The 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. [1] It was the twelfth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the fourteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 19 February in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit and concluded on 5 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. These events were held in all states of Australia and in the Northern Territory as well as in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and New Zealand. The 51st Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to the winner of the Drivers Championship by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
James Courtney won the Drivers Championship for Dick Johnson Racing by 65 points from Jamie Whincup in the final race of the season at the 2010 Sydney Telstra 500. Championship Team of the Year was awarded to Triple Eight Race Engineering and Champion Manufacturer of the Year to Holden. [2]
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2010 championship.
Triple Eight Race Engineering switched from Ford to Holden following Ford's withdrawal of funding from all of their teams except for Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers Racing. [29]
Rod Nash Racing, owners of the #55 Racing Entitlement Contract which was operated by Tony D'Alberto Racing in 2008 and 2009, became a customer team of Ford Performance Racing and as such moved from Holden to Ford. [30]
James Rosenberg Racing was revived using the Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) of Paul Cruickshank Racing. The team used a customer Stone Brothers Racing Ford.
Tasman Motorsport was disbanded, with the team selling its RECs to Tony D'Alberto Racing and the newly formed Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport. [31]
Jason Bright moved his Britek Motorsport license to operate it as a third car under Brad Jones Racing. [32]
Paul Dumbrell moved from Walkinshaw Racing to join Rod Nash Racing in a manufacturer switch. [33] Tony D'Alberto departed to drive for his newly formed team.
Fabian Coulthard was released from his Paul Cruickshank Racing contract to replace Dumbrell at Walkinshaw Racing. [34] Andrew Thompson also joined Walkinshaw Racing after a year on the sidelines, replacing David Reynolds in an all-new lineup. [35] Reynolds was left without a full-time drive and later joined the Holden Racing Team for the endurance events.
Tim Slade moved from Paul Morris Motorsport to the newly-formed James Rosenberg Racing. He was replaced by Greg Murphy, who came over from the defunct Tasman Motorsport. [36]
Jason Bargwanna was announced as a new signing for Kelly Racing, joining the Kelly brothers. [37] Multiple Sports Sedan Champion, Tony Ricciardello was confirmed to drive the fourth Kelly car. [38] Jack Perkins and Mark McNally were left without full-time drives. Perkins later joined James Rosenberg Racing and Paul Morris Motorsport for the endurance events. [9]
Jason Bright moved from Britek Motorsport to Brad Jones Racing as a result of the deal to utilise his REC as a third car. He replaced Cameron McConville, who was left without a full-time seat. [39] Karl Reindler would drive the additional car. [32]
Daniel Gaunt was announced as the driver for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.
Greg Murphy missed the opening round of the series at the Yas V8 400 due to a date clash with his hosting duties for Top Gear Live in New Zealand. Team principal Paul Morris replaced him for the event. [40]
Jason Richards withdrew from the series prior to the Sandown Challenge to have surgery to remove a tumor. Andrew Jones took over the seat for the remainder of the season. [41]
Daniel Gaunt was replaced by Cameron McConville after the Darwin Triple Crown, with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport citing the need for an experienced driver to progress further. Nathan Pretty and Mark Noske drove the team's Commodore for the three endurance events. [23] It was later announced that Warren Luff would be the team's driver for the rest of the season. [42]
Three Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series teams were granted wildcard entries to the two co-driver endurance events, the Phillip Island 500 and the Bathurst 1000. The three teams, Greg Murphy Racing, MW Motorsport and Sieders Racing Team, were also the three teams who were granted wildcard entries in 2009. A fourth team, Adrenaline Motor Racing (who last raced at Bathurst as Novocastrian Motorsport in 1997), withdrew their application. [26]
MW Motorsport subsequently confirmed it would use one of its own BF Falcons. [43] The Sieders Racing Team later withdrew their wildcard entry after a budget shortfall. [44]
Full-time drivers were no longer allowed to partner one another for the endurance races at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama in an effort to make both the championship and the endurance races more competitive. [45]
For the Armor All Gold Coast 600, each team had to include a driver who races in an overseas series. The majority of nominated drivers were sourced from the IndyCar Series.
Following a failed attempt to get former champion Marcos Ambrose to make a one-off guest appearance at the 2009 Sydney Telstra 500, the V8 Supercars Executive Board approved plans to allow for one-off guest drives. [46] The system would work in a similar fashion to the "Wildcard" entries that the series allows to drivers and teams from the Fujitsu Development Series to step up to the V8 Supercars during the endurance races. Ambrose had been earmarked as a target for such an appearance, with the series looking to allow international drivers to take part in the offshore races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi at the start of the season.
The following events made up the 2010 series. [47] The proposed event for Queensland Raceway in early May was cancelled in January after V8 Supercar and circuit operators were unable to agree to terms. [48] The Ipswich venue was later restored to the calendar. [49] Barbagallo Raceway was later removed with V8 Supercar citing workplace health and safety regulations. [50]
Calendar is as follows: [51]
Immediately prior to the season start, V8 Supercar launched a new publicity campaign, centred around American singer Pink and her 2001 recording Get the Party Started. The advertising campaign is called "The Greatest Show on Wheels" and is the first of a three-year deal between V8 Supercar and Pink. [52]
Points are awarded to the driver or drivers of a car that completes 75% of the race distance and is running at the completion of the final lap.
| Pos | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Std | 150 | 138 | 129 | 120 | 111 | 102 | 96 | 90 | 84 | 78 | 72 | 69 | 66 | 63 | 60 | 57 | 54 | 51 | 48 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 36 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 18 | — |
| L&H 500 Qual | 50 | 46 | 43 | 40 | 37 | 34 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | |
| L&H 500 Feature | 200 | 184 | 172 | 160 | 148 | 136 | 128 | 120 | 112 | 104 | 96 | 92 | 88 | 84 | 80 | 76 | 72 | 68 | 64 | 60 | 56 | 52 | 48 | 44 | 40 | 36 | 32 | 28 | 24 | 20 |
| Bathurst | 300 | 276 | 258 | 240 | 222 | 204 | 192 | 180 | 168 | 156 | 144 | 138 | 132 | 126 | 120 | 114 | 108 | 102 | 96 | 90 | 84 | 78 | 72 | 66 | 60 | 54 | 48 | 42 | 36 | 30 |
NOTES:
Std denotes all races except the L&H 500, Bathurst 1000, and Surfers Paradise. These three races have unique rules.
L&H 500: The Phillip Island event was split into two qualifying races and a 500 km feature race. The two drivers per team were grouped into separate qualifying races that counted towards drivers' individual point totals and towards the starting grid for the feature race. The two drivers then shared one car for the 500 km endurance race.
Bathurst: Two drivers shared one car for the race.
Armor All Gold Coast 600: Each V8 Supercar team was required to have an international driver included in its driver lineup for each 300 km race. The international driver was required to complete 30% of the race distance. The event was run under a National permit, allowing International licence holders to compete but not to score championship points. [53] This differed from the Bathurst event which was run under an International permit. [53]
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Holden took out the Champion Manufacturer of the Year award, [2] having clinched the title at the Gold Coast 600 event with its 14th race win of the year. [54] The award is given to the manufacturer that scores the most race wins during the Championship season. [54]