Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series

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The 2007 V8 Supercar season featured the ninth V8 Supercar Championship Series which began on 1 March and finished on 2 December. This championship consisted of 14 rounds covering all states and the Northern Territory of Australia as well as rounds in New Zealand and Bahrain. The series also carried the Australian Touring Car Championship title, which was awarded by CAMS for the forty eighth time in 2007.

Contents

The 2007 season was significant in that two new models of cars were being used by the teams. The Holden VE Commodore was a completely new car and the Ford BF Falcon consisted of several changes from the previous model. These cars debuted at the first round of the season at the Clipsal 500.

This season was also significant in that Channel Seven broadcast the series for the first time since 1996, after Channel Ten had rights to the series for the past ten years.

Pre-season

The 2007 pre-season began with a number of driver and team changes which occurred during December 2006 and January 2007. The most important of the driver changes being Greg Murphy moving to Tasman Motorsport from Paul Weel Racing and Steven Richards changing not only teams, but also manufacturers by moving from the Holden-based Perkins Engineering to the Ford Performance Racing team.

A number of team changes also occurred during the off-season with Vodafone being the naming sponsor for Triple Eight Race Engineering and Jim Beam joining forces with the Dick Johnson Racing team.

Most of the team launches occurred during late January and early February with a few exceptions, including the launch of Mark Winterbottom's FPR car in early January. As well as the individual team launches, an official season launch was held in Sydney's Martin Place on 15 February.

A number of testing days were also held during the pre-season. These tests were conducted at the two race circuits used as test tracks, Queensland Raceway (TeamVodafone, DJR and WPS Racing) and Winton Raceway (most Victorian based teams including HRT, Ford Performance Racing, HSV Dealer Team and Perkins Engineering). Both of these major tests were conducted on 19 February 2007.

One of the other major stories of the 2007 pre-season involved both of Holden's most supported teams, being the Holden Racing Team and the HSV Dealer Team. Both teams temporarily had their TEGA licences revoked meaning they would not be able to compete in the championship. This was due to issues relating to the ownership of both teams. This problem related to the ownership of the teams, where under V8 Supercar regulations, one person can only own one team. Officially, Mark Skaife owns HRT and John Kelly (father of Todd and Rick) owns HSV Dealer Team, however the close relationship between the two teams and the presence of Tom Walkinshaw in both teams clouded the ownership of both teams. The teams had their licenses reinstated temporarily pending the presentation of documents proving the ownership of each team to TEGA. On 22 February 2007, the HSV Dealer Team produced the required documents and has been fully reinstated to the championship, and HRT was cleared to race on 27 February 2007 after satisfying TEGA that Mark Skaife is the true owner of the team.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the 2007 V8 Supercar season. Drivers are numbered as per the official 2007 entry list listed on the V8 Supercar website.

  • Note: Mark Skaife used the number 200 on his car to celebrate his 200th round entrance at Philip Island.
  • Driver changes

  • In a joint statement released, Greg Murphy will drive for Tasman Motorsport in 2007, with Paul Dumbrell replacing Murphy at Paul Weel Racing.
  • On 1 January 2007, FPR announced Steven Richards as the team's second driver.
  • Andrew Jones will join his father's and uncle's team and race in the second Brad Jones Racing car.
  • Perkins Engineering will run two V8 Supercar rookies, Shane Price and Jack Perkins in the 2007 season.
  • Alan Gurr will drive for Britek Motorsport as the teammate to Jason Bright.
  • John Bowe will drive for the Paul Cruikshank Racing team in his final year of V8 Supercar racing before retirement.
  • As of 14 May 2007 Simon Wills will take over the No. 14 Brad Jones Racing car from the retired Brad Jones.
  • After Bathurst Fabian Coulthard was dropped from Paul Morris Motorsport older VZ Commodore and replaced with Ford Performance Racing's endurance co-driver, Owen Kelly.
  • Between the Bahrain and Symmons Plains rounds Jack Perkins stood aside from his Perkins Engineering VE Commodore because of diabetes. Recent Carrera Cup star and former Champ Car racer, Marcus Marshall returned to the team after racing in the No. 11 car at Sandown and Bathurst to complete the season.
  • Team changes

  • Triple Eight Race Engineering will have Vodafone as their main sponsor in 2007 replacing Betta Electrical.
  • Orrcon will return to V8 Supercars as a sponsor for FPR.
  • WPS Racing has undergone a complete re-structure of the team with Team Principal Mark Larkham leaving.
  • At the DJR season launch on 6 February 2007, it was announced that Jim Beam would be the main naming sponsor of the team.
  • Rule Changes

  • Points will only be awarded to the top 15 finishers.
  • The top ten shootout will only be run at the endurance events.
  • A single 45-minute qualifying session will be held in a fashion similar to Formula One, where all cars compete in the first 15 minutes. The quickest 20 will then complete in the second 15 minutes and the quickest 10 will complete in the final 15 minutes.
  • No rounds will be dropped for the championship.
  • There will be a greater spread of points between the point scoring positions.
  • References

    2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series Wikipedia