2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series

The 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series was the twelfth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the twelfth series in which V8 Supercars contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 21 February at the Clipsal 500 on the streets of Adelaide and concluded on 7 December at Oran Park Raceway. It consisted of 14 rounds covering all states and the Northern Territory of Australia as well as rounds in New Zealand and Bahrain.

Race start at Round 2, Eastern Creek

2008 V8 Supercar
Drivers' Champion:
Jamie Whincup
Teams' Champion:
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Manufacturers' Championship:
Ford
Previous: 2007 Next: 2009

Jamie Whincup secured the Drivers championship with two races in hand with victory in race 1 of the 2008 NRMA Motoring & Services Grand Finale. Whincup was also awarded the 49th Australian Touring Car Championship title by CAMS.[1] Triple Eight Race Engineering won the Teams Championship and Ford was awarded the Manufacturers Championship.[2]

Race Calendar
Rd. Race Title Circuit City / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Clipsal 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 21–24 February Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
2 Eastern Creek Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 7–9 March Will Davison Dick Johnson Racing Report
3 Hamilton 400 Hamilton Street Circuit Hamilton, New Zealand 18–20 April Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Report
4 BigPond 400 Barbagallo Raceway Wanneroo, Western Australia 9–11 May Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Report
5 Midas 400 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 7–9 June Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
6 Skycity Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 4–6 July Steven Richards Ford Performance Racing Report
7 City of Ipswich 400 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland 18–20 July Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Report
8 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 1–3 August Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Report
9 L&H 500 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 12–14 September Garth Tander
Mark Skaife		 Holden Racing Team Report
10 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 9–12 October Craig Lowndes
Jamie Whincup		 Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
11 The Coffee Club V8 Supercar Challenge Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland 23–26 October Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
12 Gulf Air Desert 400 Bahrain International Circuit Manama, Bahrain 6–8 November Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
13 Falken Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 21–23 November Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report
14 NRMA Motoring & Services Grand Finale Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 4–7 December Garth Tander Holden Racing Team Report

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Team Car No. Drivers Events Endurance Event Drivers
Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore 1 Garth Tander All Glenn Seton
Craig Baird
2 Mark Skaife All
HSV Dealer Team 15 Rick Kelly All Paul Radisich
16 Paul Dumbrell All David Reynolds
Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 3 Jason Richards All Mark Noske
Dale Wood
51 Greg Murphy All
Stone Brothers Racing Ford BF Falcon 4 James Courtney All David Besnard
9 Shane van Gisbergen All Jonathon Webb
Ford Performance Racing Ford BF Falcon 5 Mark Winterbottom All Luke Youlden
Dean Canto
6 Steven Richards All
Perkins Engineering Holden VE Commodore 7 Todd Kelly All Nathan Pretty
Jack Perkins
11 Shane Price 1-10
Jack Perkins 11-14
Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore 12 Andrew Jones All Brad Jones
Max Wilson
14 Cameron McConville All
Dick Johnson Racing Ford BF Falcon 17 Steven Johnson All Steve Owen
Warren Luff
18 Will Davison All
Team Kiwi Racing Ford BF Falcon 021 Kayne Scott 1, 3-7 Kayne Scott
Chris Pither 2, 8-10
Steve Owen 11
Fahad Al Musalam 12
Daniel Gaunt 13-14
Britek Motorsport Ford BF Falcon 25 Jason Bright All Adam Macrow
26 Marcus Marshall All Matt Halliday
Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 33 Lee Holdsworth All Greg Ritter
Steven Ellery
34 Michael Caruso All
Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore 39 Russell Ingall All Boris Said
Matt Neal
67 Paul Morris All
Paul Weel Racing Holden VE Commodore 50 Andrew Thompson All Paul Weel
Rod Nash Racing
Tony D'Alberto Racing		 Holden VE Commodore 55 Tony D'Alberto All Jason Bargwanna
Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford BF Falcon 88 Jamie Whincup All Fabrizio Giovanardi
Marc Hynes
888 Craig Lowndes All
Paul Cruickshank Racing Ford BF Falcon 111 Fabian Coulthard All John McIntyre*
Alex Davison**
Ford Rising Stars Racing Ford BF Falcon 777 Michael Patrizi 3-14 Grant Denyer*
Karl Reindler**

* Phillip Island 500 only
** Bathurst 1000 only

Rule Changes

The points system was changed for 2008. Points were awarded to the top 30 drivers, with 300 points being the most available to a driver in each round.[3]

In Friday practice sessions, drivers who had finished in the top 15 in the 2007 Championship were not permitted to participate for the first 30 minutes.[4]

Technical changes

An option to use sequential gearboxes in lieu of H-pattern gearboxes was introduced.[5] Initially optional, sequential gearboxes later became mandatory.

