2025 Supercars Championship
The 2025 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship) is an upcoming motor racing series for Supercars.
It will be the twenty-seventh running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-ninth series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport. It is the sixty-sixth season of touring car racing in Australia.
Chevrolet, Will Brown and Triple Eight Race Engineering will enter the championship as defending Manufacturers', Drivers' and Teams' Champions respectively.
Teams and drivers
[edit]The following teams and drivers are expected to compete in the 2025 championship. All cars and numbers from 2024 are carried over unless stated otherwise.
Driver changes
[edit]Tim Slade will retire from full time competition and will be replaced by Richie Stanaway, who will depart Grove Racing. Stanaway will be replaced by 2023 Super2 Series winner Kai Allen.[4][5][6][7]
Mark Winterbottom will depart Team 18, and is expected to drive for Tickford Racing in the Enduro Cup. He will be replaced by Anton de Pasquale, who will depart Dick Johnson Racing. Brodie Kostecki will leave Erebus Motorsport, to replace De Pasquale at Dick Johnson Racing, and will be replaced by Super2 Series graduate Cooper Murray.[8][9][10][11][2]
Calendar
[edit]The following circuits are due to host a round of the 2025 championship.
Calendar changes
[edit]The Bend Motorsport Park will return to the calendar, after missing out on the 2024 championship, as an endurance event.[14]
Queensland Raceway will return to the championship for the first time since 2019.[13]
Sydney SuperNight will move from July to February, replacing the Bathurst 500.[13]
Rule changes
[edit]Format changes
[edit]For 2025, the series will be split into three categories, with each awarding its' own title.[15]
- Sprint Cup - The first eight events, from Sydney Motorsport Park to Queensland Raceway, will contest a "Sprint Cup". Two events – Sydney and Townsville – will feature a 100km Sprint race on Friday and 2x200km Feature races with refuelling on Saturday and Sunday, one event – the Australian Grand Prix support at Albert Park – will feature four races of roughly 100km, and the remaining five will feature 2x120km Sprint races on Saturday and a 200km Feature race with refuelling on Sunday.
- Enduro Cup - The Bend 500 and the Bathurst 1000 will count for the Enduro Cup, a format which will return for the first time since 2019.
- Finals Series - The final three events will contest a "Finals" series, similar to the NASCAR playoffs and Turismo Carretera Gold Cup.[16]
The "Sprint Cup" and "Enduro Cup" will follow a traditional first-past-the-post championship system, whereas the "Finals" will employ a combination of first-past-the-post and knockout elimination formats.[17]
- 10 drivers will take part in the first Finals round at the Gold Coast, held over two races of 250km. These ten drivers will consist of the winner/s of the Sprint and Enduro Cups, and the remaining places filled by the highest-placed drivers in the overall championship to that point – for example, 2nd through 10th in the standings fill the Finals berths if the leader after Bathurst won both Cups. Drivers' points will then be reset to 3000, and will be awarded bonus points based on existing championship position on a sliding scale of 150-120-96-78-66-57-48-39-30-21. The Sprint and Enduro Cup winner/s will also receive a bonus 25 points per title.
- 7 drivers will take part in the second Finals round at Sandown, held over two races of 250km. If a driver eligible for Finals points wins a race on the Gold Coast, they automatically advance through to Sandown; the remaining places of the 7 will be filled with the Finals-eligible drivers who score the most points over the Gold Coast weekend. Points are reset to 4000, and the same bonus points scale applies.
- 4 drivers will take part in the last Finals round at Adelaide, held over three races – one Sprint race of 100km on Friday, followed by the traditional two Feature races of 250km on Saturday and Sunday. The same qualification rules as the Gold Coast to Sandown leg apply, with drivers' points reset to 5000; however, bonus points are now awarded on a sliding scale of 50-30-15-0. The driver with the most points after the three races in Adelaide will be crowned series' champion.
- Drivers who do not qualify for the Finals in any form will continue to compete for points in the overall standings, as will drivers who are knocked out in the first two rounds of the Finals.
Technical changes
[edit]- A new series of tyre compounds will be introduced.[18]
- During the Sprint Cup portion of the season, fuel towers will be replaced with fuel churns.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ O'Brien, Connor (2024-11-19). "Official: Winterbottom to Tickford in two-pronged role". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
- ^ a b Noonan, Aaron (2024-11-11). "Moffat's Supercars co-driving future determined". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ O'Brien, Connor (2024-11-04). "Triple Eight signs WAU protégé for Lowndes co-drive". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
- ^ Pavey, James (6 August 2024). "Penrite Racing signs rising star Allen". Supercars.
- ^ Pavey, James (26 July 2024). "Penrite Racing announces Stanaway exit". Supercars.
- ^ Dowdell, Zac (16 September 2024). "Slade announces full-time retirement".
- ^ O'Brian, Connor (18 October 2024). "Official: Stanaway seals Supercars future with PremiAir".
- ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (27 August 2024). "Winterbottom announces shock Team 18 exit". Speedcafe.
- ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (27 August 2024). "De Pasquale to replace Winterbottom at Team 18". Speedcafe.
- ^ Dowdell, Zac (29 August 2024). "Murray latest young gun to get full-time Erebus opportunity".
- ^ Dowdell, Zac (29 August 2024). "Kostecki to spearhead revitalised DJR in 2025". Supercars.
- ^ "Dates confirmed for 2025 ITM Taupō Super400". Supercars. 10 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Supercars reveals expanded 2025 calendar | Supercars". www.supercars.com. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ Pavey, James (10 November 2023). "The Bend to host Supercars enduro in 2025".
- ^ "Supercars introduces new stage-split season, seeded championship format for 2025". Motorsport.com. 9 October 2024.
- ^ "Supercars announces Finals Series for 2025". Speedcafe. 9 October 2024.
- ^ "The finer details of Supercars' finals system". V8 Sleuth. 9 October 2024.
- ^ "Supercars to retire current soft, hard compound tyres". V8 Sleuth. 9 October 2024.
- ^ "The old-school element returning to Supercars in 2025". Speedcafe. 10 October 2024.