Supercars Championship in video games

Last updated

There have been numerous video games which have included the drivers, teams, cars and circuits from the Supercars Championship , the leading touring car category in Australia. Several of these games were officially licensed by Supercars. From 2011 to 2014, an online championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing . [1] In 2017, Supercars launched an esports competition, now known as the Supercars Eseries, using Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Motorsport 7 until 2018 and iRacing from 2019. [2] [3]

Contents

History

Early computer games

Touring Car Champions, released by Torus Games and Virtual Sports Interactive for Windows in June 1997, [4] was the first game to be based on Australian touring car racing. It featured real-life video from the Mount Panorama Circuit with the virtual cars superimposed over the top. The game was endorsed by the Holden Racing Team, [5] and its drivers from the 1995 Bathurst 1000—Peter Brock, Tomas Mezera, Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy—were featured in the game, along with cut scenes from the race. The game included a Holden Commodore-based and a Ford Falcon-based car, with the Holden Racing Team's 1996 livery being used on one of the Commodore-based cars. Players took part in a series of races around the Mount Panorama Circuit, with prize money being used to upgrade the car or change the team manager and pit crew. [6]

This was followed by Dick Johnson V8 Challenge, released for Windows in December 1999. [4] It featured 25 drivers of what was then known as V8 Supercars as well as four tracks: Oran Park Raceway, Sandown Raceway, Queensland Raceway and Mount Panorama. The physics model of the game was created with input from Dick and Steven Johnson. The game featured multiple camera angles with which to race and supported the use of a force-feedback racing wheel. [7]

Codemasters

The third instalment of Codemasters' TOCA Touring Car series, TOCA World Touring Cars , released in 2000, was available for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance. It featured cars loosely based on the Ford AU Falcon and Holden VT Commodore that were used in V8 Supercars at the time.

In 2002, V8 Supercars: Race Driver , the fourth game in Codemasters' series, was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows. It was the first game to feature the name V8 Supercars in its title and was the first in a series of three games that would be released with such branding. The game featured 21 cars and seven tracks from the 2001 Shell Championship Series.

This was followed by V8 Supercars 2 in 2004, which featured content from the 2003 season and was also released for PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox and Windows. The final game in the series was V8 Supercars 3 , which was released in 2006 for PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Windows and Mac OS X and featured all cars and tracks from the 2005 season. It included the greatest depth of V8 Supercars content of all of the games released. [8]

This was the last full appearance of Supercars in the series, however selected cars have continued to appear in the series, most recently in 2019's Grid . [9]

Gran Turismo

In 2001, a Ford AU Falcon campaigned by Ford Tickford Racing in the 2000 Shell Championship Series appeared in Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec , the first time an Australian car had been included in the series. The car since appeared in each game of the Gran Turismo series up to and including Gran Turismo 6 .

Forza Motorsport

DJR Team Penske carried Xbox and Forza Motorsport signage at selected events in 2014 and 2015. Pye Ambrose 2015 Sandown 500.JPG
DJR Team Penske carried Xbox and Forza Motorsport signage at selected events in 2014 and 2015.

The V8 Supercars licence has featured in the Forza Motorsport series. The 2015 edition, Forza Motorsport 6 , featured ten V8 Supercars including all five marques that competed in the 2015 season. [10] The series, a flagship series of Microsoft's Xbox series of consoles, has also featured as a sponsor on multiple real life V8 Supercars, including a wildcard entry from Triple Eight Race Engineering at the 2013 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and on DJR Team Penske cars in 2014 and 2015.

In 2016, two cars from the newly renamed Supercars Championship and one car from the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship appeared in Forza Horizon 3 , their first appearance in the spin-off series to Forza Motorsport, as part of a wider focus on Australian content. [11] The two 2016 season cars came in the Forza Horizon 3 Motorsport All-Stars DLC. The other 2015 season car was attainable in game via a Forzathon Event. Forza Motorsport 7 featured a range of Supercars dating from 2015 to 2017. [12]

Electronic Arts

The 2002 game V8 Challenge was released by EA Sports. EA Sports also sponsored the Holden Young Lions entry through the 2001 and 2002 seasons and EA Sports also sponsored the Team Brock entry through the 2003 season.

EA made a return to Supercars with Real Racing 3 with annual Supercars updates from 2016 to 2018 featuring a select number of cars entered in their respective seasons. Since the 1st of January 2019, all existing Supercars models have been discontinued and are no longer available to be purchased in-game.

