The 2011 International V8 Supercar Championship (often simplified to the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars.V8 Supercars Operations Manual Retrieved from v8supercars.com.au on 23 June 2010 It was the thirteenth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the fifteenth series in which V8 Supercars contested the premier Australian touring car title. It was the first since the series was elevated to the 'International category' status by the FIA. The championship began on 10 February in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit and finished on 4 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. It was contested over 28 races at 14 events. These events were held in all states of Australia and in the Northern Territory as well as in the United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand. The 52nd Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to Jamie Whincup by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden driver Jamie Whincup won the championship by 35 points over his teammate Craig Lowndes. The best placed Ford driver was Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom, 458 points behind Whincup. Stone Brothers Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen finished in fourth, 38 points behind Winterbottom, with the Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander a further 98 points back in fifth.
Whincup won ten races during the course of the season, one shared with French driver Sébastien Bourdais at the Gold Coast. He finished on the podium in nine of the first eleven races, setting up a strong points lead. His teammate Lowndes chipped away at the lead, winning four races in a row in the middle of the season, one with Mark Skaife at Phillip Island, and briefly led the championship after the Bathurst 1000. Lowndes won his fifth race at the title decider in Sydney but this was not enough to take the crown away from Whincup. The other thirteen race wins were shared between eight other drivers. Reigning champion James Courtney won the second race of the year in Abu Dhabi while his teammate Tander won three races, including one race at the Clipsal 500 and the Bathurst 1000 with Nick Percat. Rick Kelly also won three races, taking his first race win since 2008 and the first for Kelly Racing at the Hamilton 400. Van Gisbergen won the first race of his career at the Hamilton 400 before scoring his second at Hidden Valley. Brad Jones Racing were another team to win their first championship race, with Jason Bright taking his first win since 2006 at Barbagallo and backing it up with another win at Winton. Winterbottom took his first win in just under a year at the Gold Coast, winning the Sunday race with British driver Richard Lyons, before winning the final race of the season in Sydney.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2011 championship.
Championship entries Endurance entriesManufacturerModelTeamDriver nameRounds Ford Falcon FG Tony D'Alberto Racing 3 Tony D'Alberto Dale Wood Vitantonio Liuzzi Taz Douglas 9 Stone Brothers Racing 4 Alex Davison All David Brabham Marc Lieb 9 All John McIntyre Emanuele Pirro Ford Performance Racing Mark Winterbottom All Steven Richards Richard Lyons 6 Will Davison All Luke Youlden Mika Salo Triple F Racing 12 Dean Fiore All Michael Patrizi Gianni Morbidelli Dick Johnson Racing 17 Steven Johnson All David Besnard Dirk Müller 18 James Moffat All Matt Halliday Joey Hand Tekno Autosports 19 Jonathon Webb All Richard Lyons Gil de Ferran 47 Tim Slade All Daniel Gaunt Hélio Castroneves Rod Nash Racing () 55 Paul Dumbrell All Dean Canto Christian Klien Holden Holden Racing Team 1 James Courtney All Darren Turner 2 Garth Tander All Nick Percat Ryan Briscoe Tony D'Alberto Racing 3 Tony D'Alberto colspan=2 Kelly Racing 7 Todd Kelly All David Russell Richard Westbrook 11 Greg Murphy All Allan Simonsen Oliver Gavin 15 Rick Kelly All Owen Kelly Jörg Bergmeister 16 David Reynolds All Tim Blanchard Alex Tagliani Brad Jones Racing 8 Jason Bright 1–12, 14 Andrew Jones Stéphane Sarrazin 12colspan=2 rowspan=2 Andrew Jones 13 14 Jason Bargwanna All Shane Price Allan Simonsen Britek Motorsport () 21 Karl Reindler All David Wall Fabrizio Giovanardi Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 30 Warren Luff All Nathan Pretty Marino Franchitti Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 Lee Holdsworth All Greg Ritter Simon Pagenaud 34 Michael Caruso All Marcus Marshall Augusto Farfus Paul Morris Motorsport Russell Ingall All Jack Perkins Jan Magnussen 49 Steve Owen All Paul Morris Boris Said Walkinshaw Racing () 61 Fabian Coulthard All Craig Baird Patrick Long Triple Eight Race Engineering 88 Jamie Whincup All Andrew Thompson 888 Craig Lowndes All Mark Skaife Andy Priaulx Wildcard entries Holden Commodore VE Kelly Racing 77 10 Grant Denyer Cam Waters
Team changes Tekno Autosports and driver Jonathon Webb ended their association with Dick Johnson Racing to run the team separately with support from Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Walkinshaw Racing downsized to a single-car team, with the #10 Racing Entitlement Contract initially placed for sale. It was subsequently purchased by the category's organising body V8 Supercars Australia to achieve their long-held ambition to reduce the grid to twenty-eight cars.
