Supercars 2019: Drivers, tickets, liveries, calendar, news, standings and how to watch

James Pavey

Supercars 2019: Drivers, tickets, liveries, calendar, news, standings and how to watch image

The twenty-first running of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship is set to be the best yet.

The 2018 season was a ding-dong battle between two Kiwis, with Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen inseparable until the season's final chequered flag fell. The honours went to McLaughlin, who claimed his maiden title 12 months after losing out in the most dramatic circumstances.

Tension built up between the top teams in 2018, with Shell V-Power Racing and Red Bull Holden going blow for blow all year. Tickford had their moments, and the Kelly Nissans showed glimpses of pace. However, it ended up being a battle between two.

Expect the 2019 championship, though, to be different. The Mustang has the makings to push the ZB Commodore package, which enjoyed lengthy stints of dominance in 2018. If anything, that was a reflection of how good McLaughlin was - of 11 race wins for Ford in 2018, McLaughlin won nine, and he also took all 13 poles for the Falcon.

Looking for everything you need to know about the 2019 Supercars Championship? Sporting News has you covered this season.

SUPERCARS 2019: DRIVERS & TEAMS

FROSTY IN A HOLDEN

There were changes aplenty for 2019, none bigger than Mark Winterbottom's switch from Ford to Holden. The 2015 series champion left Tickford after 13 years with the team, and linked up with Charlie Schwerkolt to drive an IRWIN-backed Commodore in 2019. In a straight swap of sorts, Winterbottom was replaced by Lee Holdsworth, who will drive a Ford for the first time since 2012.

RED BULL POACH GRM REFUGEE TANDER

The biggest bombshell was Garth Tander's exit from Garry Rogers Motorsport, with Richie Stanaway leaving Tickford to take up the No. 33 seat. Triple Eight wasted no time in poaching Tander for the enduros, with the three-time Bathurst winner to share the No. 97 with Shane van Gisbergen.

ROOKIES AND RETIREMENTS

There will be two full-time rookies in 2019, down from five in 2018. Macauley Jones (Brad Jones Racing) and Garry Jacobson (Kelly Racing) jump from Super2 into the main game. Both have had prior experience in the enduros, while Jones has also run at select events as a wildcard in previous seasons. Jacobson replaces Michael Caruso, with the latter picking up an enduro seat in Cameron Waters' Monster Mustang. There were two retirements after 2018 - Craig Lowndes and Tim Blanchard gave up their full-time careers, but both will return as co-drivers with Triple Eight and Brad Jones Racing respectively.

NO. DRIVER CAR TEAM
2 Scott Pye Holden Commodore ZB Mobil 1 MEGA Racing
3 Garry Jacobson Nissan Altima Kelly Racing
5 Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang Tickford Racing
6 Cameron Waters Ford Mustang Tickford Racing
7 Andre Heimgartner Nissan Altima Kelly Racing
8 Nick Percat Holden Commodore ZB Brad Jones Racing
9 David Reynolds Holden Commodore ZB Penrite Racing
12 Fabian Coulthard Ford Mustang Shell V-Power Racing
14 Tim Slade Holden Commodore ZB Brad Jones Racing
15 Rick Kelly Nissan Altima Kelly Racing
17 Scott McLaughlin Ford Mustang Shell V-Power Racing
18 Mark Winterbottom Holden Commodore ZB IRWIN Racing
19 Jack Le Brocq Holden Commodore ZB Truck Assist Tekno Racing
21 Macauley Jones Holden Commodore ZB Tim Blanchard Racing/BJR
22 James Courtney Holden Commodore ZB Mobil 1 MEGA Racing
23 Will Davison Ford Mustang 23Red/Tickford
33 Richie Stanaway Holden Commodore ZB Boost Mobile Racing
34 James Golding Holden Commodore ZB Boost Mobile Racing
35 Todd Hazlewood Holden Commodore ZB Matt Stone Racing
55 Chaz Mostert Ford Mustang Tickford Racing
78 Simona De Silvestro Nissan Altima Kelly Racing
88 Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore ZB Red Bull HRT
97 Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore ZB Red Bull HRT
99 Anton de Pasquale Holden Commodore ZB Penrite Racing

SUPERCARS 2019: CALENDAR

The biggest change to the calendar is the switch between the Sandown and Pukekohe events. Traditionally the precursor to Bathurst, the Sandown 500 - moved to November to avoid clashing with the AFL and NRL finals series - will not only close the Pirtek Enduro Cup, but will serve as the penultimate round of the season. With Sandown taking the early November slot, the Pukekohe event is now the final hitout before the Bathurst 1000, which will open the enduro season.

