The V8 Supercar Challenge was an annual V8 Supercars event held each October at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. First run in 1994, the event was a support race to the Gold Coast Indy 300.
Video V8 Supercar Challenge
History
Background
The Gold Coast, of which Surfers Paradise is a suburb, had long had an association with touring cars through Surfers Paradise International Raceway in the suburb of Carrara. The track held numerous rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), a previous incarnation of Supercars, between 1969 and 1987.
Non-championship era
The Gold Coast Indy 300 was first run in 1991, however it was not until 1994 that touring cars joined the event. The event, featuring cars from the ATCC, was run as a non-championship exhibition round, supporting the then CART FedEx Championship Series event. In the next two years, cars from the two-litre Australian Super Touring Championship were a support category at the event; in 1995 as the sole touring car category and in 1996 one of two touring car support categories alongside the return of the ATCC cars. Greg Murphy won the Super Touring event in both years for Brad Jones Racing. From 1997 onwards, the event returned to solely featuring five-litre ATCC cars, the category that was now known as V8 Supercars. The 1998 event was notable for providing Mark Larkham with the only event win of his decade-long full-time touring car career, albeit at a non-championship event. Due to the often crash-filled nature of the rounds, its non-championship status and the relatively quick turn-around time between the event and the Bathurst 1000, some teams used older model cars at the event, such as in 1999 when Paul Radisich won the event with a 1998-spec Ford EL Falcon, instead of their usual AU Falcon.
Championship era
From 2002, the event became an official V8 Supercars championship round, with the series given equal billing to the CART event. Jason Bargwanna won the first championship event at the circuit, scoring victory on a countback after finishing the weekend level on points with Craig Lowndes. The 2004 event was notable for Marcos Ambrose being fined for brake-testing Rick Kelly following Ambrose's race victory on the Saturday. Jamie Whincup clean-swept the final sprint event at the circuit on the way to his first championship victory. From 2002 until 2008, the most common race format was three races over the weekend, with one on Saturday and two on Sunday. The driver with the most points accumulated over the three races was awarded first place for the weekend, with no driver able to achieve a repeat event victory in this time.
Demise
In late 2008, it was announced the IndyCar Series would not be returning to the Gold Coast in 2009, bringing to an end the Indy era. A1 Grand Prix, which had been scheduled to replace IndyCar, then pulled out of the event with only weeks to go, leaving V8 Supercars as the lead category for the first time in the Gold Coast event's history. Subsequently, to fill the last minute hole in the schedule, the 2009 event expanded its format to 300 km on each Saturday and Sunday, each race split into two 150 km 'legs'. This endurance format continued into 2010 and beyond with the introduction of the Gold Coast 600 name.
Maps V8 Supercar Challenge
Winners
Events which were not championship rounds are indicated by a pink background.
Multiple winners
By driver
Wins which did not count towards the championship season are indicated by a pink background.
By team
By manufacturer
- Notes
- ^1 - HSV Dealer Team was known as Kmart Racing from 2001 to 2004, hence their statistics are combined.
Event names
- 1994: Courier Mail Gold Coast 100
- 1996: EA Sports Touring Cars
- 1997-98: Hog's Breath V8 Supercar Challenge
- 1999, 2007: V8 Supercar Challenge
- 2000: FAI V8 Supercar Challenge
- 2001: Cabcharge V8 Supercar Challenge
- 2002-06: Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge
- 2008: The Coffee Club V8 Supercar Challenge
See also
- Gold Coast Indy 300
- Gold Coast 600
- Surfers Paradise International Raceway
- List of Australian Touring Car Championship races
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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