Category | Touring car racing |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Inaugural season | 1997 |
Drivers | 26 |
Teams | 14 |
Constructors | Ford • Holden • Nissan • Volvo |
Tyre suppliers | Dunlop |
Drivers' champion | Shane van Gisbergen |
Teams' champion | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
Makes' champion | Holden |
Official website | www.supercars.com |
Current season |
The Supercars Championship (known as the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship for sponsorship purposes and often shortened to just Supercars or its long-standing name V8 Supercars) is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations.
Supercars events take place in all Australian states and the Northern Territory, with the Australian Capital Territory formerly holding the Canberra 400. An international round is held in New Zealand, while events have previously been held in China, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. A non-championship event is also held in support of the Australian Grand Prix. Race formats vary between each event with sprint races between 100 and 200 kilometres in length, street races between 125 and 250 kilometres in length, and two-driver endurance races held at Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast. The series is broadcast in 137 countries and has an average event attendance of over 100,000, with over 250,000 people attending major events such as the Adelaide 500.
The vehicles used in the series are loosely based on road-going, four-door saloon cars. Cars are custom made using a control chassis, with only certain body panels being common between the road cars and race cars. To ensure parity between each make of car, many control components are utilised. All cars must use a 5.0-litre, 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.Nissan were the first new manufacturer to commit to the series with four Nissan Altimas, followed briefly by Erebus Motorsport with three Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs.Volvo entered the series in 2014 with Garry Rogers Motorsport racing the Volvo S60.