 | |
| Category | Single-seater |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia New Zealand |
| Inaugural season | 2019 |
| Folded | 2024 |
| Constructors | Onroak Automotive |
| Engine suppliers | Ford |
| Tire suppliers | Hoosier |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Aaron Cameron |
| Official website | s5000.com.au |
 Current season | |
TheVHT S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship (known originally as theAustralian S5000 Championship, or simplyS5000) was anopen-wheelroad racing series inAustralia. The series was created by a merger between two proposed series, Formula Thunder 5000 and Super5000. The series was promoted by the Australian Racing Group.
The inaugural race of the series was originally set to be inSydney Motorsport Park in May 2019, but was delayed to September due to supply issues from Ligier'sCharlotte area factory where the chassis are manufactured.[1]
The championship ran through to 2023, before being suspended for the 2024 season, though the promoters have hopes of reviving it.[2]
It would be officially confirmed on January 9, 2025, that the S5000 Australian Drivers Championship would be axed with S5000 Category builder GRM announced intentions to sell its 15 remaining built chassis and spare parts inventory.[3]
Australian circuit racing, since the end ofTasman Series racing in the 1970s, been heavily focused ontouring car racing at the professional level.Open wheelerformula racing series such asFormula Holden andFormula 3 struggled to gain spectator and sponsor interest, and eventually folded.
The idea for a modern interpretation of the historicFormula 5000 class was first raised in 2016, and was initially called theFormula Thunder 5000. The original car used aSwift FN09 chassis that raced inSuper Formula between 2009 and 2013.[4]
A year later in 2017, theSuper5000 series was later created by formerSupercars CEOJames Warburton, as part of his plan to sustain growth of motorsport in Australia. The series would originally be used as a support category for the Supercars series, alongside theSuper2 andSuperUtes series.[5][6] The creation of this series led to controversy, and the founder of Formula Thunder 5000, Chris Lambden, disapproved of the idea, claiming it would threaten his own plans.[7]
Later that same year, both series announced a merger in a bid to further ensure the return of aformula racing series in Australia.[8] The formation of the S5000 series came as a result, and would incorporate technical elements from both the Formula Thunder 5000 and the Super5000 series.[9]
A preliminary schedule was originally announced in 2018, withSydney Motorsport Park as the season opener.[10] However, in April 2019, the organisers announced that the series would be delayed four months and that theinaugural season would instead kick off in September 2019 atSandown Raceway, due to supply issues fromLigier's Charlotte area factory. The organisers also wanted to ensure that the S5000 car would be properly tested.[1][11]
The first event attracted an entry of 13 drivers, including formerFormula One driverRubens Barrichello.[12] The feature race was marred, however, by an accident involvingAlex Davison which caused damage to safety barriers and forced organisers to red-flag the race after just 10 of the scheduled 25 laps. The race was won byJames Golding, with Barrichello second andJohn Martin in third.[13] A second event was held atThe Bend, with the feature race being won by John Martin.[14]
For 2020, a six-round championship was planned, set to start as a support event for the2020 Australian Grand Prix held atAlbert Park, with the championship to be followed by a non-championship race atMount Panorama.[15] It was also announced in early 2020 that the championship would see the revival of theAustralian Drivers' Championship title, last awarded in2014 Australian Drivers' Championship forFormula 3 cars.[16] This was accompanied by a plan to award trophies named after prominent Australian racing drivers to the winners of each feature race, with the winner of the feature race at Albert Park to be awarded the Alan Jones Cup.[17]
The opening round attracted a larger entry, including inaugural feature race winner Golding, two-time Australian Drivers' ChampionTim Macrow, and international entrants including the return of Barrichello and fellow Formula One veteranGiancarlo Fisichella,Formula 2 driverJack Aitken and2019 Bathurst 1000 winnerAlexandre Prémat. After practice and qualifying sessions on Thursday 12 March, Golding had pole position.[18] However, on Friday morning the entire Grand Prix meeting was called off as a result of the escalatingCOVID-19 pandemic, so no race was held.[19] Due to ongoing difficulties surrounding the pandemic, modified calendars were announced a few times over the year, with plans made for a championship running over late 2020 into early 2021. In the end, however, no races were held in 2020 and instead a short four race calendar was announced to be run in early 2021, with a second, longer summer series to run from late 2021 to early 2022.[20][21]
The first championship event, and first race of the2021 season, finally got underway in January atSymmons Plains, withThomas Randle winning the feature race.[22]
The championship was suspended at the end of the 2023 season. The promoters of the category pointed to the eligibility rules for licenses to drive in theSupercars Championship as the primary reason for its cessation. Drivers aspiring to drive in the full-professional Supercars championship were required to complete a minimum number of races in its direct feeder categories, Super2 and Super3, making S5000 a less attractive proposition for most young drivers, leading to unsustainably small entry fields.[23] Other factors cited by the former category manager include the decision to ban the category from theMount Panorama Circuit, and to run internationalFIA Formula 2 Championship andFIA Formula 3 Championship as support races at theAustralian Grand Prix rather than the local category, and the promoter's decision to switch from "free-to-air" broadcasting to pay TV for coverage of the events.[24]
The trademark to the name "Australian Drivers' Championship" name was registered by another party, and theAustralian Auto Sport Alliance is sanctioning the 2024 Australian Drivers' Championship as a one-make series using theHyper Racer X1.[25]
The S5000 car's chassis is based on theLigier JS F3, anFIA-compliantFormula 3 bespoke chassis manufactured by French motorsport companyOnroak-Ligier.[26] The car uses a 5.2-litrenaturally-aspirated quad-camFord CoyoteV8 that is modified by InnoV8, and has an output of 560 hp (420 kW; 570 PS) and 460 lb⋅ft (620 N⋅m) of torque.[27] All of the power is driven through a 6-speed gearbox by Holinger.[26] Holinger also supplies the transaxle. The suspension set and the wing package are supplied byBorland Racing Developments, and are then fabricated byGarry Rogers Motorsport, who also perform the assembly of the S5000 car.[28] The tyres are supplied byHoosier.[29] The complete car was officially designated the Rogers AF01/V8 in 2021.[30] The "Rogers" name refers to the assembler of the cars,.
The S5000 car has been certified by the FIA under the 2018 safety certification.[31] The class introduced Push to Pass for the 2023 season, starting atPhillip Island in May.[32]
The S5000 car made its first public appearance taking part in demonstration runs at the2018 Newcastle 500Supercars event with drivers such asGreg Murphy,John Bowe, andGarth Tander going behind the wheel. The race car received a positive reaction from the audience.[33]
For a race at theMount Panorama Circuit in 2021, they were restricted to approximately 475 hp because they exceeded the maximum power-to-weight ratio permitted for racing at that circuit.[34]
The races were aired on a variety of networks and streaming services, including via streaming serviceStan Sport, and live-streamed by websiteMotorsport.com through their Motorsport.TV platform.[35][36] Some races also appeared on the free-to-air networkSBS.[24]
| Year | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Exhibition Series | |
| 2020 | Cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic | |
| 2021 | Joey Mawson | Team BRM |
| 2022 | Joey Mawson | Team BRM |
| 2023 | Aaron Cameron | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2024 | Not held | |
