The 2011 International V8 Supercar Championship (often simplified to the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. [1] It was the thirteenth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the fifteenth series in which V8 Supercars contested the premier Australian touring car title. It was the first since the series was elevated to the 'International category' status by the FIA. [2] The championship began on 10 February in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit and finished on 4 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. It was contested over 28 races at 14 events. These events were held in all states of Australia and in the Northern Territory as well as in the United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand. The 52nd Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to Jamie Whincup by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden driver Jamie Whincup won the championship by 35 points over his teammate Craig Lowndes. The best placed Ford driver was Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom, 458 points behind Whincup. Stone Brothers Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen finished in fourth, 38 points behind Winterbottom, with the Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander a further 98 points back in fifth.
Whincup won ten races during the course of the season, one shared with French driver Sébastien Bourdais at the Gold Coast. He finished on the podium in nine of the first eleven races, setting up a strong points lead. His teammate Lowndes chipped away at the lead, winning four races in a row in the middle of the season, one with Mark Skaife at Phillip Island, and briefly led the championship after the Bathurst 1000. Lowndes won his fifth race at the title decider in Sydney but this was not enough to take the crown away from Whincup. The other thirteen race wins were shared between eight other drivers. Reigning champion James Courtney won the second race of the year in Abu Dhabi while his teammate Tander won three races, including one race at the Clipsal 500 and the Bathurst 1000 with Nick Percat. Rick Kelly also won three races, taking his first race win since 2008 and the first for Kelly Racing at the Hamilton 400. Van Gisbergen won the first race of his career at the Hamilton 400 before scoring his second at Hidden Valley. Brad Jones Racing were another team to win their first championship race, with Jason Bright taking his first win since 2006 at Barbagallo and backing it up with another win at Winton. Winterbottom took his first win in just under a year at the Gold Coast, winning the Sunday race with British driver Richard Lyons, before winning the final race of the season in Sydney.
The following teams and drivers have been confirmed for the 2011 series.
Notes:
Trading Post became the naming rights sponsor of the #6 FPR Ford Falcon which will be driven by former Holden Racing Team driver Will Davison. [85]
Tekno Autosports and driver Jonathon Webb ended their association with Dick Johnson Racing to run the team separately with support from Triple Eight Race Engineering. [28]
Walkinshaw Racing downsized to a single-car team, with the #10 Racing Entitlement Contract initially placed for sale, [76] but was subsequently purchased by organising body V8 Supercar Australia to achieve their long-held ambition to reduce the grid to twenty-eight cars. [18]
2010 Walkinshaw Performance endurance co-driver David Reynolds joined Kelly Racing in the #16 Commodore, replacing Tony Ricciardello. [49] Greg Murphy also joined Kelly Racing, replacing the outgoing Jason Bargwanna. [46]
After a long-running dispute over the ownership of Dick Johnson Racing, co-owner Charlie Schwerkolt sold his stake in the team and left with the No. 18 Racing Entitlement Contract, but has leased it back to Dick Johnson Racing for the purposes of running two cars in 2011. James Moffat was later announced as the driver for Car #18. [86]
After previously confirming his departure from the team he won the championship with, James Courtney joined the Holden Racing Team in the place of Will Davison. [36]
Reigning Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series champion Steve Owen was confirmed as the outgoing Greg Murphy's replacement at Paul Morris Motorsport. [73]
Brad Jones Racing was the last team to confirm its driver line-up, with Jason Bargwanna joining the team while Jason Richards was undergoing treatment with Adreno Cortical Carcinoma during the season. Richards died in December 2011. [57]
Tony D'Alberto switched from Holden to Ford for the 2011 season. He ran a Holden Commodore at the season-opening Abu Dhabi race before switching to Ford ahead of the Clipsal 500. [3]
Only two endurance race wild cards were approved for in 2011. Fujitsu Series team Miles Racing applied for one to run Ashley Walsh and Chaz Mostert but the team later elected not to utilise it. Kelly Racing entered a fifth car under the Banner of Shannons Mars Racing in which the winner of the Shannons Supercar Showdown television show competition would co-drive with the shows narrator and experienced driver Grant Denyer. At the shows conclusion a week prior to the Bathurst 1000, leading Formula Ford driver Cam Waters was announced the winner.
The following events make up the 2011 series. [87] The event at Barbagallo Raceway was reinstated with the Western Australian Government providing $5 million to redevelop the circuit. The Desert 400 was scrapped with V8 Supercars stating that the decision not to hold the event was because the circuit's international racing calendar was too full for an early season date.
Jamie Whincup won the opening race of the championship at the Yas V8 400, at the time it was his twelfth consecutive victory in races held outside of Australia, taking in wins in New Zealand, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain going back to the 2008 Gulf Air Desert 400. Whincup won by 14 seconds over the close pair of Alex Davison and Mark Winterbottom who in turn lead another pair of Fords in Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade. The second race was considerably more chaotic with a multi-car pile up in the opening laps ruling out amongst others Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander. Tander's new team-mate 2010 champion James Courtney, provided HRT with an opposing result, winning a late race battle with Jason Bright to take the second race win and to gain some points back after receiving the 50 point penalty the day before. Whincup was third ahead of David Reynolds completing an impressive return to the series after sitting out 2010.
