The 2023 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship) was a motor racing series for Supercars. It was the twenty-fifth running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-seventh series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport. It was the sixty-fourth season of touring car racing in Australia.
The 2023 season saw the introduction of Gen3, a revision to the sport's technical regulations. These regulations were designed to cut costs for competitors by introducing more standardised components to the cars and redesigning the chassis to favour coupé body shapes.
Brodie Kostecki and Erebus Motorsport secured their first Drivers' and Teams' Champions respectively.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2023 championship.
Championship entriesEndurance entriesManufacturerModelTeamDriver nameRoundsCo-driver nameRounds Brad Jones Racing4 Jack SmithAll Jaxon EvansBJR confirms 2023 Bathurst, Sandown co-drivers Speedcafe.com 25 May 20239–108 Andre HeimgartnerAll Dale Wood9–1014 Bryce FullwoodAll Dean Fiore9–1096 Macauley JonesAll Jordan Boys9–10 Erebus Motorsport9 Will BrownAll Jack Perkins9–1099 Brodie KosteckiAll David RussellErebus confirms David Russell for Bathurst 1000 Speedcafe.com 8 March 20239–10 Team 18 Mark WinterbottomAll Michael CarusoNine seats left: 2023 co-driver market Supercars 5 May 20239–1020 Scott PyeTeam 18 confirms Pye contract extension Supercars 22 September 2021All Warren LuffLuff to Team 18 for Supercars enduros Speedcafe.com 5 May 20239–10 PremiAir Racing Tim SladeAll Jonathon WebbWebb named as Slade co-driver for Supercars enduros Speedcafe.com 20 July 20239–1031 James GoldingPremiAir confirms Golding for 2023 Supercars season Speedcafe.com 3 November 2022All Dylan O'KeeffeGolding’s co-driver announced for Sandown and Bathurst Supercars 21 June 20239–10 Matt Stone RacingMSR to race Camaros in 2023 Supercars 13 May 202234 Jack Le BrocqAll Jayden OjedaMSR confirms Jayden Ojeda for Bathurst 1000 Speedcafe.com 18 May 20239–1035 Cameron HillAll Jaylyn RobothamTruck Assist Racing finalises Bathurst 1000 line-up Speedcafe.com 6 June 20239–10 Triple Eight Race Engineering88 Broc FeeneyFeeney confirmed as Whincup replacement at Triple Eight Supercars 31 August 2021All Jamie WhincupFeeney/Whincup combo retained for 2023 enduros Supercars 4 May 2023 9–1097 All Richie StanawayT8 confirms Stanaway as van Gisbergen co-driver Speedcafe.com 13 January 20239–10 Ford 2 Nick PercatAll 9–1025 Chaz MostertMostert inks long-term WAU extension Speedcafe.com 15 June 2021All Lee HoldsworthWAU confirms Holdsworth and Coulthard for 2023 Supercars enduros Speedcafe.com 15 February 20239–10 Blanchard Racing Team3 Todd HazelwoodAll Tim Blanchard9–10 Tickford Racing5 James CourtneyAll Zak BestBathurst and Sandown Tickford pairings confirmed Speedcafe.com 13 July 20239–10 Cam WatersAll James Moffat9–1055 Thomas RandleRandle confirmed at Tickford for 2023 Supercars season Speedcafe.com 11 August 2022All Garry Jacobson9–10 Declan FraserDeclan Fraser confirmed at Tickford Speedcafe.com 13 January 2023All Tyler Everingham9–10 Dick Johnson Racing11 Anton de PasqualeDJR retains De Pasquale and Davison for 2023 Speedcafe.com 17 August 2022All Tony D'Alberto9–1017 Will DavisonAll Alex Davison9–10 Grove Racing19 Matt PayneAll Kévin EstreGrove names Porsche WEC driver in Supercars enduro line-up Speedcafe.com 7 March 2023Grove Racing announces Bathurst 1000 pairings Speecafe.com 23 August 20239–1026 David ReynoldsGrove confirms 2023 Supercars driver line-up Speedcafe.com 29 September 2022All Garth TanderTander joins Grove Racing as co-driver Speedcafe.com 9 December 20229–10Wildcard entries Chevrolet Camaro Mk.6 Triple Eight Race Engineering888 Zane Goddard5, 9–10 Craig LowndesGoddard scores Triple Eight wildcard seat Supercars 24 January 20239–10 Ford Blanchard Racing Team7 colspan=2 Jake Kostecki Aaron Love9–10 Dick Johnson RacingDJR confirms De Silvestro-Allen wildcard for Bathurst 1000 Speedcafe.com 25 July 202398 colspan=2 Kai Allen Simona de Silvestro10
Manufacturer changes Chevrolet returned to the series for the first time since 1984, replacing Holden and the ZB Commodore with the Camaro Mk.6.
All Ford teams upgraded to the Mustang GT S650.
Team changes Walkinshaw Andretti United switched from Holden to Ford. In addition, Walkinshaw Andretti United is receiving the same treatment as Dick Johnson Racing, Tickford Racing, Blanchard Racing Team and Grove Racing by receiving factory support from Ford Performance.
