Thirteen rounds from Phillip Island to Sandown, a first round overseas, new race formats and a title settled in the final rounds.
The 2001 Shell Championship Series was a 13-round Australian touring car competition that ran from March to December. Mark Skaife won the title for a fourth time, and the season introduced a new two-race format along with the first overseas round in New Zealand.
The 2001 season was a 13-round run of Australian touring car racing that began in March and finished in December. Mark Skaife took the crown for a fourth time, and the year brought a new format of two longer races per round, a rookie of note and the series' first overseas event in New Zealand.
What was the 2001 Shell Championship Series?
The series opened at Phillip Island on 24 March and closed at Sandown on 2 December. It was the 42nd season since the Australian Touring Car Championship was founded in 1960, and the third to carry the V8 Supercar name.
The calendar's venues spread across Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, the ACT, Western Australia and Queensland, and then to New Zealand, where the series held its first overseas event.
Television was handled by Channel 10 and Fox Sports, which had shared coverage for the fifth year since 1997, when Channel 10 took over from Channel 7. Neil Crompton and Barry Sheene called most regular rounds, while Bill Woods hosted the special events. Matthew White covered Winton, the only round he worked that season, and Leigh Diffey was in the commentary box from the Queensland 500 on, and the pit lane was covered by Greg Rust and Grant Denyer.
A 13-round season that moved from Phillip Island to Sandown, with Skaife taking the crown after the final rounds.
How were the races and points run in 2001?
Most rounds moved to two 45-minute races of around 100 km, which replaced the three 20-minute sprints used before. Every race carried a compulsory pit stop, to be taken inside a set time window, and a driver could score points without finishing so long as he took the start.
A shootout took place at every round, alternating between a top-10 and a top-15 field. Each shootout was a single lap, and its winner collected 18 bonus points.
Qualifying points were awarded only for the first race of each weekend, so the opening race of a weekend carried extra value.
Two rounds kept the older three-sprint format, at Barbagallo and Calder Park, and three race weekends were held at Hidden Valley, Pukekohe and Sandown. Five different points systems were applied across the season, depending on the round.
What made the special events different?
Adelaide's Clipsal 500 consisted of a pair of 250 km events, each 78 laps around the street layout. Only the winner of the second race took the event, and that race carried double points, so the outcome did not simply follow the running order.
The GMC 400 in Canberra mixed three races: two 100 km races and a 200 km race. The second race ran on a reverse grid, and the third was lined up using the combined points from the first two races, which made the weekend a test of tactics as well as pace.
The VIP Petfoods Queensland 500 was the first two-driver endurance event of the year, covering 161 laps over 500 km. Driver changes and fuel stops had to be managed together in the pits, and the event later became the focus of a red flag controversy.
Bathurst's 1000-kilometre classic, billed as The Great Race, followed with 161 laps. It was the first year in which the race was not the season's last round, and drivers changed at the pit stops as they did at Queensland.
How did the calendar play out?
The season began at Phillip Island with Mark Skaife in the points lead after a maximum haul. Craig Lowndes finished second on his debut for Ford, and Jason Bright came third in a comeback to the category. Both results set the tone for the year.
Adelaide belonged to Bright. He began from the back after a first-lap accident, won the round and took the double-points race, which put him on top of the table. Paul Radisich looked the quickest driver across the weekend, yet an axle breakage in race one and steering damage hurt his title hopes.
Skaife had a rough time at Adelaide. He was spun by Radisich in race one and finished fourth, then spun again in race two and dropped to ninth. Lowndes took the Saturday race, but a clash with Skaife in race two damaged Lowndes' car and let Skaife slip behind in the title chase. Officials came under fire afterwards because rule-breaking had gone unpunished.
At Eastern Creek, Lowndes and Marcos Ambrose finished first and second in the opening race, but both were penalised for incidents. Greg Murphy started race two from the front after those penalties, lost the lead to a stop-go penalty for an early getaway, and Skaife won the race and the round ahead of Bright.
A rule change followed before the next round, after Murphy escaped penalty for an incomplete stop at a penalty point.