Esports

Forza Motorsport

In 2017, Supercars Australia launched an esports competition using Forza Motorsport 6 . [13] The inaugural event featured online competition with the winning entrants competing in a joint race against Supercars Championship drivers at the 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, in a similar concept seen to Formula E, and then a series of races to determine the outright winner. [2] In 2018, the series, which became known as the Supercars Eseries, expanded to six events using Forza Motorsport 7 and received title sponsorship from Boost Mobile as part of a campaign to attract a younger demographic of fans to Supercars. [14]

iRacing

From 2011 to 2014, an online esports championship sanctioned by Supercars was contested on iRacing . [1]

In 2019, the Eseries, with backing from Gfinity Australia, moved to iRacing with a combination of dedicated esports teams and entries from Supercars teams including Triple Eight Race Engineering and Walkinshaw Andretti United, the latter finishing first and second in the championship. [3] [15] The six round championship was also broadcast live on Fox Sports and streamed on Kayo Sports. [16] With iRacing in 2019 only featuring the older Ford FG Falcon and Holden VF Commodore models, superseded in the Supercars Championship in 2015 and 2018 respectively, plans were also launched to develop the contemporary Ford Mustang GT and Holden ZB Commodore into the game for 2020. [17]

With the 2020 Supercars Championship calendar disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries was announced to commence in April 2020, with all championship drivers competing using the new Mustang and Commodore models. [18] Various wildcards, including international drivers, former Supercars Championship drivers and Super2 Series drivers later made appearances in the series. [19] A regular Eseries then followed in 2020, once again focused on dedicated esports drivers. Separate series were again held in 2021, however with each series now racing on the same night.

Eseries winners

YearSeries NameDriverTeamGameReport
2018 Boost Mobile Supercars E-Series Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matthew Bink Forza Motorsport 7 Report
2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries Flag of Australia (converted).svg Josh Rogers Walkinshaw Andretti United iRacing Report
2020 BP Supercars All Stars Eseries Flag of New Zealand.svg Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
Repco Supercars Pro Eseries Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dayne Warren Walkinshaw Andretti United Report
2021 Cash Converters Supercars Eseries - All Stars Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brodie Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Report
Cash Converters Supercars Eseries - Pro Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dayne Warren Walkinshaw Andretti United
2022 Cash Converters Supercars Eseries - All Stars Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brodie Kostecki Erebus Motorsport Report
Cash Converters Supercars Eseries - Pro Flag of Australia (converted).svg Madison Down Brad Jones Racing

List of licensed games

Fully licensed games have accurate cars (including liveries), drivers and or tracks from the Supercars Championship series. Several of these games only feature a limited selection of V8 Supercars rather than the entire field of cars and tracks.

TitleRelease datePlatform(s)DeveloperPublisherNotes
Dick Johnson V8 Challenge1999 Windows Torus Games Tru Blu Entertainment
V8 Supercars: Race Driver 2002 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows Codemasters Codemasters Also known as:
TOCA Race Driver
DTM Race Driver (Germany)
Pro Race Driver (United States)
V8 Challenge 2002 Windows Digital Illusions CE EA Sports
V8 Supercars 2 2004 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, PSP Codemasters Codemasters Also known as:
TOCA Race Driver 2
DTM Race Driver 2 (Germany)
V8 Supercars 3 2006 PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows, PSP, OS X, Nintendo DS Codemasters Codemasters Also known as:
TOCA Race Driver 3
DTM Race Driver 3 (Germany)
Forza Motorsport 3 2009 Xbox 360 Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Forza Motorsport 4 2011 Xbox 360 Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Forza Motorsport 5 2013 Xbox One Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Real Racing 3 2013 iOS, Android, Shield Portable, Blackberry 10 Firemonkeys EA Games Added in update, September 2016
Removed since January 2019
Forza Motorsport 6 2015 Xbox One, Windows Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios
Forza Horizon 3 2016 Xbox One, Windows Playground Games Microsoft Studios
Forza Motorsport 7 2017 Xbox One, Windows Turn 10 Studios Microsoft Studios

Other appearances

Various games have also included a more limited selection of cars from the Supercars Championship series, without having a full series licence. This does not include several games which have received fan-made modifications to add V8 Supercars content, including rFactor , Assetto Corsa , Automobilista , NASCAR Racing 2003 Season and GTR 2 . Other games, such as Project CARS , its sequel Project CARS 2 and Gran Turismo 6 , have featured the V8 Supercars' most famous circuit, Mount Panorama, without featuring full series content. [20]

