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2019 Supercars Championship

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 1.144.109.219 (talk) at 05:38, 28 January 2019 (Undid revision 880239389 by 1.144.105.30 (talk) cite state "Pirtek Enduro Cup", that's not a default for Bathurst 1000o). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Scott McLaughlin (photographed in 2013) will be the defending drivers' champion.
Triple Eight Race Engineering will start the season as the defending teams' champions.

The 2019 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship)[1] is a planned motor racing series for Supercars. It is due to be 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.

Scott McLaughlin will be the defending driver's champion. Triple Eight Race Engineering will be the defending team's champions.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2019 championship.

Championship entries Enduro Cup entries
Manufacturer Model Entrant No. Driver name Co-driver name
Ford Ford Mustang Tickford Racing[a] 5 Australia Lee Holdsworth TBA
6 Australia Cameron Waters TBA
55 Australia Chaz Mostert TBA
DJR Team Penske 12 New Zealand Fabian Coulthard TBA
17 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin TBA
23Red Racing[b] 23 Australia Will Davison TBA
Holden Holden ZB Commodore Walkinshaw Andretti United 2 Australia Scott Pye TBA
22 Australia James Courtney TBA
Brad Jones Racing 8 Australia Nick Percat TBA
14 Australia Tim Slade TBA
Erebus Motorsport 9 Australia David Reynolds Australia Luke Youlden[2]
99 Australia Anton de Pasquale Australia Will Brown[2]
Charlie Schwerkolt Racing 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom New Zealand Steven Richards[3]
Tekno Autosports 19 Australia Jack Le Brocq TBA
Tim Blanchard Racing[c] 21 Australia Macauley Jones TBA
Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 New Zealand Richie Stanaway TBA
34 Australia James Golding TBA
Matt Stone Racing 35 Australia Todd Hazelwood TBA
Triple Eight Race Engineering 88[d] Australia Jamie Whincup Australia Craig Lowndes[5]
97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen Australia Garth Tander[6]
Nissan Nissan Altima L33 Kelly Racing[e] 7 TBA TBA
15 Australia Rick Kelly TBA
78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro TBA
TBA TBA TBA
Source:[7][8][9][10][11]

Manufacturer changes

Ford will introduce the Mustang as a replacement for the FG X Falcon.

The sixth generation Ford Mustang, has been homologated for the 2019 championship. The Mustang will be a replacement for the FG X Falcon, which was used between 2015 and 2018.[12][13] Tickford Racing and DJR Team Penske will oversee the development of the car, with Ford Performance providing additional technical support.[14][15][16] Ford Australia will provide financial support in developing the car, but no team will officially be recognised as a factory team.[17] The homologation process will require modifications to the bodywork to fit the series' control chassis, but the car will continue to use the V8 engine used by the FG X Falcon.[18][19] The decision to return the Mustang to the series was made as Australia's domestic production of the Ford Falcon ceased in 2016.[20] The Mustang's return marks the first time since 1990 that a Mustang has contested the premier class of Australian motorsport.[21] The car completed the homologation process in December 2018 and was subsequently approved for competition by the Supercars Commission.[22]

Nissan withdrew its factory support from the championship at the end of 2018 as the company elected to change its global motorsport strategy and focus on its Formula E entry. Kelly Racing—who raced under the Nissan Motorsport name between 2013 and 2018—will continue to compete with the Altima L33 chassis under licence from the company.[23][24] Nissan's decision to withdraw from the championship followed the Altima being withdrawn from sale in Australia in 2017.[25]

Team changes

The number of entries will reduce from twenty-six to twenty-four with both Tickford Racing and Triple Eight Race Engineering returning a Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) to the sport's management.[26][27][28] 23Red Racing formed a partnership with Tickford Racing that will see it become a satellite team of Tickford.[29] Matt Stone Racing will upgrade from a VF Commodore to a ZB Commodore and will also receive technical support from Triple Eight Race Engineering.[30]

Driver changes

Craig Lowndes retired from full-time competition at the end of the 2018 championship.[31] He will remain with Triple Eight Race Engineering, paring with Jamie Whincup for the endurance events.[32] Tim Blanchard also stepped down from full-time competition at the end of the 2018 championship.[33] His seat at Tim Blanchard Racing will be filled by Super2 Series regular Macauley Jones.[34] Jones will make his full time début in the championship, after having previously entered as a wildcard at selected events in 2017 and 2018.

