The 2019 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was the twenty-first running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-third series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport. The 2019 championship also included the running of the 1,000th Australian Touring Car Championship race, which was contested at the Melbourne 400.
Scott McLaughlin contested the series as the defending driver's champion. McLaughlin successfully defended his championship title, and in doing so, he broke Craig Lowndes' 1996 record for the most wins in a championship year when he recorded his seventeenth win at Pukekohe Park. His team, DJR Team Penske, won their second teams' championship. Ford secured the manufacturers' title at the Ipswich SuperSprint.
Teams and drivers Holden was represented by factory-backed team Triple Eight Race Engineering.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2019 championship.
Championship entriesEnduro Cup entriesManufacturerModelTeamDriver nameRoundsCo-driver nameRoundsFordMustang GTTickford Racing5 Lee Holdsworth All Thomas Randle 12–146 Cam Waters All Michael Caruso 12–1455 Chaz Mostert All James MoffatEnduro Cup Co-Driver Recap V8 Sleuth 7 February 2019 12–14DJR Team Penske Fabian Coulthard All Tony D'Alberto 12–1417 Scott McLaughlin All 12–1423Red Racing ()23 Will Davison All Alex Davison 12–14HoldenWalkinshaw Andretti United Scott Pye All Warren Luff 12–14 22 James Courtney All Jack Perkins 12–14Brad Jones Racing 8 Nick Percat All Tim Blanchard 12–14 14 Tim Slade All Ashley Walsh 12–14Erebus Motorsport 9 David Reynolds All Luke Youlden 12–14 99 Anton de Pasquale All Will Brown 12–14Team 18 18 Mark Winterbottom All Steven Richards 12–14Tekno Autosports 19 Jack Le Brocq All Jonathon Webb 12–14Tim Blanchard Racing 21 Macauley Jones All Dean Canto 12–14Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 Richie Stanaway 1–6, 10–15 Chris Pither 12–14 Chris Pither 6–7, 13 Dylan O'Keeffe 13 Michael Caruso 8–9colspan="2" 34 James Golding All Richard Muscat 12–14 Matt Stone Racing 35 Todd Hazelwood All Jack Smith 12–14 Jamie Whincup All Craig Lowndes 12–14 97 All Garth Tander 12–14NissanAltima L33Kelly Racing 3 Garry Jacobson All Dean Fiore 12–14 7 Andre Heimgartner All Bryce Fullwood 12–14 Rick Kelly All Dale Wood 12–14 78 Simona de Silvestro All Alex Rullo 12–14Wildcard entriesFordMustang GTTickford Racing 66 Thomas Randle 10colspan="2" HoldenCommodore ZBBrad Jones Racing 4 Jack Smith 3, 6–7, 10colspan="2" 77 Tim Blanchard 5colspan="2" Walkinshaw Andretti United 27colspan="2" Alexander Rossi James Hinchcliffe 12 Kostecki Brothers Racing 56colspan="2" Brodie Kostecki Jake Kostecki 12–14Source:Source:
Manufacturer changes
The sixth generation Ford Mustang, the Mustang GT, was homologated for the 2019 championship. The Mustang was a replacement for the FG X Falcon, which was used between 2015 and 2018. Tickford Racing and DJR Team Penske oversaw the development of the car, with Ford Performance providing additional technical support. Ford Australia provided financial support in developing the car, but no team was officially recognised as a factory team. The homologation process required modifications to the bodywork to fit the series' control chassis, but the car continued to use the V8 engine used by the FG X Falcon. The decision to return the Mustang to the series was made as Australia's domestic production of the Ford Falcon ceased in 2016. The Mustang's return marked the first time since 1990 that a Mustang has contested the premier class of Australian motorsport. The car completed the homologation process in December 2018 and was subsequently approved for competition by the Supercars Commission.
Nissan withdrew its factory support from the championship at the end of 2018 as the company elected to change its global motorsport strategy and focus on its Formula E entry. Kelly Racing—who raced under the Nissan Motorsport name between 2013 and 2018—continued to compete with the Altima L33 chassis under licence from the company. Nissan's decision to withdraw from the championship followed the Altima being withdrawn from sale in Australia in 2017.
