2016 International V8 Supercars Championship
2016 International V8 Supercars Championship season | |||
Previous: | 2015 | Next: | 2017 |
Support series: Dunlop V8 Supercars Series Australian Formula 4 Championship |
The 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship is an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It is the eighteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the twentieth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
Mark Winterbottom started the season as the defending drivers' champion, while Triple Eight Race Engineering are the defending teams' champions.
Teams and drivers
Twenty-six cars are competing in the 2016 season.[1] Holden, Nissan and Volvo are all represented by factory-backed teams.[2][3][4] Ford, having scaled back its involvement in 2015, are providing no financial or technical assistance,[5] but are still represented by Prodrive Racing Australia[6] and DJR Team Penske.
The following drivers are contesting the 2016 series.
Notes:
- ^ – Oliver Gavin will only contest the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 rounds, another driver will drive at the Sandown 500 due to Gavin having a date clash[17]
Team changes
- Charlie Schwerkolt Racing terminated its customer arrangement with the Holden Racing Team, to field an in house entry.[42]
- DJR Team Penske expanded to run two cars, having run a single car in 2015.[30] The team took back the Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) it had leased to Super Black Racing in 2015.[43]
- Erebus Motorsport switched from running Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs to Holden VF Commodores.[18]
- Triple Eight Race Engineering expanded to field three cars, purchasing a REC last used in 2014 by James Rosenberg Racing.[44]
- Walkinshaw Racing ceased at the end of 2015, with its REC sold to Super Black Racing.[45]
Driver changes
- Changed teams
- Tim Blanchard moved from Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport to Britek Motorsport.[27]
- Fabian Coulthard moved from Brad Jones Racing to DJR Team Penske.[30]
- Will Davison moved from Erebus Motorsport to Tekno Autosports.[34]
- Andre Heimgartner moved from Super Black Racing to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.[15]
- James Moffat moved from Nissan Motorsport to Garry Rogers Motorsport to replace David Wall.[38]
- Chaz Mostert moved from Prodrive Racing Australia to Rod Nash Racing, a customer team whose car is prepared by Prodrive Racing Australia. The team cited commercial reasons for Mostert's move.[10]
- David Reynolds moved from Rod Nash Racing to Erebus Motorsport.[20]
- Tim Slade moved from Walkinshaw Racing to Brad Jones Racing.[29]
- Shane Van Gisbergen moved from Tekno Autosports to Triple Eight Race Engineering.[41]
- Dale Wood moved from Britek Motorsport to Nissan Motorsport.[25]
- Entering series
- Aaren Russell, having raced a wildcard entry at the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, joined Erebus Motorsport for his first full-time season, replacing Ashley Walsh.[19]
- Cameron Waters replaced Chaz Mostert at Prodrive Racing Australia after winning the 2015 V8 Supercars Dunlop Series for the team. Waters had previously raced for the team in the main series as a substitution for Mostert while the latter recovered from an injury.[9]
Calendar
The 2016 calendar was released on 8 September 2015.[46] On 1 October 2015 the calendar was revised, with Tasmania and the non-championship Australian Grand Prix races switching dates due to an updated 2016 Formula One calendar.[47] A further revision was made on 22 March 2016, with the Sydney 500 being moved back one week to avoid clashing with other events at Sydney Olympic Park.[48]
Calendar changes
- The Phillip Island SuperSprint moved from November to April.[46]
- The series will visit Malaysia for the first time, with a round of the championship to be held as part of the Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix.[49] This addition will see the calendar expand to fifteen events.[46]
Format changes
- The two 60 kilometre races held on the Saturday of SuperSprint events will be replaced by a single 120 km race, with a compulsory pit stop to change tyres.[50]
- The Kuala Lumpur and Auckland events will use the International SuperSprint format that is also used at the non-championship V8 Supercars Challenge event at the Australian Grand Prix, with four 100 km races held across each weekend.[50]
- The Sydney 500 will revert to its original two race format, with a single 250 km race held on each of Saturday and Sunday, after a pair of 125 km races were held on Saturday in 2014 and 2015.[50]
- Soft tyres will be used at all events except for the Bathurst 1000 and Phillip Island SuperSprint, with the season allocation increasing from 324 to 400 soft tyres per car.[50]
- Practice sessions for endurance co-drivers will be held at the Winton and Queensland Raceway rounds.[51]
Testing changes
- The compulsory pre-season test was scrapped. Teams are allowed three test days, one of which had to be used before the season commences. Rookie drivers and drivers who have not competed in the series for over three years will be allowed an additional three days of testing.[52]
Event summaries
Clipsal 500 Adelaide
Results | |||
---|---|---|---|
Event 1 | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 |
Pole position |
Scott Pye (DJR Team Penske) |
Chaz Mostert (Rod Nash Racing) |
Fabian Coulthard (DJR Team Penske) |
Race winner |
Jamie Whincup (Triple Eight Race Engineering) |