After a long-running dispute over the ownership of Dick Johnson Racing, co-owner Charlie Schwerkolt sold his stake in the team and departed with the No. 18 Racing Entitlement Contract. The REC was later leased back to DJR to continue running two cars.
Tony D'Alberto Racing switched from Holden to Ford for the 2011 season. D'Alberto ran a Holden Commodore at the season-opening Abu Dhabi race before switching to Ford ahead of the Adelaide 500.
Driver changes James Courtney bought the #1 plate to the Holden Racing Team to replace the outgoing Will Davison.
Davison joined Ford Performance Racing in a manufacturer switch, replacing Steven Richards, who retired from full-time driving.
James Moffat then joined Dick Johnson Racing, replacing Courtney. It was the first time in 22 years that the Moffat name had been on the grid.
2010 Walkinshaw Racing endurance co-driver David Reynolds joined Kelly Racing in the #16 Commodore, replacing Tony Ricciardello. Greg Murphy also joined Kelly Racing, to replace the departing Jason Bargwanna.
Bargwanna joined Brad Jones Racing as a substitute for Jason Richards, who was undergoing treatment for adrenocortical carcinoma during the season. Richards later passed away in December.
Reigning Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series champion Steve Owen was confirmed as Murphy's replacement at Paul Morris Motorsport.
Mid-season changes
Tony D'Alberto was forced to sit out the Phillip Island 500 after being diagnosed with chicken pox. Taz Douglas replaced him for the event.
Jason Bright was injured and unable to take part in Race 24 at Symmons Plains. Cameron McConville replaced him for the race. Bright later withdrew from the next race at Sandown, where he was replaced by his endurance co-driver Andrew Jones.
Wildcard entries
Only two endurance race wild cards were approved for 2011. Fujitsu Series team Miles Racing applied to run Ashley Walsh and Chaz Mostert but the team later elected not to utilise it. Kelly Racing entered a fifth car for the winner of the Shannons Supercar Showdown, who would co-drive with the show's narrator and experienced driver Grant Denyer. At the show's conclusion a week prior to the Bathurst 1000, leading Formula Ford driver Cam Waters was announced as the winner.
Race calendar The following circuits hosted a round of the 2011 championship. The event at Barbagallo Raceway was reinstated with the Western Australian Government providing $5 million to redevelop the circuit. The Desert 400 was scrapped with V8 Supercars stating that the decision not to hold the event was because the circuit's international racing calendar was too full for an early season date.
EventRaceEventCircuitCity / stateDateWinnerTeamReport 1 1 Yas V8 400 Yas Marina Circuit Yas Island, Abu Dhabi 10–12 Feb Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 2 James Courtney Holden Racing Team 2 3 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 17–20 Mar Garth Tander Holden Racing Team report 4 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 3 5 Hamilton 400 Hamilton Street Circuit Hamilton, Waikato 15–17 Apr Rick Kelly Kelly Racing report 6 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing 4 7 Perth Challenge Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 29 Apr–1 May Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 8 Jason Bright Brad Jones Racing 9 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 5 10 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 20–22 May Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 11 Jason Bright Brad Jones Racing 6 12 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 17–19 Jun Rick Kelly Kelly Racing report 13 Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing 7 14 Townsville 400 Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland 8–10 Jul Garth Tander Holden Racing Team report 15 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 8 16 Ipswich 300 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland 19–21 Aug Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering report 17 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 18 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 9 19 Phillip Island 500 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 16–18 Sep Craig LowndesMark Skaife Triple Eight Race Engineering report 10 20 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 6–9 Oct Garth TanderNick Percat Holden Racing Team report 11 21 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland 21–23 Oct Jamie WhincupSébastien Bourdais Triple Eight Race Engineering report 22 Mark WinterbottomRichard Lyons Ford Performance Racing 12 23 Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 11–13 Nov Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 24 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 13 25 Sandown Challenge Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 18–20 Nov Rick Kelly Kelly Racing report 26 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 14 27 Sydney 500 Homebush Street Circuit Sydney, New South Wales 2–4 Dec Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering report 28 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing
Season summary
Jamie Whincup won the opening race of the championship at the Yas V8 400, at the time it was his twelfth consecutive victory in races held outside of Australia, taking in wins in New Zealand, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain going back to the 2008 Gulf Air Desert 400. Whincup won by 14 seconds over the close pair of Alex Davison and Mark Winterbottom who in turn lead another pair of Fords in Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade. The second race was considerably more chaotic with a multi-car pile up in the opening laps ruling out amongst others Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander. Tander's new team-mate 2010 champion James Courtney, provided HRT with an opposing result, winning a late race battle with Jason Bright to take the second race win and to gain some points back after receiving the 50 point penalty the day before. Whincup was third ahead of David Reynolds completing an impressive return to the series after sitting out 2010.