TitleRelease datePlatform(s)DeveloperPublisherNotes
Touring Car Champions1997 Windows Torus Games Virtual Sports InteractiveReal-life video from the Mount Panorama Circuit with virtual cars superimposed over the top.
Need for Speed: High Stakes 1999 PlayStation, Windows EA Canada (PS)
EA Seattle (PC)		 Electronic Arts 1999 Holden Racing Team VT Commodore is an unlockable car
HSV Adventure Racing 1999 Nintendo 64 Paradigm Entertainment Electronic Arts 1999 Holden Racing Team VT Commodore is an unlockable car
TOCA World Touring Cars 2000 PlayStation, Game Boy Advance Codemasters Codemasters Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Also known as:
Jarrett & Labonte Stock Car Racing (United States)
WTC: World Touring Car Championship (Japan)
Gran Turismo series 2001–2013 PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3 Polyphony Digital Sony Computer Entertainment Includes only the 2000 Ford Tickford Racing Ford AU Falcon, which appeared in all games in the series from Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (2001) to Gran Turismo 6 (2013).
iRacing 2008 Windows, OS X, Linux iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations Includes the Ford FG Falcon (from 2009 and 2013), Mustang, Holden VF and ZB Commodore's with player-generated liveries. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
Game Stock Car Extreme 2013 Windows Reiza Studios Reiza Studios Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Grid 2 2013 Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, OS X Codemasters Codemasters, Feral Interactive Includes a Ford Falcon ute with a V8 Supercar-style bodykit.
Grid Autosport 2014 Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Linux, OS X, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Android Codemasters, Feral Interactive Codemasters, Feral Interactive Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis. Also includes Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore SuperUtes.
Project CARS 2015 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Slightly Mad Studios Bandai Namco Entertainment Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG Falcon as a free DLC.
Automobilista 2016 Windows Reiza Studios Reiza Studios Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Project CARS 2 2017 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Slightly Mad Studios Bandai Namco Entertainment Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG Falcon.
Grid 2019 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia Codemasters Codemasters Generic and real life liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG-X Falcon and Holden ZB Commodore.
Automobilista 2 2020 Windows Reiza Studios Reiza Studios Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Project CARS 3 2020 Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Slightly Mad Studios Bandai Namco Entertainment Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG Falcon.
Grid Legends 2021 Windows, MacOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Codemasters Electronic Arts Generic liveries on V8 Supercars-style chassis.
Includes the Ford FG-X Falcon and Holden ZB Commodore.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touring car racing</span> Motorsport road racing competition

Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supercars Championship</span> Touring car racing category in Australasia

The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Murphy</span> New Zealand racing driver

Gregory Murphy is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from 12 to 15 February 2009, and again when the show returned in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garth Tander</span> Australian racing driver

Garth Tander is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving the No. 97 Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. 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.

<i>TOCA</i> (series) Racing video game series by Codemasters

TOCA is a racing video game series developed and published by Codemasters. The series originally focused specifically on touring car racing, but after World Touring Cars, the series expanded to cover a wide variety of motorsport.

A number of video games have been made of Le Mans 24 Hours. The race, the Circuit de la Sarthe, and competing cars have been featured in racing games such as the Gran Turismo series.

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 NASCARs 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Perkins (racing driver)</span> Australian racing driver

Jack Perkins is an Australian motor racing driver who competes in the Pirtek Enduro Cup. He currently co-drives with Will Brown in the No. 9 Holden ZB Commodore for Erebus Motorsport. He is the son of retired Australian race driver and former team owner Larry Perkins, in whose team Perkins Engineering, he drove between 2006 and 2008. Initially competing as an endurance race only driver in 2006, in 2007 Perkins graduated to the full-time drive in the No. 11 Perkins Engineering car, the number made famous in Australian racing by his father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 FAI 1000</span>

The 1999 FAI 1000 was an endurance race for V8 Supercars. The event was held on 14 November 1999 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and was the thirteenth and final round of the 1999 Shell Championship Series. It was the first year that the traditional spring endurance race at Bathurst was part of the Australian Touring Car Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series</span>

The 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series was the tenth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the twelfth series in which V8 Supercars contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 21 February at the Clipsal 500 on the streets of Adelaide and concluded on 7 December at Oran Park Raceway. It consisted of 14 rounds covering all states and the Northern Territory of Australia as well as rounds in New Zealand and Bahrain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Caruso (racing driver)</span>

Michael Caruso is an Australian professional motor racing driver. Caruso competes in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, co-driving a Holden ZB Commodore for Team 18 alongside Mark Winterbottom.