The Sydney Motorsport Park event - which proved a major hit under lights last season - was canned for 2019. However, there are plans to see the circuit host an event in 2020 in a mooted 'summer series' format. The night format survived, and is now in the hands of a resurfaced Barbagallo Wannaroo Raceway. The Perth SuperNight will be a ripper, no doubt.

The 2019 season is also scheduled to see the running of the 1000th Australian Touring Car Championship race, which is due to be contested at the Melbourne 400.

ROUND EVENT CIRCUIT LOCATION RACE DATES
1 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, SA 2-3 March
2 Melbourne 400 Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, VIC 15-17 March
3 Tasmania SuperSprint Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, TAS 6-7 April
4 Phillip Island SuperSprint Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, VIC 13-14 April
5 Perth SuperNight Barbagallo Wannaroo Raceway Neerabup, WA 3-4 May
6 Winton SuperSprint Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, VIC 25-26 May
7 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, NT 15-16 June
8 Townsville 400 Townsville Street Circuit Townsville, QLD 6-7 July
9 Ipswich SuperSprint Queensland Raceway Ipswich, QLD 27-28 July
10 The Bend SuperSprint The Bend Motorsport Park Tailem Bend, SA 24-25 August
11 Auckland SuperSprint Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, NZ 14-15 September
12 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, NSW 13 October
13 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, QLD 26-27 October
14 Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway Springvale, VIC 10 November
15 Newcastle 500 Newcastle Street Circuit Newcastle, NSW 23-24 November

SUPERCARS 2019: HOW TO WATCH & TICKETS

All practice, qualifying and races of the 2019 championship will be shown LIVE on FOX SPORTS in 2019. The broadcaster is into the fifth year of its deal with Supercars. It will also be streamed LIVE on Kayo.  Kayo will take every session of the FOX telecast live and on-demand. It will also provide three different camera modes which are able to be viewed simultaneously in splitscreen.

Fans in New Zealand can watch on  SKY GO. 

You can also catch every qualifying session and race in 2019 LIVE with SuperView.

The Ten Network will show seven LIVE events in 2019, up from six in 2018. Remaining events are shown delayed on 10 or 10 Bold.

Get your event tickets at Ticketek. Kids 12 and under go trackside FREE at all Supercars events.

ROUND EVENT RACE DATES LIVE TV TICKETS
1 Adelaide 500 2-3 March Ten/Foxtel -
2 Melbourne 400 15-17 March Ten/Foxtel -
3 Tasmania SuperSprint 6-7 April Foxtel -
4 Phillip Island SuperSprint 13-14 April Foxtel -
5 Perth SuperNight 3-4 May Foxtel -
6 Winton SuperSprint 25-26 May Foxtel Winton
7 Darwin Triple Crown 15-16 June Foxtel Darwin
8 Townsville 400 6-7 July Ten/Foxtel Townsville
9 Ipswich SuperSprint 27-28 July Foxtel Ipswich
10 The Bend SuperSprint 24-25 August Foxtel The Bend
11 Auckland SuperSprint 14-15 September Foxtel Auckland
12 Bathurst 1000 13 October Ten/Foxtel Bathurst
13 Gold Coast 600 26-27 October Ten/Foxtel Gold Coast
14 Sandown 500 10 November Ten/Foxtel Sandown
15 Newcastle 500 23-24 November Ten/Foxtel Newcastle

SUPERCARS 2019: LIVERIES

The hype for a new season begins with the cars. What will they look like in new colours? Which sponsors will return? Which teams will get new backers? What about new drivers? 2019 has had all of the above.

Triple Eight were the first to take the covers off their new challenger, with Red Bull onboard as naming rights backer for a seventh season. It was a different story altogether for Walkinshaw Andretti United, who lost their Boost Mobile backing and immediately replaced it with MEGA Fuels colours. Boost Mobile, meanwhile, heads across to Garry Rogers Motorsport.

However, the big change for the 2019 season is the introduction of the Mustang, with the Falcon farewelling the sport after nearly six decades of success. Tickford were the first to uncover a liveried Mustang, with Cameron Waters and Monsters together for a fourth season. Shell V-Power Racing didn't opt for wholesale changes to their paint-job, while Tickford - and new partners 23Red - ensured the Mustang's unique body shape was given justice by some striking colours.

