Supercars Championship

Supercars events take place in all Australian states and the Northern Territory , [ 1 ] with the Australian Capital Territory formerly holding the Canberra 400 . [ 2 ] Usually, an international round is held in New Zealand, with events previously being held in China, Bahrain, [ 3 ] the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. [ 1 ] [ 4 ] The Melbourne SuperSprint championship event is also held in support of the Australian Grand Prix . Race formats vary between each event, with sprint races ...

The vehicles used in the series are loosely based on road-going cars. Cars are custom made using a control chassis, with only certain body panels being common between the road cars and race cars. The cars are controlled for "technical parity" - ensuring that teams and drivers using any of the homologated cars have a chance to build and drive a winning car.

All cars currently use either a 5.4L or 5.7L Naturally aspirated V8 engine . Originally only for Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores , the new generation V8 Supercar regulations, introduced in 2013, opened up the series to more manufacturers. [ 11 ] Nissan were the first new manufacturer to commit to the series with four Nissan Altima L33s [ 12 ] followed briefly by Erebus Motorsport with Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs [ 13 ] and Garry Rogers Motorsport with Volvo S60s . [ 14 ] The series returned to a F...

The concept of a formula centred around V8-engined Fords and Holdens for the Australian Touring Car Championship had been established as early as mid-1991. With the new regulations set to come into effect in 1993 , Ford and Holden were both keen to know the details of the new formula by the end of 1991, putting pressure on the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) to provide clarity on the matter. However, CAMS was waiting to see what the FIA did with its proposed international formula ...

The new rules for the ATCC were announced in November 1991 and indicated that the V8 cars would be significantly faster than the smaller-engined cars. In 1992, CAMS looked at closing the performance gap between the classes, only to have protests from Ford and Holden, which did not want to see their cars beaten by the smaller cars. In June 1992, the class structure was confirmed: [ 20 ]

Both the Ford Falcon EB and Holden Commodore VP ran American-based engines, which were restricted to 7,500 rpm and a compression ratio of 10:1. The Holden teams had the option of using the Group A -developed 5.0-litre Holden V8 engine , although this was restricted to the second-tier privateer teams from 1994 onwards, forcing the major Holden runners to use the more expensive Chevrolet engine. The V8s were first eligible to compete in the endurance races of 1992 . The distinctive aerodynamics pa...

The new rules meant that cars such as the turbocharged Nissan Skyline GT-R and Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth were not eligible to compete in 1993, while cars such as the BMW M3 were. However, the M3 received few of the liberal concessions given to the new V8s and also had an extra 100 kilograms (220 lb) added to its minimum weight, so [ 22 ] with the Class C cars eligible for 1993 only, the German manufacturer's attention switched to the 2.0-litre class for 1994.

Cars from all three classes would contest the 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship , as well as non-championship Australian touring car events such as the Bathurst 1000 . However, for the purposes of race classification and points allocation, cars competed in two classes:

From 1995 , the 2.0-litre cars, now contesting their own series as super touring cars , became ineligible for the Australian Touring Car Championship. They did not contest the endurance races at Sandown and Bathurst, leaving these open solely to the 5.0-litre Ford and Holden models.

The Australian Vee Eight Super Car Company (AVESCO) – a joint venture between the Touring Car Entrants Group of Australia (TEGA), sports promoters IMG and the Australian Motor Sports Commission – was formed in November 1996 to run the series. This set the foundation for the large expansion of the series during the following years. The category also adopted the name 'V8 Supercars' at this time, [ 25 ] though the cars themselves were much unchanged. A new television deal with Network Ten and Fox S...

In February, Tony Cochrane and James Erskine left IMG. Together with David Coe, they formed Sports and Entertainment Limited (SEL) in April 1997. [ 27 ] TEGA would have a 75% share in AVESCO, with SEL owning the other 25%. TEGA was responsible for the rules and technical management of the series and the supply of cars and drivers, while SEL was responsible for capturing and maintaining broadcasting rights, sponsorship, licensing, and sanction agreements. [ 28 ]

The expansion of the series began in 1998 , with the first round to be held in the Northern Territory taking place at Hidden Valley Raceway . In 1999 , a new street race on a shortened version of the Adelaide Grand Prix Circuit became one of the first festival-style events, which would become common in later years. Australia's capital city, Canberra , hosted its first event on the Canberra Street Circuit in 2000 . In 2001 , a championship round was held in New Zealand for the first time, at Puke...

