2014 Phillip Island - V8 Supercars Championship

The 2014 V8 Supercars Championship was the eighteenth season for the internationally known Australian touring car series.

Supercars events took place in all Australian states and Pukekohe, New Zealand. The 2014 season opened in February at the Adelaide Street Circuit and ended the first weekend in December at the Homebush Street Circuit in Sydney. The International V8 Supercars Championship races were conducted over fourteen weekends with drivers competing in thirty-eight rounds.

Race formats varied between each event with sprint races between 100 and 250-kilometers in length and endurance races with two drivers being as long as 1,000-kilometers.

Initially, the vehicles competing in the series were just Australian Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores. In 2013, the rules were changed to allow more manufacturers to participate in the championship. The following year, Ford and Holden competitors were joined by teams racing the Nissan Altima, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Volvo S60.

The cars are based on four-door sedans and built to a strict set of rules. All teams must use a chrome-moly chassis constructed by Pace Innovations. The engines are naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8s using production blocks. Fitted with a Motec integrated electronic system, the motors produce 645-horsepower at 7,500-rpm. Teams also use a spec transmission which is an Albins rear-mounted six-speed transaxle. Stopping the V8 Supercars are AP racing brakes with six-piston calipers on the front and four-piston on the rear. Front ventilated rotors are limited to a diameter of 395-mm while the rear ventilated rotors must be no larger than 355-mm. The wheels are 18-inches in diameter by 11-inches wide and are fitted with racing tires produced by Dunlop. The total package must weigh no less than 1,410-kilograms.

The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit hosted the penultimate race weekend for the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship. Rounds 33 and 34 would be twenty-three-laps (100-km) around the twelve-turn 4.445-km road course. Sunday’s finale (race 35) would be forty-five-laps (200-km) in length.

The first contest of the weekend (race 33 of 38 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship) and the pole-sitter, Scott McLaughlin in the Valvoline Racing GRM Volvo S60 leads the field through turn ten at the Phillip Island Circuit. Behind McLaughlin are Redbull Racing teammates, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup who qualified second and third, respectively. All twenty-five starters finished on the lead lap.

Entering the penultimate weekend, four drivers had a mathematical chance of winning the 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship – Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom, Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes. But realistically, the title belonged to five-time champion, Whincup. In the weekend’s second race, he started on the pole and claimed the victory. With the win, Whincup set a new record for Supercar championships.

Scott McLaughlin had engine issues in the second practice session, but they were sorted by qualifying as he captured his ninth pole of the season. In the weekend’s first contest, the Volvo driver led from the starting light to the checkered flag. He was gridded ninth for round 34 but managed to finish sixth. In the finale, McLaughlin battled with Garth Tander. When Tander ran out of fuel, McLaughlin earned his second victory of the weekend.

By the end of the last practice session on Friday, it was Craig Lowndes who recorded the fast time. The three-time series champion started Saturday’s first event on the outside of the front row. Lowndes pressured the pole-sitter, Scott McLaughlin for twenty-three-laps but couldn’t make the pass. In the next round, it was another runner-up result. Lowndes qualified fifteenth for Sunday’s final contest but finished tenth.

Mark Winterbottom entered the Phillip Island rounds with four victories in 2014 and second in the title chase. Winterbottom started round 33 in fourth place but was forced to pit after running wide and collecting grass, he finished twenty-third. In the final two contests of the weekend, the driver of the No. 5 Ford Pepsi Max Crew Ford Falcon FG proved to be more competitive and captured the last position on the podiums.

The Lockwood Racing Holden Commodore VF was driven by Fabian Coulthard. Coulthard’s weekend got off to a terrible start when he and Shane van Gisbergen had contact in the first qualifying session. The Holden suffered left-front suspension damage and the winner of the Winton 400 would start twenty-fifth in the weekend’s first race. Coulthard would not be competitive this weekend. His finished fifteenth in each of the rounds.

Three-time winner of the prestigious Bathurst 1000, Garth Tander drove the No. 2 Holden Racing Team prepared Holden Commodore VF. Tander started the weekend’s first event in ninth but missed the podium by one position. The second contest was a similar scenario – qualified eighth and finished four. In the Sunday finale, Tander was leading the race when he ran out of fuel on the last lap. He still managed to grab second place.

