2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship

The 2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as a national championship with Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd appointed as the Category Manager by CAMS.^[1] The title, which was the eleventh Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship, was won by Nick Foster.

Sonic Motor Racing Services driver Foster won eight races during the season, with two runs of four consecutive victories including weekend sweeps at Townsville and Sandown. Foster finished sixty-four points ahead of Finance EZI Racing's David Russell, who took eleven podium finishes during the season but only one win, at Bathurst. Third place in the championship went to Matt Campbell (McElrea Racing), who won six races, including a weekend sweep at Surfers Paradise as part of a four-race win streak to close the season. Defending champion Steven Richards won five of the first six races, but only returned to the podium four times over the remaining sixteen races to finish fourth in the championship. Foster's teammate Nick McBride and Hamilton Autohaus driver Shane Smollen were the other race-winners, winning at Albert Park and Phillip Island respectively. Foster also won the Professional sub-classification by 46 points, while Smollen won the Elite sub-classification by 60 points ahead of Stephen Grove.

Teams and drivers edit

Nick Foster won the championship driving for Sonic Motor Racing Services.

David Russell finished runner-up in the championship driving for Finance EZI Racing.

Shane Smollen won the Elite class driving for Hamilton Autohaus.

The following teams and drivers contested the championship.

Team	No.	Driver	Rd 3 co-driver^[2]	Class	Rounds
Steve Richards Motorsport	1	Steven Richards	Dean Grant	Professional	All
Grove Group	4	Stephen Grove	Scott McLaughlin	Elite	All
McElrea Racing	5	Spike Goddard		Professional	1–2
	5	Tony Walls		Elite	7
	7	Matt Campbell	Tim Miles	Professional	All
	56	Shane Smollen	Nick Percat	Elite	All
Garth Walden Racing	6	Ash Samadi	Dean Fiore	Elite	All
Porsche Centre Melbourne	8	Craig Baird	Max Twigg	Professional	All
Hallmarc	9	Marc Cini	Christopher Mies	Elite	All
Finance EZI Racing	10	David Russell	James Koundouris	Professional	All
Team BRM	11	Simon Hodge	Ray Angus	Professional	1–5
	11	John Magro		Professional	6
	22	Richard Muscat	Sam Walter	Professional	All
	45	Duvashen Padayachee	Indiran Padayachee	Professional	All
Porsche Centre Brighton	13	James Bergmuller	Alex Davison	Elite	All
Buik Motorsport	14	Cameron McConville	John Goodacre	Professional	1–3
	25	John Martin^[3]		Professional	4–8
	26	Michael Almond	John Karytinos	Professional	All
AVCS	18	Max Twigg		Elite	2
Lago Racing	23	Roger Lago	Steve Owen	Elite	1–4
Tony Bates Racing	24	Tony Bates	Daniel Gaunt	Elite	All
Sonic Motor Racing Services	39	Adrian Mastronardo	Tim Slade	Elite	All
	77	Nick McBride	Neale Muston	Professional	All
	777	Nick Foster	Dylan Thomas	Professional	All
DNA Racing	65	Fraser Ross	David Ryan	Professional	All
Koala Motorsport	69	Brenton Griguol		Elite	7
Scott Taylor Motorsport	88	Shae Davies	Geoff Emery	Professional	2–3, 5-6, 8
	222	Scott Taylor	Dean Canto	Elite	1–5, 7–8
	222	Aaron Seton		Professional	6

All vehicles were Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991 cars, as mandated by the championship regulations.^[1]

Race calendar edit

The championship was contested over eight rounds.^[4]