Driver changes

Russell Ingall signed with Paul Morris Motorsport and raced under the identity of Supercheap Auto Racing.

In a complicated series of moves several drivers have been shuffled around the Holden teams. The juggling began with Todd Kelly signing with Perkins Engineering. Reigning series champion Garth Tander took the #1 plate to the Holden Racing Team with Toll sponsorship and some key personnel led by Rob Crawford transfer across teams with him. And finally, former Supercheap Auto driver Paul Dumbrell took Tander's seat at the HSV Dealer Team.

Second tier Fujitsu series champion team Tony D'Alberto Racing moved to the V8 Supercar series, and took over the running of the Rod Nash Racing owned franchise, replacing Independent Racing Cars who previously operated the team. Tony D'Alberto replaced Steve Owen as driver.[6]

Paul Cruickshank Racing signed Fabian Coulthard to replace the retired John Bowe.[7]

Marcus Marshall drove the Irwin backed Falcon at Britek Motorsport.[7]

Dean Canto announced on his website that he had his contract with Garry Rogers Motorsport terminated a year early. He later drove for Ford Performance Racing in the endurance events.[8]

Garry Rogers Motorsport announced their new driver as Fujitsu series runner up, and WPS Racing enduro driver, Michael Caruso.[9]

Team Kiwi Racing purchased a former Triple Eight Race Engineering Falcon and ran the car themselves. While the team had not made a formal announcement, V8Supercars have published Fujitsu series front runner Kayne Scott as the team's driver.[10][11] Although due to a date clash with Round 2 and the final of the New Zealand V8 series, Scott was not available and was replaced by Chris Pither.[12]

Reversing a previous decision to fold their team, Paul Weel Racing announced their return for the 2008 season and ran a single VE Commodore for Andrew Thompson.[13]

Former PWR racer Cameron McConville signed with Brad Jones Racing, a team he raced for previously in the mid-90s when it ran the Audi touring car program. The team also changed manufacturer camps to become a Holden team and ran with the technical assistance of Walkinshaw Performance, the organisation that runs the Holden Racing Team and HSV Dealer Teams.[14]

Ford Rising Stars Racing named Formula 3 Euroseries racer Michael Patrizi as the driver for their début season. However the team wasn’t ready to start their season until the second round of the year at Eastern Creek Raceway at the earliest. The team utilised the second of the two Paul Weel Racing franchises.[15]

Stone Brothers Racing named teenager Shane van Gisbergen to the #9 Ford Falcon, replacing Russell Ingall. Van Gisbergen was linked to SBR last season and was placed with Team Kiwi Racing in the second half of the season after TKR's previous partnership with Ford Performance Racing dissolved.[16]

Despite previously announcing that they would be forced to sell their franchise from lack of a major sponsor and technical partner,[17] Walden Motorsport had committed to run and V8Supercar's website had named Australian Production Car Championship racer Garth Walden as the driver in the teams Ford Falcon, although it has yet to be confirmed that the team actually have possession of an eligible car.[11] After failing to appear at the first two rounds the franchise has been placed for sale.[18]

WPS Racing announced the closure of the team with the vehicles and equipment sold off to new owners. The franchises have already been sold within TEGA. The team cite business and health issues affecting team principal Craig Gore.[19]

Shane Price was sacked from the Perkins Engineering a week after the Bathurst 1000 and replaced with endurance co-driver Jack Perkins.[20]

