The 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars.V8 Supercars Operations Manual Retrieved from www.v8supercars.com.au on 23 June 2010 It was the twelfth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the fourteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 19 February in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit and concluded on 5 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. These events were held in all states of Australia and in the Northern Territory as well as in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and New Zealand. The 51st Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to the winner of the Drivers Championship by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.

James Courtney won the Drivers Championship for Dick Johnson Racing by 65 points from Jamie Whincup in the final race of the season at the 2010 Sydney Telstra 500. Championship Team of the Year was awarded to Triple Eight Race Engineering and Champion Manufacturer of the Year to Holden.V8 Awards: Full list of award winners Retrieved from www.speedcafe.com.au on 7 January 2011

Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 2010 championship.

ManufacturerModelTeam Driver nameRounds Ford Falcon FG Stone Brothers Racing 4 Alex Davison All David Brabham 9 All John McIntyre Ford Performance Racing 5 Mark Winterbottom All Luke Youlden 6 Steven Richards All James Moffat Will Power Triple F Racing 12 Dean Fiore All Michael Patrizi Gianni Morbidelli Dick Johnson Racing 17 Steven Johnson All Marcus Marshall Dario Franchitti 18 James Courtney All Warren Luff Tekno Autosports () 19 Jonathon Webb All David Russell Sébastien Bourdais James Rosenberg Racing () 47 Tim Slade All Jack Perkins Hélio Castroneves Rod Nash Racing () 55 Paul Dumbrell All Dean Canto Jacques Villeneuve Holden Commodore VE Triple Eight Race Engineering 1 Jamie Whincup All Steve Owen 888 Craig Lowndes All Mark Skaife Andy Priaulx Holden Racing Team 2 Garth Tander All Cameron McConville 22 Will Davison All David Reynolds Ryan Briscoe Tony D'Alberto Racing 3 Tony D'Alberto All Shane Price Tiago Monteiro Kelly Racing 7 Todd Kelly All Dale Wood Scott Dixon 11 Jason Bargwanna All Glenn Seton Alex Tagliani 15 Rick Kelly All Owen Kelly 16 Tony Ricciardello All Taz Douglas Dale Wood Brad Jones Racing 8 Jason Richards 1–12 Andrew Jones Andrew Jones 13–14 14 Jason Bright All Alain Menu Walkinshaw Racing () 10 Andrew Thompson All Nick Percat Ryan Briscoe Mika Salo 24 Fabian Coulthard All Craig Baird David Reynolds Britek Motorsport () 21 Karl Reindler All David Wall Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 30 Daniel Gaunt 1–7 Mark Noske Scott Pruett Cameron McConville 8 Nathan Pretty 9–11 Warren Luff 12–14 Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 Lee Holdsworth All David Besnard Greg Ritter 34 Michael Caruso All Greg Ritter Patrick Long Paul Morris Motorsport 39 Russell Ingall All Paul Morris Jack Perkins 51 Paul Morris 1 Tim Blanchard Allan Simonsen Yvan Muller Greg Murphy 2–14 Wildcard entries Ford Falcon BF MW Motorsport 27 9–10 Ant Pedersen Damien Assaillit Holden Commodore VE Greg Murphy Racing 44 9–10 Geoff Emery Marcus Zukanovic

Team changes

Triple Eight Race Engineering switched from Ford to Holden following Ford's withdrawal of funding from all of their teams except for Ford Performance Racing and Stone Brothers Racing.

Rod Nash Racing, owners of the #55 Racing Entitlement Contract which was operated by Tony D'Alberto Racing in 2008 and 2009, became a customer team of Ford Performance Racing and as such moved from Holden to Ford.

James Rosenberg Racing was revived using the Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) of Paul Cruickshank Racing. The team used a customer Stone Brothers Racing Ford.

Tasman Motorsport was disbanded, with the team selling its RECs to Tony D'Alberto Racing and the newly formed Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Jason Bright moved his Britek Motorsport license to operate it as a third car under Brad Jones Racing.

Driver changes Paul Dumbrell moved from Walkinshaw Racing to join Rod Nash Racing in a manufacturer switch. Tony D'Alberto departed to drive for his newly formed team.

Fabian Coulthard was released from his Paul Cruickshank Racing contract to replace Dumbrell at Walkinshaw Racing. Andrew Thompson also joined Walkinshaw Racing after a year on the sidelines, replacing David Reynolds in an all-new lineup. Reynolds was left without a full-time drive and later joined the Holden Racing Team for the endurance events.

Tim Slade moved from Paul Morris Motorsport to the newly-formed James Rosenberg Racing. He was replaced by Greg Murphy, who came over from the defunct Tasman Motorsport.

Jason Bargwanna was announced as a new signing for Kelly Racing, joining the Kelly brothers. Multiple Sports Sedan Champion, Tony Ricciardello was confirmed to drive the fourth Kelly car. Jack Perkins and Mark McNally were left without full-time drives. Perkins later joined James Rosenberg Racing and Paul Morris Motorsport for the endurance events.

Jason Bright moved from Britek Motorsport to Brad Jones Racing as a result of the deal to utilise his REC as a third car. He replaced Cameron McConville, who was left without a full-time seat. Karl Reindler would drive the additional car.

