The 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship (often simplified to the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the sixteenth running of the V8 Supercars Championship and the eighteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.
Volvo entered the championship with a factory team in a collaboration with Garry Rogers Motorsport and its motorsport arm, Polestar Racing. The team raced the Volvo S60 under the Volvo Polestar Racing brand. It was the first time that Volvo has competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship since Robbie Francevic won the title driving a Volvo 240T in 1986.
Jamie Whincup successfully defended his drivers' championship, securing a record sixth title at Phillip Island, surpassing the previous record of five held by Ian Geoghegan, Dick Johnson and Mark Skaife. His team, Triple Eight Race Engineering, also retained the teams' championship. Whincup and co-driver Paul Dumbrell won the Endurance Cup, taking wins at the Sandown 500 and the Gold Coast 600.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 2014 championship.
Twenty-five cars contested the full 2014 championship, down from twenty-eight in 2013.
Championship entries Endurance entries Manufacturer Model Team Driver name Rounds Co-driver name Rounds Ford Falcon FG Ford Performance Racing 5 Mark Winterbottom All Steve Owen 10–12 6 Chaz Mostert All Paul Morris 10–12 Dick Johnson Racing 16 Scott Pye All Ashley Walsh 10–12 17 David Wall All Steven Johnson 10–12 18 Jack Perkins All Cam Waters 10–12 Rod Nash Racing () 55 David Reynolds All Dean Canto 10–12 Holden Triple Eight Race Engineering 1 Jamie Whincup All Paul Dumbrell 10–12 888 Craig Lowndes All Steven Richards 10–12 Holden Racing Team 2 Garth Tander All Warren Luff 10-12 22 James Courtney All Greg Murphy 10–12Brad Jones Racing 8 Jason Bright All Andrew Jones 10–12 14 Fabian Coulthard All Luke Youlden 10–12 Britek Motorsport () 21 Dale Wood All Chris Pither 10–12 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 23 Russell Ingall All Tim Blanchard 10–12 Walkinshaw Racing () Tim Slade All Tony D'Alberto 10–12 Tekno Autosports 97 Shane van Gisbergen All Jonathon Webb 10–12 James Rosenberg Racing () 222 Nick Percat All Oliver Gavin 10–12 E63 AMG Erebus Motorsport Lee Holdsworth All Craig Baird 10–12 9 Will Davison All Alex Davison 10–12 Nissan Altima L33Nissan Motorsport 7 Todd Kelly All Alex Buncombe 10–12 15 Rick Kelly All David Russell 10–12 36 Michael Caruso All Dean Fiore 10–12 360 James Moffat All Taz Douglas 10–12 Volvo S60 Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 Scott McLaughlin All Alexandre Prémat 10–12 34 Robert Dahlgren All Greg Ritter 10–12 Wildcard Entries Ford Falcon FG Dick Johnson Racing 66 Marcos Ambrose 14colspan=2 Super Black Racing 111colspan=2 Andre Heimgartner Ant Pedersen 11
Team changes
Dick Johnson Racing returned the Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) it had leased from Triple F Racing for the previous two seasons. After unsuccessfully trying to secure sponsorship for a 2014 campaign, Triple F Racing returned the REC to V8 Supercars management.
Garry Rogers Motorsport changed manufacturers, switching from racing Holden Commodores to become a factory-supported Volvo team, racing the second generation S60. The cars were powered by a modified version of Volvo's Yamaha-designed 4.4-litre B8444S V8 engine.
James Rosenberg Racing ended its association with Erebus Motorsport and became a customer of Walkinshaw Racing. After exploring the possibility of securing additional RECs to expand to a four-car team, Erebus downsized to two cars.
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport scaled back to a single car operation, returning one of its RECs to V8 Supercars management.
Tekno Autosports returned to operating as a single-car team. Shane van Gisbergen's car was entered under the REC the team owns, with the one leased from Paul Morris Motorsport for 2012 and 2013 being returned and sold to Dick Johnson Racing.
Tony D'Alberto Racing was unable to find sufficient sponsorship to compete in the series, so sold its car and equipment to Walkinshaw Racing, and returned its REC to V8 Supercars management.
Driver changes Will Davison left Ford Performance Racing to join Erebus Motorsport, replacing Maro Engel.
Chaz Mostert replaced Davison at Ford Performance Racing. He had been contracted to the team in 2013 before he was loaned out to drive for Dick Johnson Racing mid-season.
Scott Pye and David Wall joined Dick Johnson Racing from Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport and Britek Motorsport respectively, replacing Tim Blanchard and Mostert. Blanchard was unable to find a full-time drive, and joined Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport for the endurance events.
Dale Wood, the reigning Dunlop Series champion, replaced Wall at Britek Motorsport. Wood had previously contested the first half of the 2009 season with Kelly Racing.
Russell Ingall was not offered a contract extension by Walkinshaw Racing, and moved to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport. Tim Slade left Erebus Motorsport to replace Ingall.
