2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series

2007 V8 Supercar

Drivers' Champion:
Garth Tander
Teams' Champion:
HSV Dealer Team
Manufacturers' Championship:
Holden

Previous

2006

Next

2008

Support series:
Fujitsu Series

The 2007 V8 Supercar season featured the ninth V8 Supercar Championship Series which began on 1 March and concluded on 2 December. This championship consisted of 14 rounds covering all states and the Northern Territory of Australia as well as rounds in New Zealand and Bahrain. The series also carried the Australian Touring Car Championship title, which was awarded by CAMS for the 48th time in 2007.

The 2007 season was significant in that two new cars were being used by the teams. The Holden VE Commodore was a completely new car and the Ford BF Falcon consisted of several changes from the previous model. These cars debuted at the first round of the season at the Clipsal 500.

This season was also significant in that Seven Network broadcast the series for the first time since 1996, after Channel Ten and Fox Sports had rights to the series for the past ten years, and then revived in 2015.

Pre-season

The 2007 pre-season began with a number of driver and team changes which occurred during December 2006 and January 2007. The most important of the driver changes being Greg Murphy moving to Tasman Motorsport from Paul Weel Racing and Steven Richards changing not only teams, but also manufacturers by moving from the Holden-based Perkins Engineering to the Ford Performance Racing team.

A number of team changes also occurred during the off-season with Vodafone being the naming sponsor for Triple Eight Race Engineering and Jim Beam joining forces with the Dick Johnson Racing team.

Most of the team launches occurred during late January and early February with a few exceptions, including the launch of Mark Winterbottom's FPR car in early January. As well as the individual team launches, an official season launch was held in Sydney's Martin Place on 15 February.

A number of testing days were also held during the pre-season. These tests were conducted at the two race circuits used as test tracks, Queensland Raceway (Triple Eight Race Engineering, Dick Johnson Racing and WPS Racing) and Winton Raceway (most Victorian based teams including Holden Racing Team, Ford Performance Racing, HSV Dealer Team and Perkins Engineering). Both of these major tests were conducted on 19 February 2007.

One of the other major stories of the 2007 pre-season involved both of Holden's most supported teams, being the Holden Racing Team and the HSV Dealer Team. Both teams temporarily had their TEGA licences revoked meaning they would not be able to compete in the championship. This was due to issues relating to the ownership of both teams, where under V8 Supercar regulations, one person can only own one team. Officially, Mark Skaife owned HRT and John Kelly (father of Todd and Rick) owned HSV Dealer Team, however the close relationship between the two teams and the presence of Tom Walkinshaw in both teams clouded the ownership of both teams. The teams had their licenses reinstated temporarily pending the presentation of documents proving the ownership of each team to TEGA. On 22 February 2007, the HSV Dealer Team produced the required documents and has been fully reinstated to the championship, and HRT was cleared to race on 27 February 2007 after satisfying TEGA that Mark Skaife was the true owner of the team.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series. Drivers are numbered as per the official 2007 entry list listed on the V8 Supercar website.

Manufacturer	Car	Team	No.	Drivers	Events		Endurance Event Drivers
Ford	Falcon BF	Stone Brothers Racing	4	James Courtney	All		David Besnard
			9	Russell Ingall	All		Luke Youlden
		Ford Performance Racing	5	Mark Winterbottom	All		Owen Kelly Matt Halliday
			6	Steven Richards	All
		WPS Racing	8	Max Wilson	All		Michael Caruso Grant Denyer
			10	Jason Bargwanna	All
		Brad Jones Racing	12	Andrew Jones	All		Damien White Christian Murchison
			14	Brad Jones	1–3
				Simon Wills	4–14
		Dick Johnson Racing	17	Steven Johnson	All		Alex Davison Andrew Thompson
			18	Will Davison	All
		Team Kiwi Racing	021	Adam Macrow	1
				Paul Radisich	2–4
				Shane van Gisbergen	8–14		John McIntyre
		Britek Motorsport	25	Jason Bright	All		Adam Macrow
			26	Alan Gurr	All		Warren Luff
		Triple Eight Race Engineering	88	Jamie Whincup	All		Allan Simonsen Richard Lyons
			888	Craig Lowndes	All
		Paul Cruickshank Racing	111	John Bowe	All		Jonathon Webb
Holden	Commodore VZ	Perkins Engineering	11	Jack Perkins	1
		Paul Weel Racing	50	Cameron McConville	1–6		—
		Garry Rogers Motorsport	33	Lee Holdsworth	1–6		—
		Paul Morris Motorsport	39	Fabian Coulthard	1–6, 8–10		Chris Pither
				Steven Ellery	7
				Owen Kelly	11–14
		Rod Nash Racing	55	Steve Owen	All		Tony D'Alberto
	Commodore VE	HSV Dealer Team (HRT)	1	Rick Kelly	All		Craig Baird Paul Radisich
			16	Garth Tander	All
		Holden Racing Team	2	Mark Skaife	1–8, 10–14		Glenn Seton Nathan Pretty
				Tony Longhurst	9
			22	Todd Kelly	All
		Tasman Motorsport	3	Jason Richards	All		Mark Noske Jay Verdnik
			51	Greg Murphy	All
		Perkins Engineering	7	Shane Price	All		Kayne Scott Marcus Marshall
			11	Jack Perkins	2–12
				Marcus Marshall	13–14
		Paul Weel Racing	20	Paul Dumbrell	1–6, 8–14		Paul Weel
				Paul Weel	7
			50	Cameron McConville	7–14		David Reynolds
		Garry Rogers Motorsport	33	Lee Holdsworth	7–14		Greg Ritter Cameron McLean
			34	Dean Canto	All
		Paul Morris Motorsport	67	Paul Morris	All		Steven Ellery

