champion.

[edit] External links

Series
Teams
Teams contesting the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Stone Brothers Racing Holden Racing Team Tasman Motorsport Ford Performance Racing Jack Daniel's Racing WPS Racing
1 Russell Ingall
4 James Courtney		 2 Mark Skaife
22 Todd Kelly		 3 Jason Richards
23 Andrew Jones		 5 Mark Winterbottom
6 Jason Bright		 7 Steven Richards
11 Paul Dumbrell		 8 Max Wilson
10 Jason Bargwanna
Team BOC Toll HSV Dealer Team Dick Johnson Racing Paul Cruickshank Racing Fujitsu Racing Garry Rogers Motorsport
12 John Bowe
14 Brad Jones		 15 Rick Kelly
16 Garth Tander		 17 Steven Johnson
18 Will Davison		 20 Marcus Marshall 25 Warren Luff
26 Jose Fernandez		 33 Lee Holdsworth
34 Dean Canto
Team Sirromet Wines Supercheap Auto Racing Autobarn Racing Triple Eight Race Engineering Team Kiwi Racing
39 Alan Gurr
39 Fabian Coulthard
67 Paul Morris		 50 Cameron McConville
51 Greg Murphy		 55 Steve Owen 88 Jamie Whincup
888 Craig Lowndes		 021 Paul Radisich
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../v/8/_/V8_Supercar_e172.html"
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