Motorsport in Australia
Encyclopedia
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
. Other classes in Australia include Formula 3 and Formula Ford
Formula Ford
Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....
(open wheel racing) and Superbikes
Superbike racing
Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that employs modified production motorcycles. Superbike World Championship is the international superbike championship, and national superbike championships are held in many countries as well, including the United Kingdom, the United States,...
Since 1985
1985 Formula One season
The 1985 Formula One season was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship which commenced on 7 April 1985 and ended on 3 November 1985 after sixteen races. World Championship titles were awarded for both Drivers and Manufacturers.-Season...
, Australia has hosted a round of the Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
World Championship. For the first 10 years, the Australian Grand Prix was held in Adelaide
Adelaide Street Circuit
The Adelaide Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit in the East Parklands adjacent to the central business district of the city of Adelaide in South Australia....
as the last round of the championship. Adelaide played host to several title deciders; for example, the 1986
1986 Formula One season
The 1986 Formula One season was the 37th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 23, 1986, and ended on October 26 after sixteen races....
title, where Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...
successfully defended his championship after Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
's left rear tyre exploded; the 1994
1994 Formula One season
The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...
title was also decided in questionable circumstances, after Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
collided with his rival Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
to win the title by a single point. Melbourne
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
The Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit is a street circuit around Albert Park Lake, only a few kilometres south of central Melbourne. It is used annually as a racetrack for the Australian Grand Prix and associated support races.-Design:...
replaced Adelaide as host from 1996
1996 Formula One season
The 1996 Formula One season was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races...
onwards. Two Australians have won the World Driver's Championship: Jack Brabham
Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
, who won the title on three occasions; and Alan Jones
Alan Jones (Formula 1)
Alan Stanley Jones MBE is an Australian former Formula One driver. He was the first driver to win a Formula One World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion....
, who won in 1980
1980 Formula One season
The 1980 Formula One season was the 31st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship of Drivers and the 1980 International Cup for F1 Constructors which were contested concurrently from January 13 to October 5 over a fourteen race series...
. Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
is currently the only Australian Formula One driver.
Australia also hosted a round of the Champ Car
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
World Series from 1991 to 2007. The Gold Coast Indy 300 has been held at the Surfers Paradise
Surfers Paradise, Queensland
Surfers Paradise is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 Census, Surfers Paradise had a population of 18,501....
Street Circuit since 1991, with John Andretti
John Andretti
John Andretti is an American race car driver. He has won in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series and NASCAR. He was the last NASCAR driver to win a Cup race for the famous Petty Enterprises team.-Andretti family:...
winning the first event. Replacing the now defunct Champ Car series, the IndyCar Series
IndyCar Series
The IZOD IndyCar Series is the premier level of American open wheel racing. The current championship, founded by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League . Citing CART's increasing reliance on expensive machinery and...
will race in Australia for the first time in 2008, with Australian Will Power
Will Power
William Steven Power is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.-Australian Racing:...
, a potential race winner, driving for KV Racing.
Australia has hosted a round of the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
from 1988 to 2006, including the final round of the championship in 2004 and 2005. Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the WRC , he drove for the Subaru World Rally Team from 2004-2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina...
has been competing in the WRC since 2006, with some promising results.
Australia
A1 Team Australia
A1 Team Australia is the Australian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series.- Management :The team chairman is former-Formula One world champion Alan Jones, backed by general manager and former NASCAR driver Peter Nolan...
has been competing in the A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix
A1 Grand Prix was a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing series. As such, it was often promoted as the "World Cup of Motorsport"...
championship since the series was established in 2005. Will Power is the most successful of the five drivers who have represented Team Australia to date. John Martin
John Martin (racing driver)
John Martin is an Australian championship winning open-wheel motor racing driver. Martin has been racing in European based open-wheel series since 2006. In that time Martin has had a wide experience of open-wheel racing having driven in various national and international series driving Formula...
are Australia's current drivers. Australia also hosted a round of the championship at Eastern Creek Raceway
Eastern Creek Raceway
Eastern Creek International Raceway is a motorsports circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek , New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sydney International Dragway. It was built and is owned by the New South Wales Government and is operated by the...
early in A1GP history but has since ceased.
Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner is an Australian professional motorcycle racer. Born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia and raised in Southport, Queensland, Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career...
was the 2007 MotoGP World Champion. A round of the world series has been in Australia since 1989 and is held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing racing circuit on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The circuit was opened in 1956.-Road circuit:...
in October. The circuit also hosts a round of the World Superbike Championship. Australia has produced many top motorcycle riders with Stoner, Wayne Gardner
Wayne Gardner
Wayne Michael Gardner OAM is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Australian to win motorcycling's premier class...
, Troy Bayliss
Troy Bayliss
Troy Bayliss is a retired Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times, as well as the British Superbike Championship and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his career after winning the 2008 World Superbike title...
and Troy Corser
Troy Corser
Troy Gordon Corser is a professional motorcycle road racer, the and Superbike World champion....
all having won world championships in various classes, with five time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan regarded as one of the all time greats.
Australia hosts a round of most major international series, including:
- FIA Formula One World ChampionshipFormula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
- FIA World Rally ChampionshipWorld Rally ChampionshipThe World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
- MotoGP - Phillip Island MotoGP Round
- World Superbike Championship