Race calendar

Rd.	Race title	Circuit	Location	Date	Winner	Team	Report
1	Clipsal 500	Adelaide Street Circuit	Adelaide, South Australia	1–4 Mar	Todd Kelly	Holden Racing Team	Report
2	BigPond 400	Barbagallo Raceway	Wanneroo, Western Australia	23–25 Mar	Garth Tander	HSV Dealer Team	Report
3	PlaceMakers V8 Supercars	Pukekohe Park Raceway	Pukekohe, New Zealand	20–22 Apr	Rick Kelly	HSV Dealer Team	Report
4	Winton	Winton Motor Raceway	Benalla, Victoria	18–20 May	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Report
5	Eastern Creek Raceway	Eastern Creek Raceway	Sydney	9–11 Jun	Mark Skaife	Holden Racing Team	Report
6	Skycity Triple Crown	Hidden Valley Raceway	Darwin, Northern Territory	22–24 Jun	Craig Lowndes	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Report
7	Queensland 300	Queensland Raceway	Ipswich, Queensland	20–22 Jul	Garth Tander	HSV Dealer Team	Report
8	Jim Beam 400	Oran Park Raceway	Sydney	17–19 Aug	Lee Holdsworth	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Report
9	Just Car Insurance 500	Sandown Raceway	Melbourne	14–16 Sep	Craig Lowndes Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Report
10	Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000	Mount Panorama Circuit	Bathurst, New South Wales	4–7 Oct	Craig Lowndes Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Report
11	V8 Supercar Challenge	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Queensland	18–21 Oct	Garth Tander	HSV Dealer Team	Report
12	Desert 400	Bahrain International Circuit	Manama, Bahrain	1–3 Nov	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Performance Racing	Report
13	Falken Tasmania Challenge	Symmons Plains Raceway	Launceston, Tasmania	16–18 Nov	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Report
14	Dunlop Grand Finale	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	30 Nov – 2 Dec	Garth Tander	HSV Dealer Team	Report

Adelaide

Eastern Creek

Perth

Sandown

Darwin

Ipswich

Winton

Phillip Island

Bathurst

Gold Coast

Launceston

Oran Park

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Australian rounds

Pukekohe

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New Zealand rounds

Sakhir

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Bahrain rounds

Changes

Driver changes

• Greg Murphy drove for Tasman Motorsport in 2007, with Paul Dumbrell replacing Murphy at Paul Weel Racing.
• On 1 January 2007, FPR announced Steven Richards as the team's second driver.
• Andrew Jones joined his father's and uncle's team and raced in the second Brad Jones Racing car.
• Perkins Engineering ran two V8 Supercar rookies, Shane Price and Jack Perkins in the 2007 season.
• Alan Gurr drove for Britek Motorsport as the teammate to Jason Bright.
• John Bowe drove for the Paul Cruikshank Racing team in his final year of V8 Supercar racing before retirement.
• Simon Wills took over the No. 14 Brad Jones Racing car from Brad Jones who retired from full-time driving following Round 3.
• After Bathurst Fabian Coulthard was dropped from Paul Morris Motorsport older VZ Commodore and replaced with Ford Performance Racing's endurance co-driver, Owen Kelly.
• Between the Bahrain and Symmons Plains rounds Jack Perkins stood aside from his Perkins Engineering VE Commodore because of diabetes. Recent Carrera Cup star and former Champ Car racer, Marcus Marshall returned to the team after racing in the No. 11 car at Sandown and Bathurst to complete the season.
• Reigning Fujitsu Series champion Adam Macrow signed for Team Kiwi Racing for Adelaide, but was dropped after just one round for Paul Radisich who was back to full fitness after his crash at Bathurst. He competed in three rounds before leaving the team, and after not fielding a car for another three rounds the team replaced him with 17-year-old rookie Shane van Gisbergen at Oran Park.