The 2007 V8 Supercar season featured the ninth V8 Supercar Championship Series which began on 1 March and concluded on 2 December. This championship consisted of 14 rounds covering all states and the Northern Territory of Australia as well as rounds in New Zealand and Bahrain. The series also carried the Australian Touring Car Championship title, which was awarded by CAMS for the 48th time in 2007.

The 2006 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series was an Australian motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the seventh annual V8 Supercar Development Series. It began on 24 March 2006 at Adelaide Street Circuit and finished on 10 December at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit after seven rounds held across four different states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dale Wood (racing driver)</span> Australian racing driver

Dale Wood is an Australian racing driver who currently co-drives for Brad Jones Racing's No. 8 Holden ZB Commodore in the Pirtek Enduro Cup. He currently resides in Melbourne, Victoria. He commenced his full-time V8 Supercar career in 2009 with the newly formed team Kelly Racing team, having raced previously for the Tasman Motorsport aligned Greg Murphy Racing Fujitsu series squad. Wood was replaced after the Hidden Valley round although he returned to the team for the endurance race season, pairing up with Jack Perkins. He returned to the team a year later, again in an endurance race role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathon Webb</span> Australian racing driver

Jonathon Webb is an Australian former professional racing driver and team owner of Team Sydney, who once co-drove alongside Fabian Coulthard in the No. 19 Holden ZB Commodore for the Pirtek Enduro Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luke Youlden</span> Australian racing driver

Luke Youlden is an Australian Supercars series racing driver. He is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion Kent Youlden (dec). Youlden currently drives for Kelly Grove Racing as a co-driver alongside David Reynolds in the No. 26 Ford Mustang GT. Outside racing, Youlden works at a performance driving school with fellow Supercars racer Dean Canto. He co-drove to victory with David Reynolds in the 2017 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andre Heimgartner</span>

Andre Emil Heimgartner is a New Zealand motor-racing driver who currently competes in the Repco Supercars Championship driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Brad Jones Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Supercars Championship</span>

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.

References

  1. 1 2 B, Kevin (1 August 2011). "V8 Supercars to Sanction iRacing.com Series". iRacing.com. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Howard, Tom (8 September 2017). "Supercars announces new e-Sports event". Speedcafe . Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 Hodson, Joshua (18 April 2019). "Supercars Unveil 2019 Esports Competition". Ministry of Sport. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Torus Games" (PDF). Torus Games . Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Touring Car Champions". Moby Games. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Touring Cars". Torus Games . Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Dick Johnson V8 Challenge". Torus Games . Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Calvert, Justin (26 August 2005). "TOCA Race Driver 2006 Hands-On". GameSpot . Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Evans, Andrew (30 August 2019). "Codemasters Reveals Almost All The Cars in GRID". GTPlanet. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  10. ↑ Reilly, Luke (23 August 2015). "Forza 6 Gets All 5 V8 Supercars Australia Manufacturers". IGN . Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Patrick, Kyle (19 July 2016). "First 150 Cars Revealed For Forza Horizon 3: Ute Better Believe It". GT Planet. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Rorrison, Brendan (29 August 2017). "Forza Motorsport 7's Race Car Lineup Announced". GT Planet. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  13. ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (13 June 2017). "Supercars plans virtual racing plunge". Supercars . Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  14. ↑ Howard, Tom (31 August 2018). "Supercars to launch new eSports series". Speedcafe. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  15. ↑ "Supercars Eseries grid taking shape". Supercars. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "Supercars Eseries schedule, broadcasts locked in". Supercars. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (5 September 2019). "Eseries Mustang and ZB under development". Supercars. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  18. ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (23 March 2020). "Drivers prepare for All Stars Eseries". Supercars. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  19. ↑ Chapman, Simon (27 April 2020). "Ambrose to run special celebratory number in Eseries". Speedcafe. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  20. ↑ G, Jordan (2 October 2013). "Mount Panorama (Bathurst) Confirmed for Gran Turismo 6: New Video & Screenshots". GTPlanet. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Holden V8 Super Car". iRacing. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Supercars Ford Mustang GT". iRacing.
  23. ↑ "Supercars Holden ZB Commodore". iRacing.
  24. ↑ "Ford FG V8 Super Car". iRacing.
  25. ↑ "Ford V8 Super Car circa 2012". iRacing.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.