Photo: V8 Supercars

Preview: 2015 V8 Supercars season start in Adelaide

The 2015 V8 Supercars season starts this weekend with the legendary Clipsal 500 race on the streets of Adelaide, Australia.

Reigning and six-time champion Jamie Whincup is the driver everyone wants to beat and the Holden driver comes from a tough pre-season test where he was further back in the order.

”Clipsal is one of the biggest events on the calendar and a great way to kick off another big Championship. It got away from us last year after a controversial drive through penalty in Sunday’s race, but I’ll never forget that battle on Saturday. We have done a fair bit of work after our poor showing at the SuperTest to make sure we are giving ourselves a great opportunity this weekend,” said Whincup.

The fight Whincup mentions is the one with Volvo Polestar Racing driver Scott McLaughlin last year in Adelaide where the fight for second place behind Craig Lowndes was not settled until the very last corner. And McLaughlin is keen to hit the ground running this season, with the goal to move one position up from last year’s second place in Adelaide.

”We had an awesome race last year at Clipsal. Obviously the car has been developed a lot further since then and I am looking forward to use that knowledge this year. For us it is very important that we hit the ground running and get a good bag of points this weekend. This is the start of our second year and I am very much looking forward to it,” said McLaughlin.

While Triple Eight Race Engineering claimed the two first victories of the 2014 Clispal 500, it was Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney who claimed the honors in the 250 kilometre Sunday race last year.

“We’re planning to start this season in style, I’m ready to get behind the wheel and give it my best,” said Courtney.

Ford team Prodrive Racing Australia heads to the season start with the new Falcon FG X model, strengthened after the pre-season test where Chaz Mostert was fastest.

”I have my sights set firmly on the top five and to try and start the season quite strong in the standings. At the moment the main thing we have to try to work on is getting the car balance right. The way we rolled out at the SuperTest was exciting and really positive so I can’t wait to get to Adelaide to see what it can do around a street circuit and see what we can do with some kerb riding,” said Mostert.

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Another team with a strong run during the Sydney Motorsport Park pre-season test was Nissan Motorsport. The Altima has been fitted with a new aerodynamic package as well which has boosted the confidence of the Nissan drivers.

”We’ve obviously done a lot of work over the break, and there are a lot of new things for us to try out, and that’s everything from tweaks to aero package, to a new engineer and data engineer. Last year the Clipsal 500 was a great outcome for us, even though we were hindered by a drive through penalty in Sunday’s race, we left the weekend fourth in the standings. If we could mirror that result, or go a bit better, it will be a great weekend for us, and that’s certainly going to be our aim,” said Rick Kelly.

Not to forget is Tekno Autosports driver Shane Van Gisbergen, last year’s runner up, who scored two podium finishes in Adelaide last year.

“We had a really strong end to the season last year, so we want to build on that and start the season in Adelaide on the front foot. The first few rounds are important as they set up your year, and give you the momentum and the points on the board to be able to fight for the title,” said Van Gisbergen.

The 2015 V8 Supercars premiere weekend starts on Friday with practice and qualifying, followed by the first race of the year on Saturday at 13:45 local time.

2015 V8 Supercars Entry List

No – Driver – Team Name – Car
#1 – Jamie Whincup – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Holden Commodore
#2 – Garth Tander – Holden Racing Team – Holden Commodore
#3 – Tim Blanchard – Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport – Holden Commodore
#4 – Ashley Walsh – Erebus Motorsport – Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
#5 – Mark Winterbottom – Prodrive Racing Australia – Ford Falcon FG X
#6 – Chaz Mostert – Prodrive Racing Australia – Ford Falcon FG X
#7 – Todd Kelly – Nissan Motorsport – Nissan Altima
#8 – Jason Bright – Brad Jones Racing – Holden Commodore
#9 – Will Davison – Erebus Motorsport – Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
#10 – Michael Caruso – Nissan Motorsport – Nissan Altima L33
#14 – Fabian Coulthard – Brad Jones Racing – Holden Commodore
#15 – Rick Kelly – Nissan Motorsport – Nissan Altima L33
#17 – Marcos Ambrose – DJR Team Penske – Ford Falcon FG X
#18 – Lee Holdsworth – Charlie Schwerkolt Racing – Holden Commodore
#21 – Dale Wood – Brad Jones Racing – Holden Commodore
#22 – James Courtney – Holden Racing Team – Holden Commodore
#33 – Scott McLaughlin – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
#34 – David Wall – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
#47 – Tim Slade – Walkinshaw Racing – Holden Commodore
#55 – David Reynolds – Rod Nash Racing – Ford Falcon FG/FG X
#97 – Shane van Gisbergen – Tekno Autosports – Holden Commodore
#99 – James Moffat – Nissan Motorsport – Nissan Altima
#111 – Andre Heimgartner – Super Black Racing – Ford Falcon FG/FG X
#222 – Nick Percat – Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport – Holden Commodore
#888 – Craig Lowndes – Triple Eight Race Engineering – Holden Commodore

Clipsal 500 Timetable

Friday 27th February
09:05 Practice 1 (30 min)
10:50 Practice 2 (30 min)
12:55 Practice 3 (30 min)
15:35 Qualifying Race 1 (10 min)
16:00 Qualifying Race 2 (10 min)

Saturday 28th February
10:10 Practice 4 (20 min)
13:45 Race 1 (39 laps)
16:25 Race 2 (39 laps)

Sunday 1st March
10:55 Qualifying Race 3 (20 min)
12:10 Top Ten Shootout (25 min)
15:25 Race 3 (78 laps)

All times are UTC +10,5 hour