Team changes

• Triple Eight Race Engineering had Vodafone as their main sponsor in 2007 replacing Betta Electrical.
• Orrcon returned to V8 Supercars as a sponsor for FPR.
• WPS Racing has undergone a complete re-structure of the team with Team Principal Mark Larkham leaving.
• At the DJR season launch on 6 February 2007, it was announced that Jim Beam would be the main naming sponsor of the team.
• Team Kiwi Racing swapped from running Holdens to Fords for 2007.

Rule changes

• Points would only be awarded to the top 15 finishers.
• The top ten shootout would only be run at the endurance events.
• A single 45-minute qualifying session would be held in a fashion similar to Formula One, where all cars compete in the first 15 minutes. The quickest 20 would then complete in the second 15 minutes and the quickest 10 would complete in the final 15 minutes.
• No rounds would be dropped for the championship.
• There would be a greater spread of points between the point scoring positions.

Results and standings

Event format	Position, points per race
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th
One Race	72	60	51	45	39	36	33	30	27	24	18	15	12	9	6
Two Race	36	30	25	22	20	18	16	15	13	12	9	8	6	5	3
Three Race	24	20	17	15	13	12	11	10	9	8	6	5	4	3	2

Drivers championship

Todd Kelly placed sixth in the championship driving this Holden Commodore VE. The car is pictured in 2018.