Team changes The number of entries was reduced from twenty-six to twenty-four with both Tickford Racing and Triple Eight Race Engineering returning a Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) to the sport's management. 23Red Racing formed a partnership with Tickford Racing which saw it become a satellite team of Tickford.Tickford confirms 23Red Racing tie-up Speedcafe 30 November 2018 Matt Stone Racing upgraded from a VF Commodore to a ZB Commodore and are receiving technical support from Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Driver changes Michael Caruso left Kelly Racing, joining Tickford Racing as an endurance co-driver. Caruso's seat was filled by Garry Jacobson, who made his full time début in the championship with the team.Heimgartner and Jacobsen set for Kelly Racing Speedcafe 6 February 2019
Craig Lowndes and Tim Blanchard retired from full-time competition at the end of the 2018 championship. Both returned as endurance co-drivers with Triple Eight Race Engineering and Brad Jones Racing respectively. Blanchard's seat at Tim Blanchard Racing was filled by Macauley Jones. Jones made his full time début in the championship, after having previously entered as a wildcard at selected events in 2017 and 2018.
Mark Winterbottom and Richie Stanaway left Tickford Racing. Winterbottom moved to Team 18, replacing Lee Holdsworth. Holdsworth took Winterbottom's place at Tickford Racing, while Stanaway moved to Garry Rogers Motorsport to replace Garth Tander. Tander stepped down from full-time competition, joining Triple Eight Race Engineering as an endurance co-driver.
Mid-season changes Richie Stanaway was withdrawn halfway through the Winton SuperSprint and missed the next three rounds, due to a neck injury. He was replaced for the remainder of the round, and the following Darwin Triple Crown by Chris Pither, who had already been nominated as Stanaway's partner for the endurance races. Michael Caruso stepped in for the Townsville 400 and Ipswich SuperSprint, returning to the team for the first time since 2012. Stanaway was stood down halfway through the Gold Coast 600, due to disciplinary reasons. Chris Pither became the main driver for the Sunday race while Super2 and TCR Australia driver Dylan O'Keeffe made his debut with the team.
Wildcard entries
Several wildcards were granted for 2019. Brad Jones Racing entered Jack Smith for four rounds and Tim Blanchard at the Perth SuperSprint. Kostecki Brothers Racing would also again run a wildcard, this time for all three endurance events.
Thomas Randle was entered in a third Tickford Racing entry at The Bend SuperSprint.
Walkinshaw Racing entered a third car for the Bathurst 1000, driven by IndyCar stars Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe.
Calendar
The calendar was reduced to fifteen rounds in 2019, with the following events scheduled to take place:
Round Event Circuit Location Dates 1 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 2–3 March 2 Melbourne 400 Albert Park Circuit Albert Park, Victoria 15–17 March 3 Tasmania SuperSprint Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6–7 April 4 Phillip Island, Victoria 13–14 April 5 Perth SuperNight Barbagallo Raceway Neerabup, Western Australia 3–4 May 6 Winton SuperSprint Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 25–26 May 7 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 15–16 June 8 Townsville 400 Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland 6–7 July 9 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland 27–28 July 10 The Bend SuperSprint The Bend Motorsport Park Tailem Bend, South Australia 24–25 August 11 Auckland SuperSprint Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, Auckland Region 12 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 13 October 13 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit 26–27 October 14 Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway Springvale, Victoria 9–10 November 15 Newcastle 500 Newcastle Street Circuit Newcastle, New South Wales 23–24 November Source:
Calendar changes The 2019 calendar underwent a radical revision compared to the 2018 calendar. The Sydney SuperNight 300 was removed from the calendar entirely and was replaced by a new night race at Barbagallo Raceway. The change was made with the long-term view to running the Sydney round in January 2020 as part of a proposed move to a "summer series" format that would see the championship run primarily in the summer months.
The Sandown 500 moved to a late-season slot in November, becoming the final round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup, to avoid clashing with the AFL and NRL finals series. The Auckland SuperSprint was brought forward to September, making the Sandown 500 the penultimate round of the championship. Changes to the Formula One calendar meant that the Australian Grand Prix was run earlier in the year than it was in 2018, and thus the Supercars support races was also moved forward. The Adelaide 500 was subsequently brought forward to remain the opening round of the season.
Format changes The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit event format reverted to a SuperSprint format after two years of two 250 kilometre races known as the Phillip Island 500.
Rule changes As a cost reduction measure, the use of twin-spring dampers were banned with teams required to use linear spring dampers. A new specification of transaxle developed by Xtrac was introduced.
If a car was released from the pit bay before the fuel rig was decoupled from the car, the car had to be re-raised on its pneumatic jacks and the fuel rig removed before the driver can rejoin the race.
Results and standings Season summary