In 2014, Michael Caruso was on track to have his best finish in the final standings. With just six races remaining in the season, Caruso was tenth in the points. He joined the Norton Hornets team in 2013 driving a Nissan Altima. The team struggled but had made good progress this year. His highlight to date was a third place in the Gold Coast 600. At Phillip Island, he earned fifth, seventh and ninth-place finishes.

The No. 6 Ford Falcon FG was driven by Chaz Mostert. Mostert has the distinction of holding the record for the most Formula Ford wins in a single season. In 2010, he scored fourteen victories in twenty-four starts. At Phillip Island, Mostert topped the timesheets in the second practice session. He started the weekend’s first contest in sixth place but finished fourteenth. Mostert results in the next two rounds were – ninth and sixteenth.

On the out-lap for qualifying, Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen in the Team Tekno VIP Petfoods Holden Commodore VF made contact. As a result, both drivers started from the rear of the grid and for Gisbergen, his championship aspirations all but ended. In round 33, he recorded a twenty-fourth place finish and in the next race, van Gisbergen was seventeenth. He started and finished the final contest in fifth place.

This season, James Courtney has two wins, two poles, eight podium finishes and is seventh in the title chase. Phillip Island would not be one of the better events for the Holden Racing Team driver. Courtney was gridded eighteenth for the first race and at the checkered flag was thirteenth. For round 34, he started twelfth and finished thirteenth. In the finale, Courtney qualified eighth but after forty-five-laps of racing, he was in twelfth place.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM - Volvo S60	23	-
2	2	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
3	3	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
4	9	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
5	5	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets - Nissan Altima	23	-
6	8	Jason Bright	Team BOC - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
7	11	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
8	7	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan Altima	23	-
9	7	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan Altima	23	-
10	13	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
11	14	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8 - Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG	23	-
12	16	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
13	18	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
14	6	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
15	25	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
16	17	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
17	15	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
18	19	James Moffat	Norton Hornets - Nissan Altima	23	-
19	20	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8 - Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG	23	-
20	21	Russell Ingall	Repair Manage Aust Racing - Holden Commodore	23	-
21	22	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM - Volvo S60	23	-
22	23	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
23	4	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
24	24	Shane van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
25	12	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing - Ford Falcon FG	0	Excluded

FINISH	START	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
2	3	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
3	2	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
4	8	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
5	4	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan Altima	23	-
6	9	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM - Volvo S60	23	-
7	5	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets - Nissan Altima	23	-
8	6	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan Altima	23	-
9	11	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
10	7	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
11	15	James Moffat	Norton Hornets - Nissan Altima	23	-
12	10	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
13	12	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
14	14	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8 - Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG	23	-
15	25	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
16	13	Jason Bright	Team BOC - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
17	24	Shane van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
18	18	Russell Ingall	Repair Manage Aust Racing - Holden Commodore	23	-
19	23	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
20	22	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8 - Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG	23	-
21	19	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB - Holden Commodore VF	23	-
22	20	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM - Volvo S60	23	-
23	17	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN - Ford Falcon FG	23	-
24	21	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing - Holden Commodore VF	18	-
25	16	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing - Ford Falcon FG	0	Excluded

FINISH	START	DRIVER	TEAM / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	2	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM - Volvo S60	45	-
2	4	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
3	3	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew - Ford Falcon FG	45	-
4	1	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
5	5	Shane van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
6	12	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8 - Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG	45	-
7	9	Jason Bright	Team BOC - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
8	7	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
9	6	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets - Nissan Altima	45	-
10	15	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
11	14	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan Altima	45	-
12	8	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
13	13	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8 - Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG	45	-
14	18	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel's Racing - Nissan Altima	45	-
15	16	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
16	10	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew - Ford Falcon FG	45	-
17	17	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
18	24	James Moffat	Norton Hornets - Nissan Altima	45	-
19	21	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB - Holden Commodore VF	45	-
20	20	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN - Ford Falcon FG	45	-
21	19	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM - Volvo S60	45	-
22	11	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team - Ford Falcon FG	45	-
23	25	Russell Ingall	Repair Manage Aust Racing - Holden Commodore	44	-
24	22	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing - Ford Falcon FG	15	Did Not Finish
25	23	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing - Ford Falcon FG	0	Excluded

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