James Courtney (Holden Racing Team) |
Nick Percat (Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport) |
Scott Pye took his first pole position in the series in qualifying for the first race in Adelaide.[53] He would only finish the race in twelfth place, however, after a slow pit stop. Jamie Whincup won the race after starting from second place, ahead of James Courtney and Shane Van Gisbergen.[54] Chaz Mostert, in his first race meeting since being injured at the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, took pole position for the second race.[53] Courtney won the race after a close battle with Whincup, while Mostert finished third. Chris Pither crashed at Turn 8,[55] with the car sustaining enough damage to rule it out of the third race.[56] The third race was marred by heavy rain and controversy over the start of the race and fuel regulations. Nick Percat took his first solo victory in the series, having completed only 48 of the scheduled 78 laps. Polesitter Fabian Coulthard and his teammate Pye finished second and third on the road, but were given a one-minute penalty each as neither had taken on 140 litres of fuel during the race as required by the regulations. Michael Caruso inherited second place ahead of Garth Tander. Caruso left the event with the championship lead ahead of Whincup and Van Gisbergen.[57]
Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint
Results | ||
---|---|---|
Event 2 | Race 4 | Race 5 |
Pole position |
Mark Winterbottom (Prodrive Racing Australia) |
Mark Winterbottom (Prodrive Racing Australia) |
Race winner |
Shane Van Gisbergen (Triple Eight Race Engineering) |
Will Davison (Tekno Autosports) |
Shane Van Gisbergen took his first championship race win for Triple Eight Race Engineering in the first race of the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint, taking victory over his teammate Jamie Whincup. Will Davison scored his first podium finish for Tekno Autosports by finishing third. Mark Winterbottom had qualified on pole position, but finished ninth after a slow pit stop and running off the circuit.[58] Davison was fastest and qualifying for the second race, but was given a two-place grid penalty for impeding James Courtney, which gave pole position to Winterbottom.[59] Van Gisbergen looked set to take victory until late in the race, when oil dropped by Cameron Waters' car caused him to go off the circuit and get stuck in a gravel trap. This allowed Davison through to take victory, with Craig Lowndes finishing second ahead of Winterbottom. Chris Pither suffered another heavy crash, when contact with Nick Percat caused his car to spin into the wall. Davison's win gave him the lead in the championship, with Lowndes moving up to second place ahead of Whincup and Winterbottom.[60]
WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint
Results | ||
---|---|---|
Event 3 | Race 6 | Race 7 |
Pole position |
Scott McLaughlin (Garry Rogers Motorsport) |
Scott McLaughlin (Garry Rogers Motorsport) |
Race winner |
Scott McLaughlin (Garry Rogers Motorsport) |
Scott McLaughlin (Garry Rogers Motorsport) |
Championship standings
Points system
Points were awarded for each race at an event, to the driver or drivers of a car that completed at least 75% of the race distance and was running at the completion of the race, up to a maximum of 300 points per event.[61]
Points 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 | |
Short format | 75 | 69 | 64 | 60 | 55 | 51 | 48 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 36 | 34 | 33 | 31 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 13 |
Long format | 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 |
Endurance format | 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 |
- Short format: Used for the first two races at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide and all International SuperSprint races.
- Long format: Used for all SuperSprint and SuperStreet races, with the exception of the first two races of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, and for both races of the Gold Coast 600.
- Endurance format: Used for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.
Drivers' Championship
|
Bold - Pole position Results count toward the Endurance Cup. |
Teams' Championship
|
Bold - Pole position Results count toward the Endurance Cup. |
Notes:
- ‡ — Denotes a single-car team.
See also
References
- ↑ "Grid expands to 26 cars in 2016". V8supercars.com.au. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ↑ "Holden announces multi-year extension with HRT". V8X Magazine. 14 August 2014.
- ↑ "Single-year extension for Nissan V8 program". Speedcafe. 12 September 2014.
- ↑ "Hopes for Volvo Polestar racing". Go Auto. 19 February 2015.
- ↑ "Ford announces 2016 V8 Supercars withdrawal". Speedcafe. 1 December 2014.
- ↑ "Prodrive takes up two-year Mostert contract". Speedcafe. 12 May 2015.
- ↑ "Bathurst champ Mark Winterbottom signs deal extension at Ford through to 2016". Herald Sun. 24 October 2013.
- ↑ "Dean Canto committed to Prodrive co-drive". Speedcafe. 21 November 2015.
- 1 2 "Monster Energy backing for Waters". V8Supercars.com.au. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- 1 2 "Pit lane order revealed". V8Supercars.com.au. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ↑ "Super Black confirms full-time Pither deal". Speedcafe. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ↑ "New two-year deal for Tander at HRT". Speedcafe. 14 May 2014.
- 1 2 "HRT launches latest V8 Supercars livery". Speedcafe. 17 February 2016.