Scott McLaughlin Shane van Gisbergen

SUPERCARS 2019: STANDINGS

Pos. Driver Points ADE1 ADE2 MEL3 MEL4 MEL5 MEL6 TAS7 TAS8 PHI9 PHI10 PER11 PER12 WIN13 WIN14 DAR15 DAR16 TSV17 TSV18 QR19 QR20 BEN21 BEN22 NZ23 NZ24 BAT25 GC26 GC27 SAN28 NEW29 NEW30
1st McLaughlin 1646 1 1 1 1 DNS 1 1 4 1 2 2 1 1 1                                
2nd Coulthard -244 6 20 2 5 5 15 2 2 2 1 1 2 15 2                                
3rd v. Gisbergen -415 3 3 Ret 10 21 22 3 1 6 7 5 5 5 7                                
4th Reynolds -426 8 9 10 7 4 8 6 3 4 11 10 6 3 4                                
5th Whincup -478 2 7 8 4 2 3 25 5 Ret 12 4 2 6 3                                
6th Mostert -486 5 15 5 2 1 2 10 10 5 5 3 Ret 2 10                                
7th Percat -589 7 5 14 15 8 10 8 7 9 10 7 10 7 9                                
8th Waters -661 22 2 3 3 DNS 4 11 11 Ret 6 8 3 11 6                                
9th Davison -663 4 8 4 6 10 5 19 14 10 4 6 8 12 Ret                                
10th Slade -674 17 4 6 8 3 7 7 12 17 9 11 11 13 12                                
11th Winterbottom -760 9 6 12 11 13 6 4 6 21 17 18 15 9 22                                
12th Holdsworth -788 21 11 9 12 12 9 13 9 15 14 9 9 22 5                                
13th de Pasquale -800 16 14 11 13 11 12 9 23 12 3 13 7 18 17                                
14th Courtney -802 10 12 7 9 7 16 5 13 22 24 25 16 4 13                                
15th Heimgartner -828 13 13 15 18 9 14 18 17 3 13 17 23 8 11                                
16th Pye -901 Ret 17 13 14 6 11 12 8 8 15 16 Ret 10 8                                
17th Hazelwood -943 12 10 23 17 14 13 14 18 11 16 23 14 19 15                                
18th Kelly -974 11 24 22 16 16 19 17 15 7 8 15 20 14 Ret                                
19th Golding -981 14 19 16 23 18 18 15 16 13 22 14 13 17 19                                
20th de Silvestro -1027 15 16 18 19 17 21 21 21 16 18 12 12 23 23                                
21st Le Brocq -1120 18 18 17 21 DSQ 20 16 19 14 23 22 21 20 20                                
22nd Jones -1151 DNS 23 19 22 20 Ret 20 20 18 21 24 17 16 16                                
23rd Jacobson -1152 19 22 21 24 19 17 24 Ret 19 19 19 19                                    
24th Stanaway -1164 18 18 17 21 DSQ 20 16 19 14 23 22 21 25                                  
25th Smith -1502             23 24         24 21                                
26th Blanchard -1553                     21 18                                    
27th Pither -1583                           14                                

SUPERCARS 2019: NEWS

WELCOMING THE MUSTANG

After being confirmed to make an official return to the sport, Ford officially kicked off 2019 in unveiling their Mustang program. Within weeks, all cars had been unveiled, and all teams took to Phillip Island for the official pre-season test.

PRE-SEASON TEST

At the flowing grand prix circuit, if there was any indication that the new-for-2019 Mustang was on the pace, seeing all six of them in the top 10 by day's end would have pleased Ford fans. The honours went to Cameron Waters, who put down a 1:30.7265 after the chequered flag fell in a session that began after 9am. The 24-year-old's last-ditch effort was enough to beat Shell V-Power Racing pilot Fabian Coulthard by just 0.0118 seconds.

SUMMER SERIES

After reports emerged last year of a potential 'summer series', Supercars boss Sean Seamer opened up on the developments. He said there were plans to release the 2020 calendar as early as June this year. In a move to shift away from the popular football codes - NRL and AFL - that dominate the winter, Seamer said Supercars is keen to run more rounds during the Australian summer from 2020. Sydney Motorsport Park - which hosted a popular night event in 2018, but was left off the 2019 calendar - will host a 2020 event, which is expected to be season-opener as early as January. Those plans crept closer to reality when the NSW state government confirmed a $33 million investment, which will allow for the construction of 150 permanent light towers around the Sydney circuit.