The Holden VE Commodore caused controversy when it was introduced in 2007 . The production model was longer, wider, and taller than the rival Ford BF Falcon and outside of the limits set by Project Blueprint. As a result, the VE race car was granted custom bodywork – namely shortened rear doors and a lowered roofline to meet the regulations. [ 42 ] Despite this, the VE was approved for use in the series, along with the BF Falcon, after several months of preseason testing. [ 43 ] Sequential gearb...

2008 saw the separate boards of directors of VESA and TEGA merge into a single board that was solely responsible for the administration of the category. The new board of directors was composed of four TEGA representatives, two members from SEL and two independent directors. [ 53 ] In 2011, TEGA and SEL entered a sale agreement with Australian Motor Racing Partners (AMRP), which had significant financial backing from Archer Capital . This agreement saw SEL lose its 25% stake in V8 Supercars, with...

In 2011, Archer Capital purchased a 65% shareholding in the series with the teams owning the other 35%. [ 55 ] In December 2021, both Archer Capital and the teams sold their shareholdings to Race Australia Consolidated Enterprises. [ 56 ]

The series continued its international expansion in 2013, with the first event in North America held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas . [ 62 ] In 2015, five drivers took part in a series of demonstration races at the Kuala Lumpur Street Circuit as part of the KL City Grand Prix . This was intended to be a precursor to the series holding a championship event at the circuit in 2016, in a push from CEO James Warburton to build series exposure in Asia. [ 63 ] The event was later cance...

In December 2014, Supercars released details concerning the future of the category. New regulations, dubbed Gen2 Supercar, were introduced in 2017 to allow the use of two-door coupé body styles and turbocharged four- or six-cylinder engines. However, no teams elected to build cars to these alternate engine specifications. Cars were still required to be based on front-engined, rear-wheel drive, four-seater production cars that were sold in Australia. The chassis and control components were carrie...

In April 2016, the series reached an agreement with Virgin Australia to rename the series to the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship on 1 July. [ 65 ] [ 66 ]

After being first announced in 2020, and after being delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gen 3 regulations were introduced for the 2023 Supercars Championship . The main aim was to create closer racing, to reduce costs and to increase road-relevance for the manufacturers. [ 68 ] [ 69 ] To do this, sweeping aerodynamic changes were made to cut the generated downforce . This reduced the amount of "dirty" air created, and made the cars more challenging to drive. The regulations co...

The current Gen 3 regulations are a complete refresh of the previous generation, [ 68 ] with the cessation of volume car production in Australia being a major factor. [ 70 ] [ 71 ] The current cars are the Ford Mustang GT and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 .

The full list of regulations, Sporting and Technical, can be found on the Supercars website in the operations manual [1] .

However, the rules go on to state that "The Category is not about equalisation of the abilities of participating Drivers and/or Teams (such equalisation could be, and is in some categories, defined as sporting parity). It is up to individual Drivers and/or Teams to Compete to the best of their abilities under the principle of technical parity."

The body of each car is based on its corresponding production car in Right Hand Drive and with homologation requirements. The bodies of both models are aerodynamically balanced through these homologations requirements, along with general balancing upon entering [ 75 ] Composite and Exotic materials are generally not permitted. The tail lamps are carried over from the road car, while the windscreen is replaced by a polycarbonate unit. The cars also carry cameras for broadcasting. [ 76 ]

The bodies are built around a chassis provided by official accredited builders, including certain race teams. Currently, Triple Eight Race Engineering homologate the Chevrolet Camaro and Dick Johnson Racing homologate the Ford Mustang . [ 77 ] The new for 2026 Toyota GR Supra will be homologaged by Walkinshaw Andretti United . [ 18 ]

Many safety features are utilised to protect the driver in the event of a crash. The fuel tank is positioned in front of the rear axle to prevent it from being damaged or ruptured in a rear end impact. The driver is seated towards the centre of the car and extra reinforcement is used on the roll cage on the driver's side to lessen the risk of injury in a side-on collision. The cars also feature a collapsible steering column and a fire extinguisher system. [ 11 ]

By modern racing vehicle standards, Supercars have relatively low amounts of downforce. This is intended to make it easier to follow other cars, and make the handling more similar to road cars. The Gen 3 cars were originally reported to produce about 140 kg of downforce at 200 km/h, similar to a road-registerable Porsche 911 GT3 RS . [ 78 ] Revisions in 2024 are stated to produce about 20% more downforce. [ 79 ]

All cars must be front-engine, rear-wheel-drive , and powered by a V8 engine designated by Supercars for use in the respected model of car, and balanced in power and weight. [ 82 ] Currently, the GM engine (for use in the Camaro) is a 5.7L V8 with a single camshaft and two valves per cylinder. The Ford engine (for use in the Mustang) is a 5.4L V8 with four camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder. These engines were designed to be cheaper and have a higher longevity compared to previous engines, alon...

