Super2 Series Explained

Image-Size:180px
Category:Touring car racing
Country/Region: Australia
Inaugural:2000
Drivers:30
Teams:14
Constructors: Ford
Holden
Tyres:Dunlop
Champion Driver: Zach Bates
Champion Team:Walkinshaw Andretti United
Manufacturer: Holden
Website:www.supercars.com
Current Season:2024 Super2 Series
Pixels:325px

The Dunlop Super2 Series (formerly known as Dunlop Series, Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, HPDC V8 Supercars Series, Konica Minolta V8 Supercars Series and Konica V8 Supercars/Lites Series) is an Australian touring car racing competition, specifically the second tier series for Supercars competitors. Competing vehicles are older than those utilised in the Supercars Championship series and are usually run by smaller teams with lower budgets.

The vast majority of drivers in the Supercars Championship have raced at least one season in the Super2 Series Championship. For parts of its history, competing in the Super2 Series was required for most drivers to qualify for a Motorsport Australia Superlicence, which is required to compete in the Supercars Championship, or was enforced as a separate requirement by the Supercars Championship organisers.[1] [2]

History

The series was first held in 2000 as the 2000 Konica V8 Lites Series and this inaugural contest was won by Dean Canto. Towards the end of the season Stone Brothers Racing entered a car for David Besnard as preparation for the long distance races, in the main V8 Supercar series, the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000, which unlike the other races require two drivers for each competing vehicle. Since then main series teams have used the series to help get their endurance co-drivers up-to-speed, or have employed drivers competing for other Fujitsu Series teams. While originally Fujitsu Series teams were allowed to enter main series events, this has since been discontinued as all main series events are limited to those teams carrying valid franchise slots for the main series, although in limited circumstances Fujitsu series teams have been able to lease entries from main series teams.

The 2007 champion, Tony D'Alberto, drove for the Tony D'Alberto Racing team, and like many of his predecessors, graduated to the V8 Supercar series in 2008, again with the family team.

From 2009 onward all Super2 Series have run on the Supercars calendar.

This series carries the colloquial title of 'Development Series' which was the name given to the series by V8 Supercar Australia between the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The colloquial title is referred to in many conversations, even though there has never been a Development Series race because a naming rights sponsor was found before the start of the 2005 season.

Started during the 2016 year season of the Dunlop Super2 Series (Named as Supercars Dunlop Series) Car of The Future later known as New Generation V8 Supercar specification cars were eligible in the series.

In the 2021 season of the series, The Kumho Tyre V8 Touring Car Series (Later named as Kumho Tyre Super3 Series in 2019 before being named as Dunlop Super3 Series) joined alongside the Dunlop Super2 Series category for the first time as a class racing on track at the same time.

Started in the year 2023 season of the Dunlop Super2 & Super3 Series only the Gen2 Specification built cars (Holden Commodore ZB & Ford Mustang GT (S550)) were to become eligible in the Super2 Series class. Car of The Future also known as New Generation V8 Supercar specification built cars were sold & sent down to teams in the Super3 Series class of the Dunlop Super2 & Super3 Series.

Starting in the 2025 year season the Dunlop Series will revert down to a single class of the Super2 Series removing the Super3 Series due to low grid numbers with as much as two or three cars in the Super3 Series class during round weekends of the 2024 Dunlop Super2 & Super3 Series season. Cars that were built under Car of The Future (Also Known as New Generation V8 Supercar) Regulations such as the Holden Commodore VF, Ford Falcon FG-X and Nissan Altima are set to be re-eligible back in the Super2 Series in the 2025 Year season.

Championship format

The Super2 series runs at a subset of Supercars Championship rounds (for instance in 2025, there will be six Super2 rounds).[3]

During each round, there are two races of 40 minutes duration, one on the Saturday and one on the Sunday of the race weekend.[4] There is a separate qualifying session for each race.