Mark Winterbottom and Richie Stanaway left Tickford Racing.[35] Winterbottom moved to Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, replacing Lee Holdsworth.[36][37] Holdsworth will take Winterbottom's place at Tickford Racing,[38] while Stanaway moved to Garry Rogers Motorsport to replace Garth Tander.[9] Tander stepped down from full-time competition, joining Triple Eight Race Engineering as an endurance co-driver.[6]

Calendar

The calendar was reduced to fifteen rounds in 2019, with the following events scheduled to take place:

Round Event Circuit Location Dates
1 Adelaide 500 South Australia Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 2–3 March
2 Melbourne 400 Victoria (state) Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, Victoria 15–17 March
3 Tasmania SuperSprint Tasmania Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6–7 April
4 Phillip Island SuperSprint Victoria (state) Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 13–14 April
5 Perth SuperNight Western Australia Barbagallo Wanneroo Raceway Neerabup, Western Australia 3–4 May
6 Winton SuperSprint Victoria (state) Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 25–26 May
7 Darwin Triple Crown Northern Territory Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 15–16 June
8 Townsville 400 Queensland Townsville Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland 6–7 July
9 Ipswich SuperSprint Queensland Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland 27–28 July
10 The Bend SuperSprint South Australia The Bend Motorsport Park Tailem Bend, South Australia 24–25 August
11 Auckland SuperSprint New Zealand Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, Auckland Region 14–15 September
12 Bathurst 1000 New South Wales Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 13 October
13 Gold Coast 600 Queensland Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland 26–27 October
14 Sandown 500 Victoria (state) Sandown Raceway Springvale, Victoria 10 November
15 Newcastle 500 New South Wales Newcastle Street Circuit Newcastle, New South Wales 23–24 November
Source:[39]

Calendar changes

The 2019 calendar underwent a radical revision compared to the 2018 calendar. The Sydney SuperNight 300 was removed from the calendar entirely and will be replaced by a new night race at Barbagallo Raceway. The change was made with the long-term view to running the Sydney round in January 2020 as part of a proposed move to a "summer series" format that would see the championship run primarily in the summer months.[39]

The Sandown 500 will move to a late-season slot in November, becoming the final round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup, to avoid clashing with the AFL and NRL finals series. The Auckland SuperSprint will be brought forward to September, making the Sandown 500 the penultimate round of the championship.[39] Changes to the Formula One calendar meant that the Australian Grand Prix will be run earlier in the year than it was in 2018, and thus the Supercars support races will also move forward. The Adelaide 500 was subsequently brought forward to keep its season-opening berth.

Format changes

The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit event format reverted to a SuperSprint format after two years of two 250 kilometre races known as the Phillip Island 500.[40]

Rule changes

As a cost reduction measure, the use of twin-spring dampers will be banned and teams will be required to use linear spring dampers.[41] A new specification of transaxle developed by Xtrac will be introduced.[42]

Notes

  1. ^ For points-scoring purposes, Tickford Racing is divided into two teams.
  2. ^ 23Red Racing is a satellite team of Tickford Racing; 23Red Racing own the Racing Entitlement Contract for car #23, while Tickford Racing runs the car and oversees trackside activities on its behalf.
  3. ^ Tim Blanchard Racing is a satellite team of Brad Jones Racing; Tim Blanchard Racing own the Racing Entitlement Contract for car #21, while Brad Jones Racing runs the car and oversees trackside activities on its behalf.
  4. ^ Scheduled to use #888 in the endurance races.[4]
  5. ^ For points-scoring purposes, Kelly Racing is divided into two teams.