- ↑ "HRT confirms new three-year Courtney deal". Speedcafe. 28 July 2013.
- 1 2 "Heimgartner confirmed". V8Supercars.com.au. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
- ↑ "Christmas comes one day early for rookie Bathurst winner Nick Percat". Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport. 24 December 2014.
- 1 2 "LDM plans two event return for British ace". Speedcafe. 22 April 2016.
- 1 2 "Erebus Motorsport chooses to race Holdens in 2016". Erebus Motorsport V8. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
- 1 2 "Aaren Russell joins forces with Erebus Motorsport for 2016". Erebus Motorsport V8. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- 1 2 Lomas, Gordon (4 November 2015). "Erebus Motorsport confirms Reynolds for 2016". Speedcafe. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- 1 2 "Nissan confirms exit of Volvo-bound Moffat". Speedcafe. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- 1 2 "Campbell confirmed for Nissan enduro seat". Speedcafe. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ↑ "Nissan confirms Kelly/Ingall Enduro Cup pairing". Speedcafe. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ↑ "Caruso set to stay at Nissan Motorsport". Speedcafe. 23 September 2014.
- 1 2 "Nissan signs Wood". V8Supercars.com.au. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
- ↑ "Wood/Russell complete Nissan Enduro Cup line-up". Speedcafe. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Blanchard completes new BJR line-up for 2016". Speedcafe. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Walsh back in a V8 Supercar". V8Supercars.com.au. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- 1 2 "Tim Slade to replace Fabian Coulthard at BJR". Speedcafe. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "DJRTP confirms Coulthard and Pye for 2016". Speedcafe. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- 1 2 "DJR Team Penske confirms co-drivers". Speedcafe. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ↑ "Walkinshaw move career defining for Holdsworth". Speedcafe. 20 January 2015.
- ↑ "Preston Hire Racing set for strong debut". V8Supercars.com.au. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
Joining Preston Hire Racing for the Pirtek Enduro Cup will be Karl Reindler as Holdsworth’s endurance driver.
- 1 2 "Davison Joins Tekno". V8Supercars.com.au. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ↑ "Whincup on top at midday break in QR test". Speedcafe. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
Davison’s co-driver Jonathon Webb...
- ↑ "McLaughlin confirms future with Volvo/GRM". Speedcafe. 22 July 2013.
- ↑ van Leeuwen, Andrew (12 November 2015). "GRM confirms Wall as 2016 enduro driver". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- 1 2 "Wilson Security Racing GRM confirms new driver for 2016". Wilson Security Racing GRM. 26 October 2015.
- ↑ "Jamie Whincup extends Triple Eight contract". Speedcafe. 5 February 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Premat completes Red Bull Enduro line-up". Speedcafe. 27 January 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Van Gisbergen to join three car Triple Eight in 2016". Speedcafe. 6 March 2015.
- ↑ "Schwerkolt and Walkinshaw breakup at the end of 2015". v8superfans.co.nz. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ↑ "Double vision". V8Supercars.com.au. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ↑ "Triple Eight secures 26th V8 Supercars REC". Speedcafe. 29 May 2015.
- ↑ "Teams move to fill final 2016 V8 Supercars seats". Speedcafe. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
Replacing Heimgartner with the Ice Break-backed Pither appears the favoured outcome, with the squad set to stay at Prodrive utilising a Racing Entitlements Contract recently purchased from Walkinshaw Racing.
- 1 2 3 "2016 Championship calendar released". V8Supercars.com.au. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
- ↑ "V8 Supercars 2016 calendar change". V8Supercars.com.au. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ↑ "Coates Hire Sydney 500 finale for Sydney Olympic Park". V8Supercars.com.au. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ "V8 Supercars signs Malaysian Street Race Deal". Speedcafe. 3 June 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "V8 Supercars confirms format changes for 2016". Speedcafe. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ↑ "Select two day race weekends in 2016". Auto Action. 15 January 2016.
- ↑ "Teams receive 2016 rules". V8 Supercars. January 2016.
- 1 2 Bartholomaeus, Stefan (4 March 2016). "Pye and Mostert share Clipsal 500 poles". Speedcafe. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (5 March 2016). "Whincup dominant in Clipsal 500 opener". Speedcafe. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (5 March 2016). "Courtney fends off Whincup in Race 2 thriller". Speedcafe. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ↑ Gadeke, Kassie (6 March 2016). "Black day for Kiwis". V8 Supercars. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (6 March 2016). "Percat wins chaotic rain hit Clipsal 500". Speedcafe. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (2 April 2016). "SVG scores Holden’s 500th win in Race 4". Speedcafe. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
- ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (3 April 2016). "Davison penalty hands Winterbottom pole". Speedcafe. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (3 April 2016). "Davison wins after late drama at Symmons". Speedcafe. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "2014 V8 Supercar Operations Manual Division D" (pdf). V8 Supercars. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
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