Championship points for each race result are awarded on a sliding scale, with each race result given equal weighting (unlike in the Supercars Championship, where longer races are awarded more points).[5]

Costs

One 2023 estimate puts the cost of competing in the Super2 series for a season at "up to ...for a top car".[6] While much lower than the Supercars Championship, it is much higher than many other Australian racing series such as the Trico Trans-Am Series, TCR Australia Touring Car Series, and the now-defunct S5000 Australian Drivers Championship.[7]

Series winners

SeasonSeries NameSeries WinnerCarTeam
2000Konica V8 Lites Series Dean CantoFord EL FalconDean Canto Racing
2001Konica V8 Supercar Series Simon WillsHolden VT CommodoreTeam Dynamik
2002Konica V8 Supercar Series Paul DumbrellHolden VX CommodoreIndependent Race Cars Australia
2003Konica V8 Supercar Series Mark WinterbottomFord AU FalconStone Brothers Racing
2004Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series Andrew JonesFord AU FalconBrad Jones Racing
2005HPDC V8 Supercar Series Dean CantoFord BA FalconDick Johnson Racing
2006Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Adam MacrowFord BA FalconHoward Racing
2007Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Tony D'AlbertoHolden VZ CommodoreTony D'Alberto Racing
2008Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Steve OwenHolden VZ CommodoreScott Loadsman Racing
2009Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Jonathon WebbFord BF FalconMW Motorsport
2010Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Steve OwenHolden VE CommodoreGreg Murphy Racing
2011Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Andrew ThompsonHolden VE CommodoreTriple Eight Race Engineering
2012Dunlop V8 Supercar Series Scott McLaughlinFord FG FalconStone Brothers Racing
Matt Stone Racing
2013Dunlop V8 Supercar Series Dale WoodFord FG FalconMW Motorsport
2014Dunlop V8 Supercar Series Paul DumbrellHolden VE CommodoreEggleston Motorsport
2015V8 Supercars Dunlop Series Cam WatersFord FG FalconProdrive Racing Australia
2016Supercars Dunlop Series Garry JacobsonFord FG X FalconProdrive Racing Australia
2017Dunlop Super2 Series Todd HazelwoodHolden VF CommodoreMatt Stone Racing
2018Dunlop Super2 Series Chris PitherHolden VF CommodoreGarry Rogers Motorsport
2019Dunlop Super2 Series Bryce FullwoodNissan Altima L33MW Motorsport
2020Dunlop Super2 Series Thomas RandleNissan Altima L33MW Motorsport
2021Dunlop Super2 Series Broc FeeneyHolden VF CommodoreTriple Eight Race Engineering
2022Dunlop Super2 Series Declan FraserHolden VF CommodoreTriple Eight Race Engineering
2023Dunlop Super2 Series Kai AllenHolden ZB CommodoreEggleston Motorsport
2024Dunlop Super2 Series Zach BatesHolden ZB CommodoreWalkinshaw Andretti United

Rookie of the Year Winners

SeasonWinnerCarTeam
2021 Matt McLeanHolden Commodore VFEggleston Motorsport
2022 Matthew PayneNissan Altima L33Grove Racing
2023 Kai AllenHolden Commodore ZBEggleston Motorsport
2024 Jarrod HughesHolden Commodore ZBImage Racing

Records (Top-5)

width=20% colspan=3Series winswidth=2% rowspan=7width=20% colspan=3Driver startswidth=2% rowspan=7width=20% colspan=3Driver round winswidth=2% rowspan=7width=20% colspan=3Driver race winswidth=2% rowspan=7width=26% colspan=3Team round wins
Pos.DriverTitlesPos.DriverStartsPos.DriverWinsPos.DriverWinsPos.TeamWins
1Dean Canto21Aaron McGill681Steve Owen101Dean Canto211MW Motorsport21
Steve Owen22Geoff Emery552Dean Canto9Paul Dumbrell212Tickford Racing18
Paul Dumbrell23Marcus Zukanovic533Andrew Thompson83Steve Owen20315
419 drivers with single series wins4Mark Howard39Paul Dumbrell84Andrew Thompson164Howard Racing11
Drew Russell395Adam Macrow75Owen Kelly1359

Note: bold text indicates active drivers and teams.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Clarke . Andrew . 1 June 2023 . Rogers frustrated with Supercars' licence hurdle . 29 October 2024 . Auto Action.
  2. Web site: O'Brien . Connor . 2023-07-20 . Supercars announces driver eligibility rule change . 2024-10-29 . V8 Sleuth . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2025 Supercars Calendar . 30 October 2024 . Supercars Championship.
  4. Web site: 2024 Repco Supercars Championship Result 2024 Super2 Supercars . 2024-10-30 . www.supercars.com.
  5. Web site: SUPERCARS OPERATIONS MANUAL 2023 DIVISION "D" – SPORTING RULES . 30 October 2024 . .
  6. Web site: Williams . Bruce . 12 December 2023 . It's Crunch Time For S5000 . 30 October 2024 . Auto Action.
  7. News: van Leewen . Andrew . 30 June 2020 . ARG reveals post-lockdown season budgets . 30 October 2024 . Motorsport.com.