Driver changes Cameron Hill graduated from the Super2 Series to race full time at Matt Stone Racing. Hill replaced Todd Hazelwood, who joined Blanchard Racing Team, replacing Tim Slade. Slade then joined PremiAir Racing to replace Chris Pither.
Declan Fraser also graduated from the Super2 Series to replace Jake Kostecki after Tickford Racing terminated Kostecki's contract early. Kostecki was initially contracted to race with the team throughout 2023.
Matt Payne joined Grove Racing, graduating from the Super2 Series. He replaced Lee Holdsworth, who announced his retirement from full-time competition at the end of the 2022 season.
Wildcard entries
Three wildcard entries were granted. Triple Eight Race Engineering ran a third car for Zane Goddard at the Darwin Triple Crown, which was then used for him to pair up with Craig Lowndes for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.
Blanchard Racing Team entered a second car at the endurance events for Jake Kostecki and Aaron Love. Similarly, Dick Johnson Racing entered a third car for Kai Allen and Simona De Silvestro at the Bathurst 1000.
Calendar Twelve, down from thirteen in 2022, circuits are hosted a round of the 2023 championship.
RoundEventCircuitLocationDatesMap1Newcastle 500 Newcastle Street CircuitNewcastle, New South Wales11–12 March2 Albert Park CircuitAlbert Park, Victoria3Perth SuperSprint Wanneroo RacewayNeerabup, Western Australia29–30 April4Tasmania SuperSprint Symmons Plains RacewayLaunceston, Tasmania20–21 May5Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley RacewayDarwin, Northern Territory17–18 June6Townsville 500 Reid Park Street CircuitTownsville, Queensland8–9 July7Sydney SuperNight Sydney Motorsport Park29–30 July8The Bend SuperSprint The Bend Motorsport ParkTailem Bend, South Australia19–20 August9Sandown 500 Sandown RacewaySpringvale, Victoria15–17 September10Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama CircuitBathurst, New South Wales5–8 October11Gold Coast 500Surfers Paradise, Queensland28–29 October12Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street CircuitAdelaide, South Australia25–26 NovemberSource
Calendar changes The Newcastle 500 returned as the season opener, after a three-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Supercars announces tentative date for 2023 season-opener Speedcafe 15 July 2022
The Melbourne 400 and Perth SuperNight reverted to a SuperSprint format.
The Sandown 500 returned to the calendar for the first time since 2019, and the first as the precursor to the Bathurst 1000 since 2018.
Pukekohe Park Raceway closed, citing the focus on horse racing and club facilities:Auckland's Pukekohe Park Pulling Pin on Supercars Auto Action 20 July 2022 a new venue in New Zealand was unable to be secured for 2023.
The Winton SuperSprint was omitted from the calendar.
Rule changes Gen3
Gen3 made its debut, replacing the Car of the Future regulations that débuted in 2013, with regulations designed to lower costs of a standard Supercar. It was due to debut midway through 2022, but due to ongoing challenges with international supply chains and domestic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed to 2023.
The regulations introduced more controlled components into the cars to address the rising costs of maintaining a car. The pedal kit, brake kit and wheels became control components, with tenders needing the rims to be 'finger friendly' for pit crew during a pit stop. The roll cage lowered by 100mm to be suited to coupes, after the controversy surrounding the Ford Mustang GT, which required the roof to be stretched beyond the dimensions of its road-going counterpart to fit the Car of the Future chassis. Supercars manufactured the roll cage in kit form for teams that do not have the budget to build one themselves.
The engines on Gen3 were overhauled, with pushrod engines replaced with fuel-injected, V8 engines, with the Camaro running a 5.7 Litre LTR V8, while the Mustang will run a 5.4 Litre Coyote V8. This is intended to modernise the engine and significantly reduce costs of building and maintaining them.DJR confirms Ford Coyote V8 for Gen3 Supercars Which Car 5 November 2020
Aerodynamic downforce was cut by 67% to encourage closer racing and easier overtaking after complaints from drivers about dirty air and aerowash from current Gen2 cars.
Minimum weight was decreased from 1,400 kg to 1,335 kg, with a 95 kg minimum of driver and seat weight combination.Supercars confirms minimum weights for Gen3 cars Speedcafe.com 2 March 2023 Later, it was increased to 1,340 kg from the Sandown 500.Supercars increases minimum car weights Speedcafe.com 7 September 2023
Triple Eight Race Engineering oversaw the development of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as a replacement for the Holden ZB Commodore. The Camaro ZL1 was chosen after parent company General Motors decided to discontinue the Holden brand and shut down production of the Commodore. Dick Johnson Racing oversaw the development of the S650 Mustang.DJR to race on, develop Gen3 Mustang Supercars Championship 24 October 2020
Other changes A new E75 fuel blend was introduced, down from E85 that was used from 2009, while utilising more renewable bio fuels to lower carbon emissions.
Ahead of the Perth SuperSprint an LED display was added to the windscreen to show information such as a driver's position in the race, practice, or qualifying session to spectators.
Ahead of the Gold Coast 500 a Full Course Yellow system was implemented, although the system saw no use during the event itself.
Results and standings Season summary