Garth Tander won a shortened first race of the Clipsal 500. The race hinged on two safety car periods late in the race caused by incidents involving Russell Ingall and James Moffat. Tander lead Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mates Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes across the line at the head of a bunched queue. Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard saw Holden fill the top five places ahead of Mark Winterbottom. The biggest of the incidents in the race saw Steve Owen crash at turn 8 with sufficient force that car would not be repaired in time for the non-championship Albert Park 400 a week later. Whincup became the first repeat winner for the year by winning the Sunday race by 1.3 seconds over Rick Kelly. The second place for Kelly was the best result since the formation of Kelly Racing in 2009. Ford Performance Racing and Holden Racing Team filled the next few positions with Mark Winterbottom taking third over James Courtney, Garth Tander, Paul Dumbrell and Will Davison. Whincup had diced entertainingly with Will Davison early in the wet conditions, while Turn 8 claimed more cars with Lee Holdsworth and Warren Luff both crashing out, while Bright crashed heavily at the Senna Chicane.
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. The different points scales adapt to each event, having one, two or three races, making sure that a driver gets 300 points if they win all races of the event.
Event format | Position | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | |
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 | — |
Perth | 100 | 92 | 86 | 80 | 74 | 68 | 64 | 60 | 56 | 52 | 48 | 46 | 44 | 42 | 40 | 38 | 36 | 34 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | |
Ipswich R16/17 | 75 | 69 | 65 | 60 | 56 | 51 | 48 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 36 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | |
L&H 500 Qualifying Races | 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 | |
L&H 500 | 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 | |
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 |
Notes:
Std. denotes all races except the Trading Post Perth Challenge, Coates Hire Ipswich 300, L&H 500, and the Bathurst 1000. These four events have unique rules.
Trading Post Perth Challenge: This event consisted of three races. The total points were divided between each race evenly.
Coates Hire Ipswich 300: This event consisted of three races. Due to their short length, Races 16 and 17 only awarded half the points of a usual race. Race 18 used the standard points system.
L&H 500: The Phillip Island event was split into two qualifying races and a 500-kilometre 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-kilometre endurance race.
Bathurst: Two drivers shared one car for the race.
|
Bold - Pole position |
|
Bold - Pole position |
Craig Andrew LowndesOAM is an Australian racing car driver in the Repco Supercars Championship racing for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator.
Garth Dirk Tander is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving for Grove Racing. He was the 2007 series champion for the HSV Dealer Team and is a five-time winner in Australia's most prestigious motor race, the Bathurst 1000.
Jamie David Whincup 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 ZB Commodore, won a record seven Supercars championship titles, four Bathurst 1000 victories, and a Bathurst 12 Hour victory. Whincup is the all-time record holder in the Supercars Championship for race wins, at 125 career wins. He is also the first driver to win the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy twice at Pukekohe Park Raceway in Auckland, New Zealand.
Triple Eight Race Engineering, branded as Red Bull Ampol Racing in Supercars, 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 taking over and operating out of the former Briggs Motor Sport workshop in Bowen Hills during the 2003 season before moving to Banyo in 2009. The team has won the Supercars drivers' championship eleven times, the teams' championship twelve times and the Bathurst 1000 ten times.
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 team has competed in a variety of touring car series in Australia ranging from relatively modest Nissan production cars to Chevrolet NASCAR race cars to building the GT specification Holden Monaro 427C. The team won the Bathurst 1000 in 2000 and also won both of the Bathurst 24 Hour races which were held in 2002 and 2003. In 2013 the team celebrated its 50th year in racing since Rogers made his debut.
The 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 competing in it – has varied widely throughout its history. Currently, the event is held as a championship event for Supercars.
The 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series was the eleventh V8 Supercar Championship Series and the thirteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. It began on 19 March at the Clipsal 500 on the streets of Adelaide and ended on 6 December at the Homebush Street Circuit and consisted of 26 races over 14 events which were held in all states and the Northern Territory of Australia as well as New Zealand. The 50th Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to the winner of the series by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
The Gold Coast 500 is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship — and its previous iteration, the V8 Supercars Championship — since 2010.
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 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.
The 2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor race for V8 Supercars. The race, which was held on Sunday, 10 October 2010 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia was Race 18 of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was the fourteenth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was also the 53rd race for which the lineage can be traced back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island.
The 2012 International V8 Supercar Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the fourteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the sixteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 1 March at the Clipsal 500 and concluded on 2 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. The 53rd Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to the winner of the Drivers' Championship by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
The 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship was a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars that was based in Australia. It was the fifteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the seventeenth series in which V8 Supercars contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship was contested over thirty-six races, starting with the Clipsal 500 Adelaide on 2 March 2013, and finishing with the Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercars on 8 December. The series' calendar also expanded, travelling to the United States for the first time for a race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The Phillip Island SuperSprint was an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The event was a semi-regular part of the Supercars Championship, and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship, Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship, between 1990 and 2019.
The 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the sixteenth running of the V8 Supercars Championship and the eighteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international auto racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the seventeenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the nineteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars. It was the eighteenth running of the Supercars Championship and the twentieth series in which Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The Enduro Cup, was an award given out to the highest points scorers over the three endurance events in Supercars; the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and the Gold Coast 600.
The 2017 Supercars Championship was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars, which prior to July 2016 had been known as V8 Supercars. It was the nineteenth running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-first series in which Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
The 2019 Supercars Championship was the twenty-first running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-third series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport. The 2019 championship also included the running of the 1,000th Australian Touring Car Championship race, which was contested at the Melbourne 400.
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. The team was sold to Phil Munday and re-branded as 23Red Racing at the end of 2017.