The 2020 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship)[1] was a motor racing series for Supercars. It was the twenty-second running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-fourth series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport. Due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of rounds were rescheduled or cancelled.
The series reverted to having only two manufacturers, Ford and Holden, for the first time since 2012 with Nissan no longer being represented on the grid.
Scott McLaughlin successfully defended his drivers' championship with one event remaining, winning the title for the third consecutive year.[2]DJR Team Penske successfully defended the teams' championship. Ford successfully defended the manufacturers' championship.[3]
Kelly Racing scaled down from a four-car team racing Nissan Altimas to a two-car team with Ford Mustangs.[49] Two of the team's RECs were purchased by Team 18 and Matt Stone Racing, with both expanding to two car entries.[50][49][51] Matt Stone Racing acquired a second REC from Garry Rogers Motorsport to replace the one it had been leasing from Britek Motorsport.[52][f] Team principal Garry Rogers cited escalating costs of competing and a model that required them to purchase parts rather than develop them as the reasons for his decision to withdraw.[53] Rogers' team later returned to the championship with a single wildcard for the Bathurst 1000 โ signing Super2 Series drivers Tyler Everingham and Jayden Ojeda.[46]Nathan Herne from the Australian TA2 Racing Series was originally signed in Ojeda's place however his entry was blocked as Motorsport Australia denied him of the required licence.[45][54]
Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki graduated from the Super2 Series and make their championship dรฉbuts driving for Matt Stone Racing.[32] Goddard and Kostecki will share a car as part of the new SuperLite program, allowing both drivers to compete in five rounds of the series each before teaming up for the Enduro Cup.[61]
Richie Stanaway and James Golding left Garry Rogers Motorsport after the team withdrew from the series.[53] Stanaway retired from motorsport,[63] while Golding joined Team 18 for the endurance races.[32]
James Courtney left Team Sydney by Tekno after round one, citing an inability to come to an agreement with the team for the contract to continue.[35] He was replaced by Alex Davison.[36]23Red Racing withdrew from the series after its primary sponsor withdrew after round 2, leaving Will Davison without a drive. He became a co-driver at the Bathurst 1000 for Tickford Racing after Alexandre Prรฉmat, who resides in Las Vegas, was forced out by COVID-19 travel restrictions.[6] Tickford Racing, which had prepared the car started to lease the REC from 23Red Racing and Car, entered the car as a fourth entry with James Courtney from round three.[8][69]
Calendar
The 2020 championship was originally due to be contested over twenty-eight races run at fourteen rounds. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Melbourne 400 event was cancelled after practice and qualifying had commenced. With multiple calendar revision during the year, the championship was contested over eleven rounds, although racing only occurred at ten rounds.
The Bend 500 was scheduled to replace the Sandown 500 as the opening round the Enduro Cup.[76]The Bend SuperSprint was re-formatted as a 500 kilometre race, while the Sandown round adopted a sprint format, called the Sandown Super400.[73] This resulted in a 500 kilometre being restored as the first race of the Enduro Cup after the Bathurst 1000 was the first endurance race in 2019.
The Saturday race at the SuperSprint and SuperNight events and the Darwin Triple Crown were due to be extended from 120 kilometres to 200 kilometres.[74]
The championship was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Melbourne 400 cancelled before the first race of the event.[70][77] Supercars' management later announced that should an event be postponed, the calendar would have been altered to complete the 2020 fixture,[78] and that a January 2021 finish may have been required to do so.[79] Supercars later announced the postponement of the Launceston, Auckland and Perth rounds due to the pandemic. All three were later cancelled.
The championship recommenced in June with a reformatted round at Sydney Motorsport Park, with the postponed races assigned new dates later in the season.[80][81] Races at Gold Coast and Newcastle were removed from the schedule.[82]
Due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria, Sydney Motorsport Park hosted round four of the championship on the weekend of July 18โ19 instead of Winton. The event followed the same format as the previous round but featured a night race on the Saturday night and fans were allowed to attend the event. This spike also caused the Sandown event to be removed from the calendar and replaced with two rounds at The Bend Motorsport Park on the weekends of September 19โ20 and 26โ27.[83] This calendar revision also saw postponed races at Symmons Plains Raceway, Wanneroo Raceway and a scheduled third appearance at Sydney Motorsport Park cancelled.
Rule changes
Technical regulations
The number of engines that a team was allowed to use has been reduced to three, compared with four in 2019 in a bid to reduce costs. The piston ring and rocker ratios became control components and engines must complete 4,000 km (2,485 mi) before being rebuilt. Breaking the engine seal before reaching the mileage limit will result in a ten-place grid penalty, similar to Formula One's system of grid penalties for changing engine components. However, engine changes can be made with the approval of Supercars provided that teams present a clear reason for doing so.[84]
A control shock absorber manufactured by Supashock was introduced in a bid to reducing costs.[85][86] All cars had a reduction of downforce of up to twelve percent, in a bid to improve racing and encourage overtakes. The rear wing angle was reduced from 18 degrees to 13 degrees, and has gurney flaps of 13 millimetres and 10 millimetres on the wing plane and bootlid respectively. The Mustang's rear wing has also moved forward by 90 millimetres and lowered by 50 millimetres.[87]
LED panels were to be fitted in the windows of all cars. To accommodate this, the car number on the front windscreen moved from the top-right to top-left corner. Originally scheduled to be introduced from the start of the season, due to production delays its introduction was postponed until 2021.[88]
Points were awarded for each race at an event, to the driver or drivers of a car that completed at least 75% of the race distance and was running at the completion of the race. At least 50% of the planned race distance must be completed for the result to be valid and championship points awarded.
Points format
Position
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
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
Adelaide
150
138
129
120
111
102
96
90
84
78
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
SuperSprint
100
92
86
80
74
68
64
60
56
52
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
Melbourne
75
69
64
60
55
51
48
45
42
39
36
34
33
31
30
28
27
25
24
22
21
19
18
16
Bathurst: Used for the Bathurst 1000.
Adelaide: Used for the Adelaide 500.
SuperSprint: Used for all SuperSprint races and the Darwin Triple Crown.
^Contested the remainder of the championship from the Melbourne 400, after James Courtney vacated the #19 entry.
^Under the SuperLites regulations, Goddard and Kostecki were permitted to partner each other for the Bathurst 1000.
^Under the series' sporting regulations, an REC may be leased from its owner for two years, after which it must be purchased or returned to its owner. The REC used by Matt Stone Racing in 2018 and 2019 was leased from Britek Motorsport and returned for the 2020 championship.[50]
^The Melbourne 400 was intended to be run in support of the 2020 Australian Grand Prix. Qualifying for two races had been completed Thursday when a Formula One mechanic tested positive for COVID-19. The Grand Prix was cancelled and officials ended the Supercars meeting.[70]
References
^O'Brien, Connor (11 June 2020). "2020 calendar could be tweaked". Supercars Championship. V8 Supercars Holdings Pty Ltd. Retrieved 12 June 2020. The 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship could conclude with a showpiece Sydney night event as plans continue to evolve for the return from the COVID-19 hiatus.