MUSTANGS, MCLAUGHLIN OWN ADELAIDE

Adelaide opened the new season, and Mustang was the word on everyone's lips. Anton de Pasquale topped opening practice, but from there, it was all about Shell V-Power Racing and their two Kiwi stars. Scott McLaughlin was the favourite to grab pole after finishing on top in Friday qualifying, but it was teammate Fabian Coulthard that emerged fastest in Saturday's shootout. Earlier in the day, Macauley Jones escaped injury when the brakes in his CoolDrive Commodore failed, pitching him into a high speed accident at turn nine. By day's end, McLaughlin cruised to his first victory on the streets of Adelaide, with the reigning series champion beating home Jamie Whincup by over 12 seconds. It was much of the same on Sunday, McLaughlin completing a clean sweep after taking pole. However, Cameron Waters - after suffering a cool suit failure on Saturday - drove to second, with Shane van Gisbergen finishing third for the second time in as many days. The pace of the Mustang concerned Triple Eight boss Roland Dane, who suggested the new-for-2019 model has an 'unfair advantage'.

PIT LANE TRIAL FOR PHILLIP ISLAND

In the effort to ease congestion in the pits, Supercars will trial closing the lane under the safety car. The trial - which was agreed on by the Supercars Commission in December - will be undertaken at April's Phillip Island SuperSprint. Tickford boss and Supercars Commission member Tim Edwards is in support of the Phillip Island trial, but is in "two schools of thought" - "You've got to remember we are in show-business, so you've got to be a bit careful sanitising it too much," he said.

CHRISTCHURCH TRAGEDY HANGS OVER ALBERT PARK WEEKEND

49 lives were lost in a mass shooting at mosques in Christchurch in mid-March, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern marking it as "one of New Zealand's darkest days". An emotional Scott McLaughlin dedicated his Friday victory in the opening leg of the Melbourne 400 to his home town, before backing it up in the Saturday morning sprint race - which was also the 1000th ATCC/VASC race. "Me and [teammate Fabian Coulthard] are Kiwis, I'm from Christchurch originally... I send big love to them over there. It's a small town, it's hard to believe something so bad could happen there, but they'll work through it," McLaughlin said. McLaughlin won the final race of the weekend, but he failed to register a clean sweep when he was caught up in a bizarre pre-race bingle with Cameron Waters ahead of race 5. As both drivers missed the start, Chaz Mostert went on to win, and later sealed the Larry Perkins Trophy.

Chaz Mostert

HOLDEN FIGHTS BACK AT SYMMONS PLAINS

It took eight races, but Holden finally broke its winless drought in 2019 following Shane van Gisbergen's Sunday masterclass in Tasmania. A day earlier, Mark Winterbottom broke through for his first pole in nearly three years, and helped Charlie Schwerkolt's small team to its first ever pole. Scott McLaughlin continued on his winning ways on the Saturday, leading home a Shell V-Power Racing 1-2, but it was all van Gisbergen on Sunday, with the 2016 champion taking pole and victory as Holden ended its wait for top spot.

WHINCUP'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE AS DJRTP DOMINATES THE ISLAND

Scott McLaughlin led home a Shell V-Power Racing 1-2 on the Saturday at Phillip Island, and Fabian Coulthard flipped the narrative on the Sunday. While McLaughlin took win number seven for 2019, Coulthard's was his first of the season, and first in 11 months since Winton in May 2018. Andre Heimgartner and Anton de Pasquale broke through for podiums, but Jamie Whincup endured a second-straight weekend of struggles. After toiling away at Symmons Plains, Whincup's Phillip Island weekend was a shocker, and was lowlighted by a Saturday DNF when his wheel came off following a botched pitstop.

Jamie Whincup

PARITY ON THE AGENDA FOLLOWING CENTRE OF GRAVITY TEST

In the wake of Ford's dominant start to the 2019 season, Supercars ratified centre of gravity (COG) tweaks to both the Mustang and Holden Commodore. Ford's new-for-2019 Mustang has claimed all six poles and six race wins so far this season, with reigning series champion Scott McLaughlin leading the championship. Following complaints by rival teams that the Mustang held a COG and aerodynamic advantage, Supercars conducted a COG test ahead of April's Tasmania SuperSprint. It was confirmed that, after approval from the Supercars Commission, Ford and Holden teams have been advised to add the changes to their cars, while the Nissan Altima will remain unchanged. The Mustang had previously met Supercars' minimum weight requirement, but it had to carry more ballast than its predecessor, the FG X Falcon. However, the test proved both the Mustang and Commodore had COG advantages over the Altima - and Ford teams happily yet hesitantly got on with the changes. Following the Tasmania round, WAU co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw was candid in his criticism of the drama: "If you don't want to be a parity series, go and watch Formula 1". When Supercars confirmed aero changes, Ford said it was "disappointed" but was committed to doing its "talking on the track". Supercars legend Craig Lowndes sympathised with Ford fans, and said Supercars was in a "no-win situation" in confirming the changes.

James Pavey

James Pavey Photo