2008 Australian Carrera Cup Championship

The 2008 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Cars.[1] The championship, which was contested over nine rounds across five different states, began on 21 February 2008 at the Clipsal 500 and finished on 26 October at the Gold Coast Indy 300. It was the sixth and last Australian Carrera Cup Championship until the 2011 season.[2]

Craig Baird dominated the series, winning 14 of the series 25 races and the New Zealander driving for Fitzgerald Racing became the first driver to win the series twice, adding to his 2006 championship win. West Australian Dean Fiore was the runner up for Sonic Motor Racing, taking four wins and dominating the Mount Panorama round. Third was David Russell in the Sherrin Motor Sport car.

The most dramatic moment of the season was when category managers Sherrin Motor Sport collapsed, leaving the series briefly in limbo. With the assistance of CAMS and Porsche Australia, Glenn Ridge owned company Q Media Events took over the running of the series.

Teams and drivers

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The following teams and drivers have competed in the Championship.

Team No Driver
Fitzgerald Racing 3   Craig Baird
4   Andrew Moffat
  David Russell
27   Barton Mawer
Sonic Motor Racing Services 5   Dean Fiore
6   Bryce Washington
7   Rodney Jane
9   James Moffat
Jaimie Vedda Racing 8   Rodney Forbes
Juniper Racing 11   Shaun Juniper
Hallmarc Racing 12   Marc Cini
Supabarn Motorsport 14   James Koundouris
15   Theo Koundouris
Twigg Motorsport 18   Max Twigg
Sherrin Motor Sport 19   Grant Sherrin
22   David Russell
72   Iain Sherrin
  Daniel Gaunt*
  Paul Stokell
Paul Cruikshank Racing 23   Aaron Caratti
Jim Richards Racing 38   David Wall
Greg Murphy Racing 47   Darryn Henderson
  Christian Jones
51   Jono Lester
66   Peter Hill
72   Daniel Pappas
Tekno Racing 94   Jonathon Webb*

* Guest drivers ineligible for points.

Race calendar

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Round Date Circuit Location Winning driver
1 21–24 February   Adelaide Street Circuit[3] Adelaide, South Australia   Craig Baird
2 13–16 March   Albert Park Street Circuit[4] Melbourne, Victoria   Craig Baird
3 4–6 April   Wakefield Park[5] Goulburn, New South Wales   Aaron Caratti
4 9–11 May   Barbagallo Raceway[6] Perth, Western Australia   Craig Baird
5 7–9 June   Sandown Raceway[7] Melbourne, Victoria   Craig Baird
6 4–6 July   Queensland Raceway[8] Ipswich, Queensland   Craig Baird
7 12–14 September   Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit[9] Phillip Island, Victoria   Craig Baird
8 9–12 October   Mount Panorama Circuit[10] Bathurst, New South Wales   Dean Fiore
9 23–26 October   Surfers Paradise Street Circuit[11] Surfers Paradise, Queensland   James Moffat

Each of the nine rounds was contested over three races.

Points system

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Championship points were awarded on 60–54–48–42–36–30–27–24–21–18–15–12–9–6–6–3–3–3–3–3 basis to the first twenty finishers in each race with 1 point awarded to each driver finishing in positions from 21st through to last.[1]