Pos.	Driver	No.	ADE		BAR			PUK			WIN			EAS			HID			QLD			ORA			SAN	BAT	SUR			BAH			SYM			PHI			Pen.	Pts.
1	Garth Tander	16	6	10	1	1	1	1	1	8	4	1	1	5	15	5	6	3	3	1	1	1	Ret	19	2	4	Ret	1	1	8	2	14	4	1	10	Ret	1	1	4	0	625
2	Jamie Whincup	88	3	5	7	23	18	4	2	5	1	2	2	2	3	EX	5	4	26	4	2	3	3	Ret	4	1	1	2	2	Ret	Ret	22	16	2	1	1	3	3	2	0	623
3	Craig Lowndes	888	13	11	4	8	8	14	7	4	18	6	5	9	4	2	3	1	1	5	3	2	7	1	14	1	1	3	24	7	Ret	5	1	5	6	5	4	6	3	0	592
4	Rick Kelly	1	4	1	2	2	3	3	3	1	3	3	3	3	2	4	2	2	2	7	16	6	2	15	15	2	Ret	7	16	6	4	12	8	6	5	Ret	5	8	10	0	552
5	Mark Winterbottom	5	5	Ret	10	6	5	2	23	11	26	20	10	11	7	6	Ret	6	6	10	7	5	4	3	24	8	10	20	17	5	1	1	3	3	3	7	7	4	5	0	420
6	Todd Kelly	22	1	2	Ret	10	7	6	4	2	27	11	4	4	5	1	4	8	4	8	11	19	8	2	11	9	Ret	Ret	26	Ret	11	28	Ret	12	20	Ret	6	2	1	10	381
7	Steven Richards	6	11	8	22	13	9	5	18	12	2	16	12	6	6	7	7	9	8	13	Ret	Ret	5	6	5	3	10	Ret	5	1	25	6	25	4	2	2	27	12	9	0	380
8	Mark Skaife	2	14	7	3	3	2	10	6	9	21	17	26	1	1	3	1	5	5	2	8	17	1	20	Ret		Ret	17	8	Ret	7	18	21	7	4	4	2	5	7	0	379
9	James Courtney	4	2	3	11	Ret	Ret	9	5	3	17	15	8	Ret	14	8	16	Ret	DNS	3	4	18	19	7	Ret	16	2	6	15	4	6	2	2	28	8	6	12	7	6	0	359
10	Will Davison	18	Ret	9	6	5	6	11	8	6	Ret	14	9	14	9	10	EX	7	7	6	5	4	6	8	16	Ret	3	11	18	11	8	3	5	9	11	14	9	9	8	0	343
11	Russell Ingall	9	8	4	24	14	10	8	9	10	Ret	8	6	7	11	12	Ret	Ret	11	9	6	9	Ret	9	3	7	Ret	4	3	3	5	8	7	16	30	13	8	19	26	0	311
12	Steven Johnson	17	9	6	5	4	4	13	21	16	6	5	Ret	10	8	9	11	23	18	11	22	Ret	13	12	12	Ret	3	8	13	Ret	3	4	6	8	9	8	13	11	27	0	304
13	Greg Murphy	51	7	Ret	8	7	12	12	11	13	Ret	4	7	12	25	11	Ret	Ret	14	19	12	7	9	Ret	22	14	4	5	4	13	10	11	10	11	22	15	10	13	22	0	250
14	Jason Richards	3	20	13	14	12	19	7	Ret	18	23	Ret	16	13	24	16	10	10	9	Ret	13	8	11	5	6	14	4	10	6	2	16	13	15	10	7	3	17	26	Ret	0	235
15	Lee Holdsworth	33	24	12	9	9	11	17	13	17	5	Ret	DNS	23	12	Ret	14	17	10	Ret	10	10	10	4	1	5	Ret	12	27	14	Ret	25	12	Ret	13	12	11	10	11	0	209
16	Dean Canto	34	12	18	27	25	28	25	17	Ret	19	23	14	16	Ret	DNS	9	11	15	16	15	13	18	23	Ret	5	Ret	9	14	Ret	13	7	9	20	12	10	20	16	14	0	125
17	Max Wilson	8	17	Ret	23	18	13	16	12	14	9	Ret	Ret	19	23	21	8	14	16	15	14	Ret	16	11	9	Ret	7	13	9	10	23	26	20	26	17	19	19	24	15	0	110
18	Jason Bargwanna	10	15	Ret	25	22	23	20	Ret	DNS	11	22	15	15	13	13	Ret	16	13	14	Ret	21	15	27	13	Ret	7	14	7	12	9	10	11	23	23	Ret	23	18	16	0	109
19	Steve Owen	55	16	Ret	12	Ret	24	19	19	21	13	7	11	27	Ret	Ret	13	12	19	18	Ret	Ret	Ret	23	8	11	6	15	21	Ret	Ret	27	19	15	25	Ret	18	21	Ret	0	103
20	Paul Radisich	021/1			16	11	22	15	10	7	24	12	13													2	Ret													0	96
21	Jason Bright	25	10	14	DNS	DNS	DNS	Ret	16	25	7	9	24	8	22	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	17	Ret	Ret	12	16	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	DNS	19	Ret	Ret	17	18	9	Ret	15	12	0	71
22	Paul Morris	67	Ret	17	15	19	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	17	10	15	12	13	12	12	9	15	Ret	Ret	21	15	Ret	Ret	25	Ret	Ret	23	Ret	Ret	21	11	Ret	Ret	13	0	70
23	Paul Dumbrell	20	Ret	20	18	17	Ret	22	Ret	Ret	25	25	21	Ret	19	18	24	21	17				25	25	10	6	12	21	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	14	13	16	Ret	25	Ret	19	0	69
24	Owen Kelly	6/5/39																								3	13	24	23	Ret	20	19	17	18	28	Ret	Ret	22	21	0	63
25	Richard Lyons	88																								10	5													0	63
	Allan Simonsen	88																								10	5													0	63
27	David Besnard	4																								16	2													0	60
28	Tony D'Alberto	55																								11	6													0	54
29	Paul Weel	20																		22	Ret	Ret				6	12													0	51
30	John Bowe	111	Ret	Ret	Ret	20	14	21	15	23	14	Ret	17	22	21	24	15	15	24	23	17	12	23	24	19	12	14	19	11	Ret	18	24	18	27	19	17	28	25	23	0	47
31	Craig Baird	16																								4	Ret													0	45
32	Nathan Pretty	22																								9	11													0	45
33	Matt Halliday	5																								8	13													0	42
34	Cameron McConville	50	21	15	19	24	16	18	14	15	12	21	22	18	16	17	20	19	20	Ret	18	14	17	22	Ret	Ret	Ret	18	10	9	Ret	20	27	19	Ret	DNS	15	Ret	18	0	35
35	Luke Youlden	9																								7	Ret													0	33
36	Alex Davison	18																								Ret	8													0	30
	Andrew Thompson	18																								Ret	8													0	30
38	Glenn Seton	2/22																								13	11													0	30
39	Shane Price	7	22	22	13	16	20	24	25	20	10	13	18	25	Ret	22	19	Ret	DNS	Ret	24	16	21	18	20	Ret	Ret	Ret	22	Ret	12	9	26	Ret	26	Ret	16	17	28	0	30
40	Greg Ritter	34																								18	9													0	27
	Cameron McLean	34																								18	9													0	27
42	Jonathon Webb	111																								12	14													0	25
43	Shane van Gisbergen	021																					20	13	23	20	Ret	22	12	Ret	15	16	13	24	15	18	14	14	17	0	23
44	Andrew Jones	12	25	Ret	26	28	21	26	Ret	22	Ret	10	20	24	Ret	23	18	25	23	24	23	Ret	Ret	17	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	28	Ret	22	21	22	21	27	Ret	24	Ret	20	0	19
45	Tony Longhurst	2																								13														0	12
46	Simon Wills	14/12									16	Ret	23	21	18	19	17	20	22	21	21	Ret	24	10	17	Ret	Ret	Ret	20	15	21	15	23	22	24	Ret	26	Ret	Ret	0	12
47	Fabian Coulthard	39	Ret	19	17	15	17	23	20	19	20	19	19	Ret	17	20	22	22	25				14	14	Ret	19	16													0	8
48	Steven Ellery	39/67																		20	25	Ret				15	Ret													0	6
49	Michael Caruso	8/10																								Ret	15													0	6
	Grant Denyer	10																								Ret	15													0	6
51	Jack Perkins	11	19	Ret	21	26	25	DNS	DNS	DNS	22	18	Ret	20	20	25	21	24	21	Ret	19	11	21	26	18	Ret	Ret	16	19	Ret	17	17	Ret							0	6
52	Marcus Marshall	11																								17	Ret							14	14	16	22	20	24	0	6
53	Alan Gurr	26	23	Ret	28	21	27	Ret	24	24	15	24	25	26	Ret	Ret	23	18	Ret	Ret	20	20	22	28	Ret	Ret	Ret	23	Ret	16	24	Ret	24	25	29	20	24	23	24	0	2
54	Adam Macrow	021/25	18	16																						Ret	Ret													0	0
55	Chris Pither	39																								19	16													0	0
56	Kayne Scott	11																								17	Ret													0	0
57	Brad Jones	14	Ret	21	20	27	26	Ret	22	Ret																														0	0
58	John McIntyre	021																								20	Ret													0	0
	David Reynolds	50																								Ret	Ret													0	0
	Warren Luff	26																								Ret	Ret													0	0
	Mark Noske	3																								Ret	Ret													0	0
	Jay Verdnik	3																								Ret	Ret													0	0
	Christian Murchison	14																								Ret	DNS													0	0
	Damien White	14																								Ret	DNS													0	0
Pos.	Driver	No.	ADE		BAR			PUK			WIN			EAS			HID			QLD			ORA			SAN	BAT	SUR			BAH			SYM			PHI			Pen.	Pts.