Results and Standings

Drivers Championship

Pos. Driver No. ADE
 EAS
 HAM
 BAR
 SAN
 HID
 QLD
 WIN
 PHI
 BAT
 SUR
 BAH
 SYM
 ORA
 Pen. Pts.
1 Jamie Whincup 88 1 1 3 5 4 DNS DNS DNS 7 3 3 1 3 1 4 5 8 9 3 6 1 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 Ret 23 0 3332
2 Mark Winterbottom 5 2 Ret 10 2 1 10 7 5 1 1 1 2 6 2 1 3 2 2 1 1 21 2 26 4 4 3 3 3 21 4 4 3 4 4 23 12 18 0 3079
3 Garth Tander 1 23 19 1 9 3 1 1 1 3 2 2 5 9 12 3 1 3 4 4 4 3 3 1 1 12 2 2 2 14 11 23 20 8 5 6 1 2 12 3048
4 Craig Lowndes 888 3 Ret 7 3 8 19 14 7 5 4 4 3 1 DNS 5 4 Ret 28 12 7 11 5 6 2 1 6 9 9 2 3 3 6 2 2 2 5 3 0 2871
5 Will Davison 18 7 Ret 2 1 6 9 22 Ret 8 5 6 Ret 11 7 8 10 5 6 5 5 2 1 4 3 6 7 Ret 10 Ret 10 6 4 5 6 10 15 21 0 2495
6 James Courtney 4 16 Ret 5 15 Ret 4 3 3 20 8 7 6 4 3 10 23 7 1 6 2 9 9 25 6 3 9 11 Ret 5 7 2 Ret 17 10 5 6 4 0 2446
7 Rick Kelly 15 8 6 4 6 2 2 6 4 6 6 5 7 12 17 9 9 6 8 Ret 13 10 6 5 7 20 Ret 6 5 9 22 20 19 9 8 9 4 1 0 2430
8 Steven Richards 6 5 15 27 7 Ret 3 2 2 4 7 9 23 16 9 2 2 1 7 7 11 5 24 Ret 4 4 11 12 8 8 5 9 Ret Ret 17 4 3 17 12 2416
9 Russell Ingall 39 14 Ret 11 4 7 Ret Ret 11 11 24 Ret 4 7 6 7 6 4 3 2 3 7 Ret 7 9 18 5 8 7 4 2 5 13 25 16 3 2 11 0 2236
10 Steven Johnson 17 6 9 21 19 18 Ret 13 8 13 15 13 13 5 10 15 19 17 16 17 15 17 11 13 3 6 15 5 4 6 8 13 8 6 7 15 9 16 0 2163
11 Lee Holdsworth 33 4 2 8 8 11 5 4 Ret 24 Ret 23 11 22 8 13 17 16 10 18 10 18 7 3 5 Ret 10 4 17 3 12 8 10 7 9 12 25 6 0 2065
12 Todd Kelly 7 15 4 13 13 15 8 19 15 9 Ret 8 17 8 5 11 29 11 19 13 12 6 13 11 13 17 4 7 6 20 6 Ret 1 3 3 7 8 Ret 0 2053
13 Fabian Coulthard 111 11 18 14 17 16 7 8 6 17 9 12 8 14 Ret 14 24 22 12 8 8 19 18 9 16 10 14 Ret 13 Ret 16 7 9 10 Ret 18 10 8 0 1823
14 Mark Skaife 2 9 17 6 14 5 18 23 12 2 Ret DNS 10 18 22 25 8 18 5 10 9 12 Ret DNS 1 12 16 16 14 Ret 17 Ret 25 24 15 Ret Ret 12 0 1644
15 Shane van Gisbergen 9 12 5 17 27 17 21 26 10 Ret 12 10 9 2 4 12 15 9 17 21 17 14 22 12 10 Ret 17 13 Ret 7 26 10 5 Ret EX Ret 13 5 0 1614
16 Greg Murphy 51 10 7 9 11 10 23 25 Ret 12 21 15 22 26 11 18 22 10 24 20 19 27 21 21 Ret 2 Ret 14 12 10 19 18 16 12 14 21 17 Ret 0 1572
17 Jason Richards 3 13 8 12 16 19 20 9 14 Ret 22 Ret 18 20 16 6 7 Ret 14 14 22 4 Ret DNS Ret 2 13 17 11 Ret DNS DNS 11 18 12 16 18 14 0 1548
18 Michael Caruso 34 Ret 11 25 26 14 12 18 17 Ret 17 16 20 23 19 16 12 15 15 16 16 8 Ret 20 5 Ret 20 18 19 15 14 17 17 16 18 8 11 10 0 1439
19 Jason Bright 25 Ret 10 20 22 20 11 12 13 Ret 13 14 Ret 15 14 Ret 18 Ret 18 Ret 25 20 8 10 11 9 24 Ret Ret 22 13 14 7 11 Ret 13 7 7 0 1438