As of the Gen3 Supercars, all engines for a given car model are built by a single engine builder - Herrod Performance Engines for the Mustang and KRE Race Engines for the Camaro. [ 83 ] Each engine is tested on a dynamometer before delivery to ensure the power and torque characteristics are to specification, and engine allocation is randomised to preclude more powerful engines being allocated to a specific team. [ 83 ] Engines are sealed upon delivery, and modifications are prohibited. Engine se...

Power is transferred from the engine to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential transaxle with an integrated spool differential . [ 85 ] The individual gear ratios and the final drive ratio are fixed with drop gears at the front of the transaxle allowing the teams to alter the overall transmission ratio for different circuits. [ 86 ] The cars use a triple plate clutch. [ 85 ] The cars run on E75 fuel with a fuel tank capacity of about 130 Litres [ 87 ]

An electronic control unit (ECU), provided by MoTeC, is used to monitor and optimise various aspects of the engine's performance. Numerous sensors in the car collect information which is then transmitted to the team, allowing them to monitor things such as tyre wear and fuel consumption and find potential problems with the car. The ECU is also used by officials during the scrutineering process. [ 88 ] During the race it can also serve functions such as to automatically limit a car's speed.

The cars use 18-inch (460 mm) control wheels, produced by Rimstock and supplied by Racer Industries, and control tyres from Dunlop. Supercars are provided with Soft, Supersoft, and Hard slick tyres as well as grooved wet tyres for each event, The requirement to use varying compounds and how many tyres need to be changed per race are dependent on the event [ 91 ]

The highest speed recorded in a Supercar of any generation is 300.5 km/h on the (downhill) Conrod Straight on the Mount Panorama Circuit , by Shane van Gisbergen in qualifying for the 2023 Bathurst 1000. [ 92 ] 2024-spec cars are expected to be about 10 km/h slower. [ 79 ]

Supercar lap times are similar to the 992 GT3 Cup cars running in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship . At the 2023 Bathurst 1000 , the fastest Supercars qualifying lap recorded was 2:04.664 by Brodie Kostecki . [ 93 ] On the same race weekend, the fastest qualifying lap recorded by the Carrera Cup cars was 2:04.6672. [ 94 ]

Each car entered is required to have a Teams Racing Charter (TRC), formerly known as a Racing Entitlements Contract (REC). A TRC is a contract between Supercars and a team which outlines the team's entitlements and obligations. [ 101 ] TRCs may be leased by their owners to another party for a maximum of two years, after which the owner must either use it themselves or sell it. [ 102 ] A racing number is tied to each TRC, with teams able to apply for a TRC number to be changed. The defending seri...

The TRCs were originally issued in 1999. Known as TEGA franchise agreements, they were divided into three categories – Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Twelve Level 1 franchises were issued to those teams that had competed in the series full-time since its inception in 1997: [ 104 ]

A thirteenth was later issued to Bob Forbes Racing . [ 105 ] A Level 1 franchise required a team to race at least one car at all events, and at various times allowed a team to enter up to four cars. Other teams received Level 2 and Level 3 franchises based on their level of participation. [ 104 ] The structure was changed a number of times before the present system of 28 RECs was arrived at in 2011. Supercars bought a number of RECs as they became available in order to achieve a long-held desire...

