2022 Supercars Championship

The 2022 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship) is a planned motor racing series for Supercars. It is due to be the twenty-sixth running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-sixth series in which Supercars have contested the Australian Touring Car Championship, the premier title in Australian motorsport.

2022 Supercars Championship
Previous: 2021 Next: 2023
Support series:
Super2 Series

The 2022 season is expected to see the introduction of Gen3, a revision to the sport's technical regulations. These regulations were designed to cut costs for competitors by introducing more standardised components to the cars and redesigning the chassis to favour coupé body shapes.[1]

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2022 championship. Unless confirmed otherwise, car numbers are presumed to carry over from 2021.

Manufacturer Model Entrant No. Driver name Ref. Co-Driver name Ref.
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Triple Eight Race Engineering 88 TBA [2] TBA
97 Shane van Gisbergen [3] TBA
TBA TBA Kelly Grove Racing 7 Andre Heimgartner [4] TBA
26 David Reynolds [4] TBA
Brad Jones Racing 8 Nick Percat [5] TBA
Team 18 18 Mark Winterbottom [6] Michael Caruso [7]

Team changes

Supercars management announced that two Racing Entitlement Contracts (RECs) would be put up for sale ahead of the 2022 championship, allowing the grid to expand from twenty-four cars to twenty-six.[8]

Triple Eight Race Engineering will oversee the development of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as a replacement for the Holden ZB Commodore. The Camaro ZL1 was chosen after parent company General Motors decided to discontinue the Holden brand and shut down production of the Commodore.[9]

Driver changes

Seven-time drivers' champion Jamie Whincup will retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2021 championship. He will replace Roland Dane as team principal and managing director of Triple Eight Race Engineering.[2]

List of planned races

The following venues are under contract to host a round of the 2022 championship:

Event Circuit Location Ref.
Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory [10]
Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland [11]
Newcastle 500 Newcastle Street Circuit Newcastle, New South Wales [12]
Sandown Sandown Raceway Springvale, Victoria [13]
Sydney SuperNight Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek, New South Wales [14]
Tasmania Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania [15]
Townsville Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland [11]

Calendar changes

The Newcastle 500 will return after a two-year absence. The round will replace the Mount Panorama 500 as the season opener.[12]

Rule changes

Gen3

The Gen3 project is expected to make its debut, replacing the Car of the Future regulations that débuted in 2013. The Gen3 regulations are designed to lower costs of a standard Supercar.[16]

The regulations are expected to introduce more controlled components into the cars to address the rising costs of maintaining a car. The pedal kit, brake kit and wheels will become control components, with tenders needing the rims to be 'finger friendly' for pit crew during a pit stop. The roll cage will be lowered by 100mm to be suited to coupes, after the controversy surrounding the Ford Mustang GT, which required the roof to be stretched beyond the dimensions of its road-going counterpart to fit. Supercars are planning to manufacturer the roll cage in kit form for teams that do not have the budget to build one themselves.[17][18][19][20]

The engines on Gen3 are expected to be overhauled, with pushrod engines expected to be replaced with fuel-injected, DOHC V8 engines. This is intended to modernise the engine and significantly reduce costs of building and maintaining them.[21]

References
  1. O'Brian, Connor (3 September 2020). "Gen3 prototype aim for March 2021". Supercars Championship.
  2. https://www.speedcafe.com/2021/02/03/whincup-to-retire-take-over-as-triple-eight-boss/
  3. SVG signs multi-year deal with Triple Eight Speedcafe 21 February 2020
  4. Pavey, James (19 January 2021). "Heimgartner's 'funny' link with new team owner". Supercars Championship. Supercars. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  5. "Nick Percat gets extended BJR deal". Speedcafe. 19 February 2020.
  6. Fosty signs for two more years Auto Action 16 October 2020
  7. "Michael Caruso signs two year enduro deal with Team 18". Speedcafe. 13 January 2021.
  8. https://www.speedcafe.com/2021/02/05/supercars-to-put-spare-recs-up-for-sale/
  9. "Triple Eight to race Camaro in 2022". Speedcafe. 15 October 2020.
  10. http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/mediaRelease/20954
  11. https://teq.queensland.com/news-and-media/latest-news/future-of-supercars-secured-for-queensland
  12. Supercars.com. "Newcastle to host 2022 Supercars season opener". Supercars Championship.
  13. https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/2020-supercars-calendar-revealed/
  14. O'Brien, Connor (18 October 2020). "The Sydney SuperNight at Eastern Creek has been locked in until 2025". Supercars.com.
  15. https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/symmons-plains-secures-new-supercars-deal/
  16. Coch, Mat (18 October 2019). "Emotional Rogers confirms GRM's Supercars exit". Speedcafe. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  17. van Leeuwen, Andrew (14 August 2020). "New Supercars Gen3 details emerge". Motorsport.com.
  18. Chapman, Simon (4 September 2020). "Supercars set to offer Gen3 chassis in kit form". Speedcafe.
  19. van Leeuwen, Andrew (12 August 2019). "Supercars Camaro needs '50 to 80 millimetre' roll hoop adjustment". Motorsport.com.
  20. Connor, O'Brian (3 September 2020). "Gen3 prototype aim for March 2021". Supercars Championship.
  21. Kirby, Cameron (13 September 2020). "New engine rules set for Supercars in 2022". Whichcar.com.au.
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