Nick Percat made his full-time season debut, driving a car entered by James Rosenberg Racing and run by Walkinshaw Racing.
Jack Perkins returned to the championship on a full-time basis for the first time since 2009, replacing Alex Davison at Charlie Schwerkolt Racing. With the team electing to take Perkins, Davison was left without a seat. Davison would join his brother Will at Erebus Motorsport for the endurance events.
Robert Dahlgren joined Garry Rogers Motorsport, replacing Alexandre Prémat. Dahlgren had previously raced a Volvo S60 in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship with Garry Rogers Motorsport's partner Polestar Racing. Prémat rejoined the team for the endurance races.
Tony D'Alberto was unable to raise sufficient sponsorship to compete full-time in 2014.
Dean Fiore, who drove for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in 2013, was unable to secure funding to continue racing full-time in 2014.
Jonathon Webb elected not to contest the 2014 season full-time, focusing instead on his business interests. His family's Tekno Autosports team therefore did not to take up an option to purchase its leased REC from Paul Morris Motorsport. Webb co-drove for the team during the endurance races.
Wildcard entries
Super Black Racing, based in New Zealand, entered a wildcard for Andre Heimgartner and Ant Pedersen in the Bathurst 1000.
Marcos Ambrose was entered in a third Dick Johnson Racing Falcon for the Sydney 500 ahead of his return to the series in 2015.
Calendar The 2014 calendar was released on 23 September 2013. Event name Circuit Location Format Date 1 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia ST 1–2 March 2 Tasmania 400 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania SP 29–30 March 3 Winton 400 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria SP 5–6 April 4 Auckland 500 Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, New Zealand SP 25–27 April 5 Perth 400 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia SP 17–18 May 6 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory SP 21–22 June 7 Townsville 500 Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland ST 5–6 July 8 Ipswich 400 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland SP 2–3 August 9 Sydney Motorsport Park 400 Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek, New South Wales SP 23–24 August 10 Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria EC 14 September 11 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales EC 12 October 12 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland EC 25–26 October 13 Phillip Island 400 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria SP 15–16 November 14 Sydney 500 Homebush Street Circuit Sydney, New South Wales ST 6–7 December Sources: Icon Meaning ST Super Street SP Super Sprint EC Endurance Cup
Calendar changes The series did not return to the Circuit of the Americas in the United States. The championship returned to Sydney Motorsport Park for the Sydney Motorsport Park 400, having last raced at the circuit in 2012. The event used the Gardner Circuit configuration. The addition of the Sydney Motorsport Park event in August saw the Winton 400 move from August to April.
Format changes There were two formats used for events outside of the Endurance Cup. "Super Street" events were held at the Clipsal 500, Townsville and Sydney 500 events, with a pair of 125-kilometre races held on Saturday and a 250-kilometre race held on Sunday. All other events featured the "Super Sprint" format, with two 100-kilometre races held on Saturday and a single 200-kilometre race held on Sunday, though the Pukekohe event included an additional 100-kilometre race held on Friday. The Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and the Gold Coast 600 – races counting towards the Endurance Cup – retained their respective event formats of a single 500-kilometre, 1000-kilometre and two 300-kilometre races. The 60/60 Sprint format, introduced in 2013, was discontinued.
A number of races. including the first race of the Clipsal 500, were held at twilight, coinciding with prime time television broadcasts. The last event held under lights was the opening round of the 1997 season, held at Calder Park Raceway.
Rule changes 2014 saw practice sessions become time-certain, whereby the session finished after a designated amount of time with no allowance for session interruptions, such as red flags. Qualifying sessions run on the same day as each other were allowed a fifteen-minute extension shared between the sessions if required. Additional practice sessions were held at the Winton, Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park events.
The 2014 season saw changes to the regulations regarding abandoned starts which require an additional formation lap and for the suspension and resumption of races in the case of a red flag. The procedure used for safety car restarts was also revised. Previously, the lead car controlled the pace until the safety car entered the pit lane at which point the lead car could accelerate. The new rules dictated that the lead car must maintain a speed between fifty and sixty kilometres-per-hour until it reached the "Acceleration Zone" located before the control line – mimicking the restart procedure used for the second half of the 60/60 Sprint format used in 2013 – at which point the driver could accelerate and racing resumed. This was in response to several incidents where the lead car accelerated too early on the safety car restart, most notably at the 2013 Austin 400 where Fabian Coulthard, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes were penalised for the infringement.
Following the Clipsal 500, where Jason Bright's car had rolled following a safety car restart, the restart procedure was reviewed and changed for the second event of the championship. The Acceleration Zone was lengthened and the lead-up speed was raised to be between sixty and eighty kilometres-per-hour. Drivers were no longer allowed to overtake prior to the control line. The safety car restart procedure was eventually changed back to the 2013 system, with Todd Kelly stating that the 2014 procedure had been difficult to manage for the drivers.
Cars were required to take on a specified amount of fuel in the Sunday race at all events bar the Endurance Cup events.
Season report