At the end of 2013, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport , Tony D'Alberto Racing and Triple F Racing each returned a REC to Supercars. [ 107 ] These were put up for sale in 2014, but no bids were received. [ 108 ] One was reclaimed by Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in 2015 after a legal fight. [ 109 ] At the end of 2014, a further REC was returned by James Rosenberg Racing . [ 110 ] In April 2015, Supercars launched a tender for one REC for the 2016 season, with Triple Eight the successful bidder. [ 111 ]

Teams consist of one to four cars, with most one-car teams forming a technical alliance with a larger team. [ 112 ] Only the REC holders are allowed to compete at each event, although "wildcard" entries are accepted for the endurance races, with a maximum of six extra cars on top of the regular 28. [ 113 ] Both Supercars and Development Series teams have entered wildcard entries in previous years. [ 114 ] [ 115 ] In 2014, the first wildcard entry for a sprint race was issued when Dick Johnson Ra...

The defending champion driver has the right to carry the number 1 the following year. However, Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin elected to retain their existing numbers in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022 & 2023. [ 121 ] [ 122 ]

A second-tier series, the Dunlop Super2 Series, is run as a support category to the main series at certain events. [ 7 ] Initially for privateers who did not have the funding of the professional teams in the late 1990s, the series now serves the dual purpose of developing young drivers before they compete in the main series and a means for main series teams to give their endurance co-drivers more racing experience prior to the endurance races. Teams in the Dunlop Super2 Series compete with cars ...

A third V8 Supercar-based series, the Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series , had been run since 2008 until the end of 2024, but had no involvement with the Supercars Championship or Dunlop Super2 Series, instead running on the programme of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships . [ 123 ] However, since 2016, several rounds have been run as support categories at Supercars events. It would officially become the third-tier series of V8 Supercars starting in 2019 before the category known as...

In 2023, there are two distinct formats for determining grid positions in races: Format 1 and Format 2. Format 1 uses a single qualifying session where all drivers participate simultaneously to establish their grid positions. Format 2, on the other hand, divides qualifying into three separate sessions. During Q1, the five slowest cars are assigned the last five grid positions, and the faster cars progress to Q2. In Q2, this process is repeated to determine the next ten grid positions. Finally, Q...

In previous years, the Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park events featured a single one-hour practice session on Saturday, while all other SuperSprint events have two one-hour practice sessions on the Friday with a fifteen-minute practice session on Saturday. The Winton and Ipswich events featured an extra thirty-minute session on Friday for endurance co-drivers. The SuperSprint format featured a fifteen-minute qualifying session held on Saturday to decide the grid for the race on the same...

Three thirty-minute practice sessions are held on Friday, while Saturday and Sunday both consist of two ten-minute qualifying sessions which set the grid for the pair of 200 kilometres (120 mi) races held on each day. [ 128 ]

The two-race round format, previously known as the SuperStreet format, covers those races not branded as a SuperSprint or an endurance race. In 2023 the format will be used in the Newcastle 500 , the Townsville 500 , the Gold Coast 500 and the Adelaide 500 . [ 125 ]

This format generally involves two races on the Saturday and Sunday of the race weekend, 250 km in length. Unlike the SuperSprint, refuelling is allowed.

In previous years, two thirty-minute practice sessions took place on Friday at each SuperStreet event, while a thirty-minute practice session is held on Saturday at Adelaide. The Adelaide event features a fifteen-minute qualifying session on Friday to determine the grid for the Saturday race, while the other events have a single fifteen-minute session on Saturday. All four events feature a twenty-minute session followed by a top ten shootout both on Saturday and Sunday. The Adelaide 500, Newcast...

This format is a single endurance race over either 500 or 1000 km with refuelling allowed and multiple drivers required. The Bathurst race takes around six hours to complete with the Sandown race taking around half that.

Between the founding of the championship and the current season, many different points scoring systems have been used. In the first few years, the same basic system as Formula 1 was used. Since the 1980s, separate point systems have been developed, some of which were based on the length of the race or which took into account whether there was only one long-distance race or several short races in a championship round. This should give the races a better weighting.

Points are awarded as follows at all championship events. Various different points scales are applied to events having one, two, three or four races, ensuring that a driver will be awarded 300 points for winning all races at any event. [ 132 ] Points are awarded to all cars that have covered 75% of the race distance, provided they are running at the completion of the final lap and with a final lap time within 200% of the race winner's fastest lap. At the endurance events, both drivers earn the t...

The series is currently broadcast on Fox Sports and the Seven Network . [ 143 ] Fox Sports shows all practice and qualifying sessions live along with the races. Seven shows only seven events live which are Adelaide, Melbourne, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Newcastle with the rest shown as a highlights package after the races have finished. The coverage is produced by Supercars Media, a specialist production company for Supercars Australia. [ 143 ] Supercars Media provides the com...