20 Paul Morris 67 Ret 16 18 10 Ret 24 17 18 16 11 25 15 21 24 20 26 13 27 15 Ret 13 12 15 9 18 25 19 Ret 11 9 12 23 14 13 14 14 9 0 1436
21 Paul Dumbrell 16 Ret Ret 16 12 9 14 11 Ret 15 16 22 12 13 27 19 11 14 11 11 20 15 10 8 Ret 20 8 Ret 16 12 18 11 21 13 20 19 Ret 13 0 1398
22 Cameron McConville 14 Ret 3 15 18 12 6 5 20 10 10 Ret 14 10 13 Ret 16 12 13 9 14 23 23 19 Ret Ret 12 22 Ret 13 25 21 14 15 Ret 11 19 22 0 1370
23 Marcus Marshall 26 19 13 26 Ret 22 16 16 Ret 22 19 17 Ret 24 21 21 21 20 Ret Ret Ret 26 17 23 21 14 26 23 20 16 21 15 18 19 23 20 22 24 0 1113
24 Andrew Jones 12 18 12 22 23 Ret 22 15 9 14 14 11 16 17 15 23 27 21 22 24 18 29 14 16 Ret Ret 19 Ret 21 Ret 20 16 22 20 21 Ret 20 Ret 0 1071
25 Tony D'Alberto 55 17 Ret 23 20 Ret 13 10 Ret 21 23 20 25 25 25 19 14 23 20 22 26 24 16 14 Ret Ret Ret 24 18 17 24 19 24 Ret 19 Ret Ret 19 0 890
26 Michael Patrizi 777 Ret 21 19 19 20 21 Ret EX 26 26 20 19 25 25 23 25 20 24 18 19 21 Ret 22 24 23 22 12 21 26 Ret 21 25 0 848
27 Shane Price 11 21 Ret 19 21 21 Ret 24 16 18 Ret 19 19 19 18 22 13 Ret 21 19 21 22 15 18 13 17 0 843
28 Andrew Thompson 50 20 Ret 24 24 13 15 Ret DNS Ret 18 18 24 27 20 24 28 Ret 23 23 Ret 16 DNS 17 23 DNS 22 20 Ret 18 Ret Ret 15 Ret 22 Ret 23 15 0 771
29 Jack Perkins 11 8 8 18 15 23 19 15 Ret Ret 22 25 17 Ret 20 0 620
30 David Besnard 4 6 3 0 459
31 Kayne Scott 021 22 14 17 20 Ret 23 Ret 24 21 28 23 Ret 25 24 26 Ret 24 DNS Ret 0 362
32 Steve Owen 17/021 22 11 23 21 15 0 351
33 Brad Jones 14 15 5 0 343
Max Wilson 14 15 5 0 343
35 Nathan Pretty 11 8 8 0 338
36 Adam Macrow 25 11 9 0 320
37 Warren Luff 17 22 11 0 259
38 Dean Canto 5 24 7 0 252
Luke Youlden 5 24 7 0 252
40 Steven Ellery 34 12 16 0 245
Greg Ritter 34 12 16 0 245
42 Mark Noske 51 20 13 0 226
Dale Wood 51 20 13 0 226
44 Matt Halliday 26 21 14 0 225
45 Fabrizio Giovanardi 88 17 15 0 222
Marc Hynes 88 17 15 0 222
47 Paul Radisich 15 7 DNS 0 196
48 Jonathon Webb 9 10 Ret 0 190
49 Alex Davison 111 10 0 156
50 Chris Pither 021 28 25 23 28 19 22 DNS Ret 0 130
51 John McIntyre 111 16 0 128
52 Craig Baird 2 14 Ret 0 118
Glenn Seton 2 14 Ret 0 118
54 Daniel Gaunt 021 26 23 24 22 24 Ret 0 112
55 Grant Denyer 777 18 0 102
56 Karl Reindler 777 19 0 96
57 Matt Neal 67 Ret Ret 0 94
Boris Said 67 Ret Ret 0 94
59 Paul Weel 50 Ret DNS 0 84
60 Fahad Al Musalam 021 23 Ret 24 0 46
61 Jason Bargwanna 55 Ret Ret 0 38
62 David Reynolds 16 Ret DNS 0 22
Pos. Driver No. ADE
 EAS
 HAM
 BAR
 SAN
 HID
 QLD
 WIN
 PHI
 BAT
 SUR
 BAH
 SYM
 ORA
 Pen. Pts.