Round		Circuit	City / state	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Round winner
1	R1	Adelaide Street Circuit	Adelaide, South Australia	27 February	Nick Foster	Steven Richards	Steven Richards	Steve Richards Motorsport	Steven Richards
	R2			28 February		Nick Foster	Steven Richards	Steve Richards Motorsport
	R3			1 March		Steven Richards	Steven Richards	Steve Richards Motorsport
2	R1	Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit	Melbourne, Victoria	13 March	Nick McBride	Cameron McConville	Nick McBride	Sonic Motor Racing Services	Steven Richards
	R2			14 March		Steven Richards	Steven Richards	Steve Richards Motorsport
	R3			15 March		Shae Davies	Steven Richards	Steve Richards Motorsport
3	R1	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	23 May	Cameron McConville John Goodacre	Stephen Grove Scott McLaughlin	Shane Smollen Nick Percat	Hamilton Autohaus	Shane Smollen Nick Percat
3	R2	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	24 May	Matt Campbell Tim Miles	Stephen Grove Scott McLaughlin	Nick Foster Dylan Thomas	Sonic Motor Racing Services	Shane Smollen Nick Percat
4	R1	Townsville Street Circuit	Townsville, Queensland	11 July	David Russell	Richard Muscat	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services	Nick Foster
	R2			12 July		Steven Richards	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services
	R3			12 July		Nick Foster	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services
5	R1	Sydney Motorsport Park	Eastern Creek, New South Wales	22 August	Nick Foster	Matt Campbell	Matt Campbell	McElrea Racing	Nick Foster
	R2			22 August		Nick Foster	Matt Campbell	McElrea Racing
	R3			23 August		Nick Foster	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services
6	R1	Sandown Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	12 September	Matt Campbell	Nick Foster	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services	Nick Foster
	R2			12 September		Nick McBride	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services
	R3			13 September		Nick McBride	Nick Foster	Sonic Motor Racing Services
7	R1	Mount Panorama Circuit	Bathurst, New South Wales	9 October	Matt Campbell	Matt Campbell	David Russell	Finance EZI Racing	Matt Campbell
	R2			10 October		Race abandoned ^{[N 1]}
	R3			11 October		Matt Campbell	Matt Campbell	McElrea Racing
8	R1	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Queensland	24 October	David Russell	Matt Campbell	Matt Campbell	McElrea Racing	Matt Campbell
	R2			25 October		Craig Baird	Matt Campbell	McElrea Racing
	R3			25 October		Matt Campbell	Matt Campbell	McElrea Racing

Championship standings edit

Points system

Championship points were awarded at each race as per the table below:^[1]

Points format	Position
Points format	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
Three races	60	54	48	42	36	32	29	26	23	20	18	16	14	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Two races	90	81	72	63	54	48	43.5	39	34.5	30	27	24	21	18	16.5	15	13.5	12	10.5	9	7.5	6	4.5	3	1.5

Each driver was deemed by the Category Manager to be in either the Professional Class or the Elite Class for the purpose of awarding class points.^[1] For class awards, each driver in each class who was classified as a finisher received points in accordance with the above pointscore table relative to each other driver in their class.^[1]

Overall edit

Pos.	Driver^[6]	No.	ADE			MEL			PHI		TOW			SYD			SAN			BAT		SUR			Pts.^[6]
1	Nick Foster	777	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	10th	5th	6th	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	3rd	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd	956
2	David Russell	10	2nd	4th	3rd	5th	8th	6th	Ret	16th	3rd	2nd	17th	5th	3rd	3rd	4th	4th	5th	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	892
3	Matt Campbell	7	Ret	15th	Ret	4th	7th	7th	Ret	11th	4th	6th	5th	1st	1st	5th	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	1st	860
4	Steven Richards	1	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	1st	7th	10th	6th	3rd	2nd	3rd	Ret	8th	Ret	7th	4th	4th	3rd	12th	12th	11th	846.5
5	Craig Baird	8	4th	2nd	2nd	6th	4th	2nd	9th	7th	5th	5th	3rd	6th	4th	2nd	Ret	10th	6th	5th	5th	5th	4th	Ret	806
6	Richard Muscat	22	5th	5th	6th	8th	6th	8th	12th	3rd	2nd	4th	4th	Ret	DNS	9th	3rd	3rd	3rd	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	754
7	Nick McBride	77	3rd	3rd	4th	1st	3rd	23rd	4th	5th	DNS	10th	7th	8th	6th	6th	17th	11th	11th	6th	6th	9th	8th	7th	692
8	Michael Almond	26	7th	7th	7th	10th	9th	9th	11th	Ret	7th	7th	Ret	10th	7th	7th	8th	5th	8th	7th	11th	4th	7th	8th	538
9	Shane Smollen	56	15th	14th	12th	17th	17th	16th	1st	2nd	12th	11th	13th	13th	13th	13th	9th	16th	14th	12th	13th	10th	15th	15th	445
10	Shae Davies	88				7th	5th	4th	5th	8th				4th	5th	4th	12th	13th	9th			8th	6th	6th	438
11	Stephen Grove	4	11th	13th	13th	13th	18th	18th	2nd	6th	13th	12th	11th	14th	11th	15th	13th	15th	15th	14th	14th	18th	14th	13th	388
12	Duvashen Padayachee	45	Ret	11th	9th	9th	13th	12th	16th	17th	9th	16th	8th	12th	9th	12th	Ret	17th	12th	9th	9th	7th	16th	10th	366.5
13	Fraser Ross	65	8th	9th	Ret	14th	12th	10th	15th	Ret	11th	19th	12th	9th	8th	19th	10th	6th	Ret	10th	10th	15th	9th	9th	359.5
14	Cameron McConville	14	6th	6th	5th	3rd	2nd	3rd	3rd	Ret															322
15	Tony Bates	24	9th	10th	10th	15th	14th	17th	14th	19th	Ret	13th	10th	DNS	DNS	DNS	7th	14th	13th	13th	12th	11th	11th	12th	284.5
16	John Martin	25									10th	9th	6th	7th	Ret	10th	Ret	9th	7th	11th	8th	20th	10th	5th	282
17	Simon Hodge	11	10th	8th	8th	Ret	Ret	14th	17th	18th	8th	8th	9th	11th	10th	11th									240.5
18	Ash Samadi	6	13th	17th	15th	20th	21st	20th	13th	13th	16th	15th	15th	15th	16th	16th	14th	20th	18th	16th	17th	17th	17th	18th	227
19	Adrian Mastronardo	39	Ret	16th	16th	21st	20th	21st	10th	4th	18th	20th	Ret	Ret	14th	17th	16th	18th	17th	18th	20th	19th	Ret	17th	221
20	Marc Cini	9	14th	Ret	14th	16th	19th	19th	18th	14th	15th	14th	16th	18th	17th	Ret	15th	19th	19th	17th	19th	14th	Ret	16th	191
21	James Bergmuller	13	DNS	DNS	DNS	18th	22nd	22nd	Ret	15th	14th	18th	14th	16th	12th	14th	11th	21st	16th	Ret	18th	13th	13th	14th	183.5
22	Roger Lago	23	12th	12th	11th	Ret	15th	15th	8th	9th	DNS	DNS	DNS												145.5
23	Scott Taylor	222	16th	18th	17th	19th	23rd	Ret	Ret	12th	17th	17th	Ret	17th	15th	18th				Ret	16th	16th	18th	Ret	135
24	Aaron Seton	222															6th	12th	10th						68
25	John Magro	11															5th	8th	Ret						62
26	Max Twigg	18				11th	11th	13th																	50
27	Spike Goddard	5	Ret	DNS	DNS	12th	16th	11th																	44
28	Tony Walls	5																		15th	15th				22
29	Brenton Griguol	69																		19th	Ret				7

