2017_Supercars_Championship

2017 Supercars Championship

2017 Supercars Championship

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The 2017 Supercars Championship (formally known as the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship)[1] 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.

Jamie Whincup won his seventh drivers' championship title.
DJR Team Penske won its first Teams Championship in 2017.

The 2017 season saw the category undergo a substantial revision of its technical regulations, with the introduction of Gen 2 Supercar rules which opened the championship up to a wider range of body shapes and engine configurations. Despite this, all teams continued within the previous regulations.[2]

DJR Team Penske was awarded the Teams Championship and Ford won the Manufacturers Championship. Jamie Whincup claimed his seventh title in controversial circumstances when Scott McLaughlin was penalized in the title-deciding race.[3]

Teams and drivers

Holden and Nissan were represented by factory-backed teams.[4][5]

The following drivers contested the 2017 series.

More information Championship entries, Endurance entries ...

Team changes

Simona de Silvestro became the first female driver in 19 years to compete in the series full-time.

Driver changes

Mid-season changes

Calendar

The following fourteen events are scheduled to take place in 2017:

More information Event, Event name ...

Calendar changes

Format changes

  • The Adelaide 500 returned to its original format of two races of 250 kilometres, which was last used in 2013. Event organisers cited the unpopularity of the format used between 2014 and 2016—two races of 125 km followed by one 250 km race—as the reason for the change.[68] The top ten shootout was also re-introduced for qualifying for the Saturday race.[69]
  • The Phillip Island 500 consisted of two races of 250 km.[69]
  • The Auckland SuperSprint adopted a new format, with its four 100 km races being replaced with two races of 200 km, both including mandatory pit stops.[69]

Rule changes

Technical regulations

The 2017 season saw the introduction of Gen 2 Supercar regulations. Two-door coupé body styles are permitted alongside four-door sedans, while the engine regulations were opened up to include turbocharged four or six-cylinder engines. However, cars are still be required to be based on front-engined, rear wheel drive, four-seater production cars that are sold in Australia. The chassis and control components carried over from the New Generation V8 Supercar regulations used since 2013.[70] However all teams are continuing to use New Generation specification cars until the beginning of 2018 when the Holden Commodore ZB built to the new specifications will debut.[71]

Two new control Dunlop tyres were introduced, marking the first change in tyre construction since 2003.[72] Whereas in previous seasons, the two compounds were designated hard and soft, in 2017 these are named soft and super soft respectively.[73] All teams attended a test session on 21 February 2017 at Sydney Motorsport Park to evaluate the new tyre.[74]

Sporting regulations

  • Starting in 2017, drivers must earn a racing licence sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) in order to be eligible to compete in the category. The licence system was restructured similarly to the Superlicence used in Formula One, with drivers earning points towards their licence by placing in feeder series accredited by CAMS. This system drew controversy almost immediately because it is based on CAMS series. Some international drivers needed special exemptions to participate, most notably Matthew Brabham, for whom most of his career was sanctioned by ACCUS member sanctioning bodies, and not CAMS.[75]
  • Teams from Supercars' support category, the Dunlop Super2 Series are allowed to compete as wildcards in the main series in five events of the 2017 season, at Barbagallo, Winton, Hidden Valley, Ipswich and Bathurst. The 250-kilometre race held specifically for the Super2 Series at Bathurst will also become a non-championship round, to encourage more applicants.[76][77]
  • The redress rules—outlining the expectations of drivers following on-track contact—were changed for 2017. Drivers deemed responsible for contact are no longer required to return a position to the driver or drivers they hit, but redress instead is voluntary, with drivers who voluntarily return a position being given more favourable treatment than drivers who do not when the incident is reviewed by race officials.[78] The change was introduced following a controversial incident at the 2016 Bathurst 1000 in which Jamie Whincup tried to redress a position to Scott McLaughlin as required by the rules without losing another position to Garth Tander; the subsequent collision saw McLaughlin and Tander collide with Tander retiring from the race.

Results and standings

Season summary

More information Round, Event ...

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.[79]

More information Points format, Position ...
  • Standard format: Used for all SuperSprint and SuperStreet races and for both races of the Gold Coast 600.
  • Endurance format: Used for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

Drivers' Championship

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pirtek Enduro Cup

More information Pos., Drivers ...

Teams' Championship

More information Pos., Team ...

Notes:

  • ‡ — Denotes a single-car team.

Manufacturers Championship

The Manufacturers Championship was won by Ford.[81]

Footnotes

  1. [N 1]
    Race 3 was shortened when an accident involving multiple cars forced an extended race stoppage. As a result, no points were awarded.
  2. [N 2]
    Craig Lowndes finished the race in first position, but was demoted to twelfth when fifteen seconds were added to his race time for a pit lane violation.
  3. [N 3]
    Qualifying for Race 23 was suspended due to heavy rain and the session could not be re-started. The grid was set based on the drivers' fastest laps during free practice.

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Media related to V8 Supercar in 2017 at Wikimedia Commons
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