References

  1. ^ "V8 Supercars confirm Virgin as primary backer". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Erebus confirms enduro line-up for 2019". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  3. ^ https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/motorsport/richards-set-for-winterbottom-enduro-switch/ar-BBS5De4
  4. ^ Herrero, Daniel (20 January 2019). "Supercars numbers: A modern history: Part 2". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Lowndes joins Whincup for PIRTEK Enduro Cup". supercars.com. Supercars Championship. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Red Bull HRT signs Tander for Enduro Cup". supercars.com. Supercars Championship. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  7. ^ Howard, Tom (21 December 2018). "Supercars 2019 entry list to date". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  8. ^ Leeuwen, Andrew van (17 April 2018). "Ford revives works Supercars programme with Mustang for 2019". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  9. ^ a b Herrero, Daniel (9 January 2019). "Stanaway replaces Tander at new-look GRM". Speedcafe.com. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  10. ^ "McLaughlin elects to stay with famous #17 for 2019". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  11. ^ Howard, Tom (14 December 2018). "Number changes for WAU, 23Red Racing in 2019". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  12. ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (17 April 2018). "Ford revives works Supercars programme with Mustang for 2019". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  13. ^ Coch, Mat (18 April 2018). "All Ford teams set to switch to Mustang for 2019". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  14. ^ Coch, Mat (17 April 2018). "Ford Performance in partnership with DJRTP/Tickford". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  15. ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (18 April 2018). "Ford Performance offers first teaser image of Supercars Mustang". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  16. ^ Coch, Mat (26 April 2018). "Ford Performance focused on Supercars". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  17. ^ Coch, Mat (17 April 2018). "Tickford boss enthused by Ford's Supercars return". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  18. ^ Herrero, Dan (19 April 2018). "Story explains Mustang development process". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  19. ^ Herrero, Dan (17 April 2018). "Mustang Supecar to run with V8 engine". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  20. ^ Herrero, Dan (18 April 2018). "Ford announces Mustang for NASCAR Cup Series". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  21. ^ Noonan, Aaron (5 April 2017). "Rewind: The Last Mustang". The V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  22. ^ Howard, Tom (12 December 2018). "Supercars Commission gives Mustang final approval". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  23. ^ Howard, Tom (15 May 2018). "Nissan to withdraw Supercars support, Altimas to continue". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  24. ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (15 May 2018). "Nissan to end works Supercars programme after 2018 season". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Nissan axes Altima". Motoring.com.au. 5 April 2017.
  26. ^ "Doubts over Stanaway future as Tickford works on 2019 plan". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 4 November 2018.
  27. ^ "Burgess: Improving sustainability key for Supercars future". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 26 October 2018.
  28. ^ "Triple Eight confirms two-car team for 2019". supercars.com. Supercars Championship. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  29. ^ Tickford confirms 23Red Racing tie-up Speedcafe 30 November 2018
  30. ^ Howard, Tom (13 August 2018). "Matt Stone Racing ditches Ford for Holden". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  31. ^ Howard, Tom (6 July 2018). "Lowndes to retire at end of season". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  32. ^ "Craig Lowndes announces retirement". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Australian Associated Press. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  33. ^ "Blanchard to step away from full-time Supercars racing". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  34. ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (6 December 2018). "Jones replaces Blanchard in CoolDrive Holden". supercars.com. Supercars Championship. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  35. ^ Adam, Mitchell (10 December 2018). "Tickford and Stanaway split". Supercars.com. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  36. ^ "Whincup praises Winterbottom's big call". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  37. ^ Adam, Mitchell. "Winterbottom's Holden switch confirmed for 2019". Supercars. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  38. ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (21 December 2018). "Holdsworth secures Bottle-O Mustang drive". supercars.com. Supercars. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  39. ^ a b c Howard, Tom (11 October 2018). "Sydney dropped, Perth night race added in Supercars 2019 shake up". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  40. ^ Howard, Tom (29 November 2018). "Supercars scraps Gold Coast format change". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  41. ^ Howard, Tom (17 December 2018). "Twin-spring dampers banned as Supercars looks to trim costs". speedcafe.com. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  42. ^ Howard, Tom (18 December 2018). "Xtrac Supercars transaxle deal confirmed for 2019". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
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