Prior to the 1984 Australian Touring Car Championship season (ATCC), the series did not have a common TV home, splitting between ABC and Channel 7, as the track owners controlled the TV rights for their specific round.

In 1984, CAMS intervened and prevented the track owners from obtaining their own TV rights and instead negotiated a contract with the ABC. The only race that was not shown in 1984 on the ABC was the Calder Park round, as Channel 7 already had a long term deal with Calder Park.

In 1985, the coverage moved full time to Channel 7. Due to reasons unknown, the first round was missed in certain regions and was shown as highlights at the second round. This was how it was until 1996 except for events were the ATCC was a support act (Australian GP F1 - Channel 9 and Indy Cars - Channel 9 / 10 on the Gold Coast) or non championship race (ie: ATCC Endurance Championship - Sandown 400/500 - ABC). Most races were same day delayed coverage to avoid the emptiness between ATCC and su...

In 1996 , the season was brought forward and the time between events was shortened to avoid conflicting with that years Olympic Games in Atlanta (Channel 7 being the rights holder for the Olympics).

The Bathurst 500 / 1000 was shown exclusively on Channel 7 from 1963 until 1996, and then from 1997 was packaged as part of the AVESCO TV Contract. [ 147 ]

This contract allowed simulcasting of the Channel 10 coverage on Fox Sports.

In 2000, select races ( FAI 1000 ) were produced and broadcast in widescreen (16:9). [ 150 ] [ 151 ] However, the public was not able to see this feed until it was rebroadcast on Foxtel on their Bathurst channel [ 152 ] and when it was released to DVD in the 2020s.

In 2001, as Digital TV arrived in Australia, every race was produced and broadcast in native widescreen (16:9) on Channel 10 Digital.

For analogue TV viewers, they received a letterbox feed (excluding Round 1, which provided analogue viewers with their own feed, which was too demanding, so opted for a letterbox simulcast instead from Round 2 on-wards), while international and Fox Sports users were shown a 4:3 feed. For every Split screen (ie: going for an interview, showing pit stops, pit reporters, going onboard, etc while showing track cameras), the feeds shown were within the 4:3 frame but were in their native 16:9 widescre...

Due to low viewership, this was never repeated after season 2001.

In 2003, Bigpond became the exclusive Streaming provider for Bigpond Broadband Customers only. [ 155 ]

This also included exclusive interviews and highlight packages.

This ended in 2007 when Supercars Australia started to produce the coverage. [ 157 ]

In 2004, Foxtel Digital was launched and by 2005 was showing races in widescreen.

The camera would be used in other events after its successful run at Bathurst.

This initial contract with Channel 10 and Fox Sports ended at the conclusion of the 2006 season.

Channel 7 regained the rights from 2007 to 2012, then extended to 2014 (due to a lack of competitive tenders at the end of 2012 forcing Supercars Australia to default to Channel 7 for two more seasons). [ 158 ] During 2013 and 2014, Channel 7's deal did not cover their production costs. [ 159 ] [ 160 ]

In 2007, Supercars Australia started to produce the coverage, rather than relying on the broadcasters. [ 157 ]

While Chanel 7 had the rights, Network Ten and Fox Sports continued to broadcast the series once a year for the Melbourne 400 championship races, which are a support category at the Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix, which was broadcast by Ten and Fox Sports. All support category races were tied up with the Formula One Australian Grand Prix broadcast rights as a package.

Supercars races are broadcast on the following channels:

The series has its own live streaming pay-per-view service, Superview. The service, which started in 2013, currently shows all races as well as qualifying sessions. [ 170 ] In 2021 the service was brought to YouTube which shows complete broadcasts including support races. The service is not available in New Zealand and Australia due to their current broadcasting rights with Sky Sport and Fox Sports . [ 170 ]

The series has its own website, which contains information about the series, drivers, teams and events and news articles, and a radio show, V8 Insiders. [ 171 ] News is also featured on motorsport websites such as Speedcafe [ 172 ] and V8Sleuth. [ 173 ] A media deal with News Corp Australia has been in place since 2009.

1 Will Brown 88 Broc Feeney

2 Ryan Wood 25 Chaz Mostert

3 Aaron Cameron 7 James Courtney

4 Cameron Hill 10 Nick Percat

6 Cam Waters 55 Thomas Randle