Team championship

Pos	Team	Penalty	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Rd 11	Rd 12	Rd 13	Rd 14	Pts
1	HSV Dealer Team	0	88	129	116	114	80	106	95	44	105	0	81	68	57	94	1177
2	Triple Eight Race Engineering	0	60	46	77	89	81	93	102	70	96	111	68	37	106	98	1134
3	Holden Racing Team	0	87	73	76	21	117	90	46	60	39	18	10	17	46	100	800
4	Ford Performance Racing	0	44	46	44	33	64	54	36	70	81	36	50	77	100	53	788
5	Stone Brothers Racing	0	92	17	66	34	35	6	62	37	33	60	78	86	26	38	670
6	Dick Johnson Racing	0	44	80	32	37	47	28	46	36	0	81	26	84	47	38	626
7	Tasman Motorsport	0	22	34	26	26	15	28	30	40	9	45	72	28	44	12	431
8	Garry Rogers Motorsport	0	16	24	4	16	5	28	22	47	39	27	20	29	22	23	322
9	WPS Racing	0	3	4	8	17	10	17	8	21	0	39	40	23		2	192
10	Paul Weel Racing	0	3	0	5	5	0	0	3	8	36	15	17	6	4	2	104
11	Rod Nash Racing (s)	0	0	5	0	21	0	9	0	10	18	36	2	0	2	0	103
12	Paul Morris Motorsport	0	0	6	0	10	10	14	16	6	6	0	0	0	6	4	78
13	Britek Motorsport	0	17	0	0	22	13	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	9	7	73
14	Team Kiwi Racing (s)	0	0	6	21	9				4	0	0	5	6	2	6	59
15	Paul Cruickshank Racing (s)	0	0	3	2	3	0	4	5	0	15	9	6	0	0	0	47
16	Perkins Engineering	0	0	4	0	12	0	0	6	0	0	0	0	14	6	0	42
17	Brad Jones Racing	0	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	19	0	0	2	2	0	0	31

• (s) denotes a single-car team.

External links

• Official V8 Supercar website
• 2007 Racing Results Archive Archived 14 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• 2007 V8 Supercar images Retrieved from motorsport.com on 16 August 2008