Teams Championship

Triple Eight Race Engineering won the Teams Championship.[2]

Pos Team ADE
 EAS
 HAM
 BAR
 SAN
 HID
 QLD
 WIN
 PHI
 BAT
 SUR
 BAH
 SYM
 ORA
 Pen. Pts.
1 Triple Eight Race Engineering 429 450 138 470 472 368 334 462 360 420 480 564 292 124 0 5867
2 Ford Performance Racing 309 324 460 500 370 562 468 234 271 432 412 378 282 306 0 5308
3 Dick Johnson Racing 282 354 186 330 282 294 330 400 350 348 352 292 414 254 0 4478
4 Holden Racing Team 222 426 404 362 288 386 422 318 370 138 402 150 246 306 0 4432
5 Stone Brothers Racing 237 202 350 252 462 282 360 246 361 258 180 364 162 340 0 4060
6 HSV Dealer Team 192 380 330 314 252 306 230 346 218 90 246 240 250 350 0 3738
7 Garry Rogers Motorsport 330 248 270 120 220 242 254 274 330 114 268 310 280 294 0 3550
8 Paul Morris Motorsport 120 278 140 176 302 304 320 258 267 102 254 396 212 366 0 3491
9 Perkins Motorsport 222 216 192 182 268 178 210 260 281 288 308 170 318 190 0 3285
10 Tasman Motorsport 330 272 172 140 194 244 194 152 146 408 212 118 254 178 0 3018
11 Brad Jones Racing 249 170 294 236 252 152 224 172 170 222 132 160 166 136 0 2735
12 Britek Motorsport 192 130 214 180 132 120 54 220 251 294 100 218 202 250 0 2551
13 Paul Cruickshank Racing (s) 123 116 192 138 102 90 166 122 128 156 80 102 156 146 0 1823
14 Rod Nash Racing (s) 54 54 96 82 60 98 74 102 38 Ret 56 90 54 32 0 890
15 Speed FX Racing (s) 60 90 18 80 64 72 102 96 50 72 92 48 0 848
16 Paul Weel Racing (s) 45 88 40 68 68 36 48 74 84 WD 52 34 66 64 0 771
17 Team Kiwi Racing (s) 102 58 66 46 66 42 40 72 DNS Ret 92 46 64 48 0 742
Pos Team ADE
 EAS
 HAM
 BAR
 SAN
 HID
 QLD
 WIN
 PHI
 BAT
 SUR
 BAH
 SYM
 ORA
 Pen. Pts.
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)
  • (s) denotes a single-car team.

Manufacturers Championship

Ford won the Manufacturers Championship having won more rounds than rival Holden.[21]

See also

2008 V8 Supercar season

References

  1. Australian Titles Retrieved from www.camsmanual.com.au on 20 May 2009. Archived 14 May 2009 at WebCite 20 May 2009.
  2. TeamVodafone scoops the pool Archived 12 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from www.v8supercars.com.au on 10 January 2010
  3. V8 Supercars to reward more teams in 2008 points score Official Site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series retrieved on 25 January 2008
  4. Ottley, S. "Champs penalised" Herald Sun 23 January 2008
  5. V8s get into sequence Motorsport News issue 10 26 June 2007 page 7
  6. A full field Archived 24 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine motorsport enews retrieved on 29 January 2008
  7. Old faces, new seats motorsport enews retrieved on 18 December 2007
  8. Statement regarding Dean Canto and the 2008 series Dean Canto Racing retrieved on 12 January 2008 Archived 16 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Michael Caruso joins Garry Rogers Motorsport Official Site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series retrieved on 14 January 2008
  10. TKR goes it alone, Scott driving crash.net retrieved on 15 January 2008
  11. V8 Supercar Championship Series gets full 2008 grid Archived 3 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine Official Site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series retrieved on 31 January 2008
  12. Pither: Kiwi Sub Archived 21 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine motorsport enews retrieved on 4 March 2008
  13. Andrew Thompson signs with PWR Racing Official Site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series retrieved on 25 January 2008
  14. New Cars, New Driver for Team BOC Team BOC website retrieved on 29 January 2008
  15. Chance and Challenge Archived 24 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine motorsport enews retrieved on 30 January 2008
  16. Van Gisbergen claims prize SBR drive Stone Brothers Racing website retrieved on 30 January 2008
  17. Walden Motorsport Forced To Sell Or Lease Licence. Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine Norrgard Motorsport Development retrieved on 21 December 2007
  18. Walden licence for sale Archived 11 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine Official Site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series retrieved on 20 March 2008
  19. WPS/Wow Racing Withdraws From V8 Supercars WPS Racing retrieved on 11 February 2008
  20. Price dumped for Perkins Archived 23 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Official Site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series retrieved on 21 October 2008
  21. Ford Wins 2008 Manufacturer's Championship Archived at www.webcitation.org on 10 January 2010
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