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.
 | |
| Category | Touring car racing |
|---|---|
| Country |  Australia |
| Inaugural season | 2000 |
| Drivers | 30 |
| Teams | 14 |
| Constructors | Ford Holden |
| Tyre suppliers | Dunlop |
| Drivers' champion | Zach Bates |
| Makes' champion | Holden |
| Teams' champion | Walkinshaw Andretti United |
| Official website | www.supercars.com |
 Current season | |
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
editThe 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
editThe 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
editOne 2023 estimate puts the cost of competing in the Super2 series for a season at "up to A$600,000...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
edit
Rookie of the Year Winners
edit| Season | Winner | Car | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 |  Matt McLean
|
Holden Commodore VF | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2022 |  Matthew Payne
|
Nissan Altima L33 | Grove Racing |
| 2023 | Kai Allen
|
Holden Commodore ZB | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2024 | Jarrod Hughes
|
Holden Commodore ZB | Image Racing |
Records (Top-5)
edit| Series wins | Driver starts | Driver round wins | Driver race wins | Team round wins | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Driver | Titles | Pos. | Driver | Starts | Pos. | Driver | Wins | Pos. | Driver | Wins | Pos. | Team | Wins | ||||
| 1 | Dean Canto | 2 | 1 | Aaron McGill | 68 | 1 | Steve Owen | 10 | 1 | Dean Canto | 21 | 1 | MW Motorsport | 21 | ||||
| Steve Owen | 2 | 2 | Geoff Emery | 55 | 2 | Dean Canto | 9 | Paul Dumbrell | 21 | 2 | Tickford Racing | 18 | ||||||
| Paul Dumbrell | 2 | 3 | Marcus Zukanovic | 53 | 3 | Andrew Thompson | 8 | 3 | Steve Owen | 20 | 3 | Eggleston Motorsport | 15 | |||||
| 4 | 19 drivers with single series wins | 4 | Mark Howard | 39 | Paul Dumbrell | 8 | 4 | Andrew Thompson | 16 | 4 | Howard Racing | 11 | ||||||
| Drew Russell | 39 | 5 | Adam Macrow | 7 | 5 | Owen Kelly | 13 | 5 | Dick Johnson Racing | 9 | ||||||||
- Note: bold text indicates active drivers and teams.
References
edit- ^ Clarke, Andrew (1 June 2023). "Rogers frustrated with Supercars' licence hurdle". Auto Action. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ O'Brien, Connor (2023-07-20). "Supercars announces driver eligibility rule change". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
- ^ "2025 Supercars Calendar" (PDF). Supercars Championship. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ "2024 Repco Supercars Championship | Result 2024 Super2 | Supercars". www.supercars.com. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ "SUPERCARS OPERATIONS MANUAL 2023 DIVISION "D" – SPORTING RULES" (PDF). Supercars Championship. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ Williams, Bruce (12 December 2023). "It's Crunch Time For S5000". Auto Action. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
- ^ van Leewen, Andrew (30 June 2020). "ARG reveals post-lockdown season budgets". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 30 October 2024.