Daniel Gaunt was announced as the driver for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

Mid-season changes

Greg Murphy missed the opening round of the series at the Yas V8 400 due to a date clash with his hosting duties for Top Gear Live in New Zealand. Team principal Paul Morris replaced him for the event.

Jason Richards withdrew from the series prior to the Sandown Challenge to have surgery to remove a tumor. Andrew Jones took over the seat for the remainder of the season.

Daniel Gaunt was replaced by Cameron McConville after the Darwin Triple Crown, with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport citing the need for an experienced driver to progress further. Nathan Pretty and Mark Noske drove the team's Commodore for the three endurance events. It was later announced that Warren Luff would be the team's driver for the rest of the season.

Wildcard entries

Three Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series teams were granted wildcard entries to the two co-driver endurance events, the Phillip Island 500 and the Bathurst 1000. The three teams, Greg Murphy Racing, MW Motorsport and Sieders Racing Team, were also the three teams who were granted wildcard entries in 2009. A fourth team, Adrenaline Motor Racing (who last raced at Bathurst as Novocastrian Motorsport in 1997), withdrew their application.

MW Motorsport subsequently confirmed it would use one of its own BF Falcons. The Sieders Racing Team later withdrew their wildcard entry after a budget shortfall.

Rule changes Full-time drivers were no longer allowed to partner one another for the endurance races at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama in an effort to make both the championship and the endurance races more competitive.

For the Armor All Gold Coast 600, each team had to include a driver who races in an overseas series. The majority of nominated drivers were sourced from the IndyCar Series.

Following a failed attempt to get former champion Marcos Ambrose to make a one-off guest appearance at the 2009 Sydney Telstra 500, the V8 Supercars Executive Board approved plans to allow for one-off guest drives. The system would work in a similar fashion to the "Wildcard" entries that the series allows to drivers and teams from the Fujitsu Development Series to step up to the V8 Supercars during the endurance races. Ambrose had been earmarked as a target for such an appearance, with the series looking to allow international drivers to take part in the offshore races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi at the start of the season.

Race calendar The following events made up the 2010 series. The proposed event for Queensland Raceway in early May was cancelled in January after V8 Supercar and circuit operators were unable to agree to terms. The Ipswich venue was later restored to the calendar. Barbagallo Raceway was later removed with V8 Supercar citing workplace health and safety regulations.

Calendar is as follows:

EventRaceEventCircuitCity / stateDateWinnerTeamReport 1 1 Yas V8 400 Yas Marina Circuit Yas Island, Abu Dhabi 18–20 Feb Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 2 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 2 3 Desert 400 Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Manama 25–27 Feb Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 4 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 3 5 Clipsal 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 11–14 Mar Garth Tander Holden Racing Team report 6 Garth Tander Holden Racing Team 4 7 ITM Hamilton 400 Hamilton Street Circuit Hamilton, Waikato 16–18 Apr Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 8 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 5 9 City of Ipswich 300 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland 30 Apr – 2 May James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing report 10 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing 6 11 Winton Motor Raceway Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 14–16 May James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing report 12 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing 7 13 Skycity Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 18–20 Jun Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing report 14 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 8 15 Sucrogen Townsville 400 Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland 9–11 Jul Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering report 16 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 9 17 L&H 500 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 10–12 Sep Craig LowndesMark Skaife Triple Eight Race Engineering report 10 18 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 7–10 Oct Craig LowndesMark Skaife Triple Eight Race Engineering report 11 19 Armor All Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland 21–24 Oct Garth TanderCameron McConville Holden Racing Team report 20 Jamie WhincupSteve Owen Triple Eight Race Engineering 12 21 Falken Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 12–14 Nov Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering report 22 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 13 23 Norton 360 Sandown Challenge Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 19–21 Nov Paul Dumbrell Rod Nash Racing report 24 James Courtney Dick Johnson Racing 14 25 Sydney Telstra 500 Homebush Street Circuit Sydney, New South Wales 3–5 Dec Jonathon Webb Tekno Autosports report 26 Lee Holdsworth Garry Rogers Motorsport Maps of event locations

Publicity Immediately prior to the season start, V8 Supercar launched a new publicity campaign, centred around American singer Pink and her 2001 recording Get the Party Started. The advertising campaign is called "The Greatest Show on Wheels" and is the first of a three-year deal between V8 Supercar and Pink.

Points system Points are awarded to the driver or drivers of a car that completes 75% of the race distance and is running at the completion of the final lap.

Pos 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th Std 150 138 129 120 111 102 96 90 84 78 72 69 66 63 60 57 54 51 48 45 42 39 36 33 30 27 24 21 18 rowspan="2" L&H 500 Qual 50 46 43 40 37 34 32 30 28 26 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 L&H 500 Feature 200 184 172 160 148 136 128 120 112 104 96 92 88 84 80 76 72 68 64 60 56 52 48 44 40 36 32 28 24 20 Bathurst 300 276 258 240 222 204 192 180 168 156 144 138 132 126 120 114 108 102 96 90 84 78 72 66 60 54 48 42 36 30

NOTES:

Std denotes all races except the L&H 500, Bathurst 1000, and Surfers Paradise. These three races have unique rules.