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Excluded (EX)

Bold - Pole position
Italics - Fastest lap

Professional edit

Pos.	Driver^[6]	Pts.^[6]
1	Nick Foster	971
2	David Russell	925
3	Matt Campbell	883.5
4	Steven Richards	881
5	Craig Baird	839
6	Richard Muscat	778
7	Nick McBride	748
8	Michael Almond	557.5
9	Shae Davies	478
10	Duvashen Padayachee	423.5
11	Fraser Ross	416.5
12	Cameron McConville	340
13	John Martin	292
14	Simon Hodge	277
15	Aaron Seton	68
16	John Magro	62
17	Spike Goddard	50

Elite edit

Pos.	Driver^[6]	Pts.^[6]
1	Shane Smollen	1178
2	Stephen Grove	1118
3	Tony Bates	972.5
4	Ash Samadi	784
5	James Bergmuller	684
6	Marc Cini	675
7	Adrian Mastronardo	637
8	Scott Taylor	459
9	Roger Lago	393
10	Max Twigg	180
11	Tony Walls	84
12	Brenton Griguol	26

Notes edit

^ Race abandoned due to heavy rain.^[5]

References edit

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Sporting and Technical Regulations – 2015 CAMS Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship – Version 2" (PDF). Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-26. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (12 May 2015). "Full Carrera Cup Pro-Am line-up revealed". Speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
^ "John Martin secures Porsche Carrera Cup drive". Speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
^ "Results". Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
^ "Second Carrera Cup race abandoned". Speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Standings – Season 2015". Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

External links edit

Media related to 2015 in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia at Wikimedia Commons

Official website

[6] Race abandoned due to heavy rain.^[5]

[Regs-1] "Sporting and Technical Regulations – 2015 CAMS Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship – Version 2" (PDF). Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-26. Retrieved 27 December 2015.

[2] Bartholomaeus, Stefan (12 May 2015). "Full Carrera Cup Pro-Am line-up revealed". Speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 12 May 2015.

[3] "John Martin secures Porsche Carrera Cup drive". Speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.

[4] "Results". Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

[5] "Second Carrera Cup race abandoned". Speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.

[Standings-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Standings – Season 2015". Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2016.

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