2021 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship

The 2021 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship, known by its sponsored identity the VHT S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship, was the inaugural season of the Australian S5000 Championship, run after a series of exhibition races in 2019. The series was sanctioned by Motorsport Australia (MA) and promoted by the Australian Racing Group as part of the 2020 and 2021 Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Series. The season was held over 4 rounds, it began in January at Symmons Plains Raceway and ended in May at Sydney Motorsport Park. Joey Mawson won the Australian Drivers' Championship (MA Gold Star) title.

Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers were under contract to compete in the 2021 championship: TeamDriversRoundsRef.Team BRM15 Kaleb Ngatoa2–416 Tommy Smith127 Joey MawsonAll49 Thomas RandleAllTim Macrow Racing23 Tim MacrowAllGarry Rogers Motorsport29 Nathan HerneAll31 James GoldingAll96 Luis LeedsAll Astuti Motorsport39 Antonio Astuti1–3Australian Racing Enterprise88 Cooper WebsterAllWillmington Motorsport89 Braydan WillmingtonAllModena Engineering92 Ricky CapoAll

The following drivers only competed in practice and/or qualifying for the abandoned March 2020 round at Melbourne: TeamDriversRef.Team BRM16 Jack Aitken33 James Davison93 Zane Goddard111 Rubens BarrichelloMilldun Motorsport27 Barton MawerGarry Rogers Motorsport34 Alexandre PrématBorland Racing Developments38 Giancarlo Fisichella88Racing88 Jordan Michels

Race calendar The original 2020 calendar proposal was released on 29 October 2019, with six confirmed rounds, plus one non-championship round at the "Bathurst International", all held in Australia. Qualifying was held during the opening round at Melbourne, but the event was abandoned on March 13, 2020, as the headlining Australian Grand Prix had been cancelled by Formula 1 because of McLaren's withdrawal after a team member was tested positive for COVID-19.

With multiple disruptions delaying the season start due to the COVID-19 pandemic, heavy border restrictions in Australia further complicating the holding of the championship, and various calendar revisions that did not went ahead as scheduled, the season started in January 2021, with a four-round calendar where one venue was still to be announced. It included a round at Symmons Plains, which was not featured in the calendar until the May 2020 revision. Rounds at Winton and The Bend were not rescheduled, while the rounds at Melbourne and Bathurst were set apart from the calendar due to their later dates as support events for the Australian Grand Prix and the inaugural Bathurst International, being later featured as part of the end-of-year S5000 Tasman Series. The round at Phillip Island was later postponed and rescheduled. On 16 February 2021 it was announced the third round would be held at Sandown. As had been planned for 2020, the winner of each feature race received a trophy named in honour of former Australian racing drivers. Round Circuit Feature Race Location Date1 Symmons Plains Raceway John McCormack CupLaunceston, Tasmania25–26 January2 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Costanzo CupPhillip Island, Victoria13–14 March3 Sandown Raceway John Bowe TrophySpringvale, Victoria21 March4 Sydney Motorsport Park Warwick Brown CupEastern Creek, New South Wales1–2 May

The following racetracks were included at some point on the 2020 calendar, but were not rescheduled for the 2021 Australian Drivers' Championship. Circuit Location Scheduled dates Albert Park CircuitMelbourne, Victoria12–15 March 2020 Winton Motor RacewayBenalla, Victoria1–3 May 2020 The Bend Motorsport ParkTailem Bend, South Australia12–14 June 2020 Mount Panorama CircuitBathurst, New South Wales13–15 November 2020

S5000 Tasman Series See: 2021 S5000 Tasman Series

The follow-up season, initially billed as the 2021–2022 S5000 Australian Drivers Championship, was planned to feature the inaugural holding of the S5000 International Triple Crown, a stand-alone series-within-the-series consisting of the three events held in Melbourne, Bathurst and Gold Coast, supporting the Australian Grand Prix, the Bathurst International and the Gold Coast 500 respectively. After the cancellation of the 2021 Australian Grand Prix, it was decided to instead revive the Tasman Series with the remaining 2021 rounds, separate from the S5000 Australian Drivers Championship that will be held in 2022.

Race results Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning entrant 1 H1 Symmons Plains Raceway 25 January Thomas Randle Thomas Randle Joey Mawson Team BRM H2 26 January Joey Mawson Tim Macrow Macrow Racing ME Thomas Randle Thomas Randle Team BRM 2 H1 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit 13 March James Golding Joey Mawson Tim Macrow Macrow Racing H2 Thomas Randle Cooper Webster Australian Racing Enterprise ME 14 March Joey Mawson Joey Mawson Team BRM 3 H1 Sandown Raceway 20 March Joey Mawson Joey Mawson James Golding Garry Rogers Motorsport H221 March Kaleb Ngatoa Kaleb Ngatoa Team BRM ME Joey Mawson Joey MawsonTeam BRM 4 H1 Sydney Motorsport Park 1 May Joey Mawson James Golding James GoldingGarry Rogers Motorsport H2 Cooper Webster Kaleb NgatoaTeam BRM ME2 May James Golding James GoldingGarry Rogers Motorsport

Drivers' standings At each meeting, a qualifying session, two qualifying heats and a Main Event were held. Meeting points were awarded to the fastest ten qualifiers in qualifying, where the grid for the first heat was set. For the second heat, the top 75% from qualifying were reversed. The grid for the Main Event was defined by the points earned by the drivers across the weekend. Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15thRetQualifying1098765432100Qualifying Heats30272422201816141210864210Main event60504032262422201816141210860 DriverSYMPHISANSYDPointsQH1H2MEQH1H2MEQH1H2MEQH1H2ME1 Joey Mawson214410531152112583922 Thomas Randle126132243DNS3665343463 Tim Macrow75122153547556253394 James Golding335Ret146221Ret421413295 Luis Leeds66275675666343723076 Nathan Herne4Ret33434Ret424234633047 Cooper Webster887678167Ret8798862098 Ricky Capo548567DNS797597Ret10Ret1739 Kaleb Ngatoa810Ret8831DNS871714910 Braydan Willmington11101099DNS81011810101099914811 Antonio Astuti10998119991099812812 Tommy Smith97RetDNS18DriverSYMPHISANSYDPoints

Notes

References

2021 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship

Bron en licentie