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.
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]
Ash Walsh was scheduled to drive with
Tim Slade in all three endurance races however after sustaining injuries while testing another car, was forced to withdraw from the
Bathurst 1000 and was replaced by
Andre Heimgartner. Heimgartner also drove for the team at the
Gold Coast 600.[31]
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
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.
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]
Points format
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
Standard format
150
138
129
120
111
102
96
90
84
78
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
Endurance format
300
276
258
240
222
204
192
180
168
156
144
138
132
126
120
114
108
102
96
90
84
78
72
66
60
54
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.
The Manufacturers Championship was won by
Ford.[81]
Footnotes
^Race 3 was shortened when an accident involving multiple cars forced an extended race stoppage. As a result, no points were awarded.
^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.
^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.
^Isaacs, Lewis (15 February 2017).
"Bright unveils MEGA Racing Falcon". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
^
abGadeke, Kassie (18 January 2017).
"GRM to run Commodores in 2017". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^Bartholomaeus, Stefan (14 February 2017).
"GRM plans wildcards for James Golding". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
^Gadeke, Kassie (20 January 2017).
"Pit lane order locked in". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
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.
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]
Ash Walsh was scheduled to drive with
Tim Slade in all three endurance races however after sustaining injuries while testing another car, was forced to withdraw from the
Bathurst 1000 and was replaced by
Andre Heimgartner. Heimgartner also drove for the team at the
Gold Coast 600.[31]
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
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.
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]
Points format
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
Standard format
150
138
129
120
111
102
96
90
84
78
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
Endurance format
300
276
258
240
222
204
192
180
168
156
144
138
132
126
120
114
108
102
96
90
84
78
72
66
60
54
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.
The Manufacturers Championship was won by
Ford.[81]
Footnotes
^Race 3 was shortened when an accident involving multiple cars forced an extended race stoppage. As a result, no points were awarded.
^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.
^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.
^Isaacs, Lewis (15 February 2017).
"Bright unveils MEGA Racing Falcon". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
^
abGadeke, Kassie (18 January 2017).
"GRM to run Commodores in 2017". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
^Bartholomaeus, Stefan (14 February 2017).
"GRM plans wildcards for James Golding". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
^Gadeke, Kassie (20 January 2017).
"Pit lane order locked in". supercars.com. Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Retrieved 20 January 2017.