Results and standings

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Drivers' championship

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Pos[12] Driver[12] ADE ALB WAK BAR SAN QLD PHI BAT SUR Pen. Pts[12]
1   Craig Baird 2 1 2 5 1 1 1 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 13 3 1 1 13 1458
2   Dean Fiore 1 3 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 13 6 17 Ret 5 2 2 3 8 5 6 1 1 1 11 13 6 1122
3   David Russell 3 2 1 7 3 3 5 8 18 Ret 4 5 2 2 8 4 6 4 Ret 5 6 1 9 5 4 2 2 12 1017
4   James Moffat 6 5 7 Ret Ret 11 18 6 5 Ret 6 2 3 5 3 15 3 3 2 3 3 14 4 3 2 4 4 1 939
5   Bryce Washington 13 6 5 3 4 4 Ret 4 4 4 7 4 Ret 4 4 3 5 5 6 4 4 3 3 2 11 DNS 9 Ret 906
6   Aaron Caratti 4 9 6 1 12 5 3 1 1 1 1 Ret 9 Ret Ret 10 4 11 Ret 2 1 5 6 4 Ret 5 5 2 57 876
7   David Wall 5 4 3 4 19 10 Ret 9 Ret 10 2 8 7 3 2 1 8 7 5 6 7 4 12 8 13 3 3 3 870
8   Rodney Jane 10 8 8 6 5 8 6 14 7 9 Ret Ret 10 6 6 6 9 9 7 9 9 7 7 7 5 12 Ret 7 615
9   Rodney Forbes 9 Ret 9 9 9 12 9 7 8 5 13 7 8 15 Ret 9 7 6 4 7 8 8 5 6 12 Ret 7 5 606
10   Barton Mawer 8 7 12 8 6 7 7 5 6 17 8 3 4 18 Ret 11 20 15 16 10 17 17 8 9 6 7 Ret Ret 510
11   James Koundouris 7 Ret 16 12 14 13 Ret 10 9 7 Ret 10 11 9 10 12 11 12 Ret 11 11 9 10 10 7 DNS 8 8 396
12   Jono Lester 11 Ret 15 Ret 11 Ret 13 11 10 6 Ret 6 5 8 5 7 12 10 13 300
13   Theo Koundouris Ret DNS 13 13 13 19 15 13 11 11 10 9 17 10 Ret 14 19 13 10 13 13 12 14 12 8 13 11 10 285
14   Max Twigg Ret 11 10 14 7 9 8 12 14 Ret 9 Ret 19 Ret Ret Ret 13 20 15 17 10 15 11 11 14 8 14 DNS 261
15   Peter Hill 12 10 17 10 8 Ret 11 16 15 15 11 11 12 12 9 16 16 17 12 14 15 13 222
16   Shaun Juniper 14 14 11 17 15 14 10 15 16 14 Ret Ret 15 14 13 18 17 19 14 15 14 11 13 14 9 DNS 12 Ret 186
17   Marc Cini 15 15 14 16 17 17 16 17 17 16 12 Ret 16 13 Ret 19 18 18 11 16 16 16 16 16 10 9 15 11 165
18   Andrew Moffat 17 12 Ret 11 Ret 16 12 18 13 8 Ret 12 14 11 12 13 15 16 Ret 144
19   Paul Stokell 7 7 8 10 8 9 141
20   Grant Sherrin 16 13 18 15 16 15 14 19 Ret 13 14 15 13 16 11 17 14 14 8 126
21   Christian Jones 6 6 4 102
22   Daniel Pappas 10 10 9 57
23   Sam Walter 12 12 10 42
24   Iain Sherrin 18 16 19 Ret 18 18 17 15 14 18 33
25   Darryn Henderson 15 15 Ret 12
  Jonathon Webb Ret 10 6 4
  Daniel Gaunt Ret 12 12
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
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)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Carrera Cup Australia 2008 Sporting and Technical Regulations, Version 1
  2. ^ CAMS Online Manual of Motor Sport > About CAMS > Titles – Australian Titles Archived 3 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 18 September 2010
  3. ^ "Adelaide Parklands Circuit 24/02/2008 2008 Clipsal 500 Adelaide". National Software. 24 February 2008. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  4. ^ "Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit 16/03/2008 2008 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix". National Software. 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 22 March 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  5. ^ "Wakefield Park Raceway 06/04/2008 2008 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series – Round 2". National Software. 6 April 2008. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  6. ^ "Barbagallo Raceway Wanneroo 11/05/2008 BigPond 400 – 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 4". National Software. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  7. ^ "Sandown International Motor Raceway 09/06/2008 Sandown 400 – 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Round 5". National Software. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  8. ^ "Queensland Raceway Ipswich 20/07/2008 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series – Round 7". National Software. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  9. ^ "Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit 14/09/2008 L&H 500 – 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series – Round 9". National Software. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  10. ^ "Mount Panorama – Bathurst 12/10/2008 Supercheap Auto 1000 – 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Rd10". National Software. 12 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  11. ^ "Surfers Paradise Street Circuit 26/10/2008 Nikon Indy 300 – 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series –Rd 11". National Software. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  12. ^ a b c Carrera Cup Final Points, The Annual – Australian Motorsport, Number 4/2008, page 72

Further reading

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  • Double Cup Trouble, The Annual – Australian Motorsport, Number 4/2008, pages 66–73
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