2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series

2008 V8 Supercar

Drivers' Champion:
Jamie Whincup
Teams' Champion:
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Manufacturers' Championship:
Ford

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2007

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2009

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

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. Triple Eight Race Engineering won the Teams Championship and Ford was awarded the Manufacturers Championship.

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.

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.

Technical changes

An option to use sequential gearboxes in lieu of H-pattern gearboxes was introduced. 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.

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

Marcus Marshall drove the Irwin backed Falcon at Britek Motorsport.

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.

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

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Despite previously announcing that they would be forced to sell their franchise from lack of a major sponsor and technical partner, 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. After failing to appear at the first two rounds the franchise has been placed for sale.

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.

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

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.

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.

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (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.

See also

2008 V8 Supercar season

References

External links

• Official V8 Supercar website
• 2008 Racing Results Archive
• 2008 V8 Supercar images Retrieved from www.motorsport.com on 20 May 2009