Hidden Valley was described as the car breaker of the year. Murphy and Russell Ingall both suffered mechanical failures while leading, and Skaife recovered from a stop-go penalty to win the third race. Ambrose kept clear of trouble and took the round.
| Venue | Highlight |
|---|---|
| Phillip Island | Skaife collected the maximum points; Lowndes second on Ford debut |
| Adelaide (Clipsal 500) | Bright won the round from the back of the field |
| Eastern Creek | Skaife won the race and the round after penalties for others |
| Hidden Valley | Ambrose won the round; Skaife won race three |
| Canberra (GMC 400) | Steven Johnson won the round; Skaife third overall |
| Barbagallo | Radisich won the shootout and all three races |
| Calder Park | Paul Morris won his first V8 Supercar event |
| Oran Park | Skaife won both races after starting second |
| Queensland 500 | Johnson and Radisich won, then the result was reverted |
| Winton | Ingall won the round and took his first pole |
| Bathurst 1000 | Skaife and Tony Longhurst won The Great Race |
| Pukekohe (New Zealand) | Murphy scored maximum points; Skaife clinched the title |
| Sandown | Todd Kelly won his first championship round |
The middle rounds reshaped the table. At Calder Park, Paul Morris claimed his first win, having been fast all weekend. Skaife started from pole but was passed after a poor getaway, and he finished fourteenth after a spin in race three.
Skaife's season swung at Canberra. Steven Johnson won the first race from Lowndes, and Skaife came third on the weekend and moved past his teammate Jason Bright in the standings. Skaife had a difficult race two, running into the back of Rodney Forbes, but he won race three.
The Queensland 500 produced a dramatic finish. A storm brought out a red flag while Johnson and Radisich were ahead, and the result was rolled back a lap. Ingall and Perkins were second, with Kelly and Murphy third.
Winton gave Ingall his first pole of his career and his first round win of the season. Murphy won race one, but a slow stop in race two dropped him to sixth, and Marcos Ambrose was the quickest Ford of the weekend despite running wide at the first corner.
At Bathurst, Skaife and Longhurst won, which strengthened Skaife's grip on the title. Brad Jones and John Cleland were named Drive of the Day after starting 21st and finishing second, despite radio problems, and Ingall moved past Bright into second in the points after Bright failed to finish. Ambrose, who had started from pole, lost places quickly and retired in the gravel after a bad pit entry. Ritter and McLean were fourth.
The final rounds decided the title. At Pukekohe, Murphy scored maximum points on home soil, and Skaife clinched the championship in race one, ahead of Ingall, who had gearbox problems. At Sandown, Todd Kelly won the second race for his first championship round, and Lowndes won the third.
The last round at Sandown was a mixed bag for Skaife. He won the first race in the dry, struggled in the wet and retired from race three after contact with Steven Richards. Lowndes took the third race ahead of Ambrose.
Who were the drivers and teams behind the season?
Craig Lowndes moved to a newly created Ford team, formed from the Holden-aligned Gibson Motorsport. That change reshaped the Ford line-up for the year. He was partnered by privateer front runner Rodney Forbes, and Neil Crompton, a Channel 10 commentator, took part in the enduros for the team.
Jason Bright took over the number 2 Holden Racing Team car that Lowndes had left. Marcos Ambrose, a rookie, and David Besnard, a V8 Lites driver, joined Stone Brothers Racing, while Tony Longhurst found a seat with Rod Nash Racing and the Holden Racing Team for the long-distance races.
Greg Murphy, released by Gibson, signed with the Holden Young Lions squad, now backed by Kmart, and he teamed with Todd Kelly. Steven Richards, who had been replaced at Gibson Motorsport, moved to Ford Tickford Racing. Romano Racing took over the Holden Young Lions identity and ran an ex-HRT VT Commodore.
Cameron McConville joined the relaunched Lansvale Racing Team as a lead driver, with the owners Steve Reed and Trevor Ashby sharing an older VS Commodore. Gibson Motorsport had raced Holden since 1993 and switched to Ford for 2001.
How did the final standings look?
Skaife's fourth title came with Ingall second. Bright took third place, ahead of Murphy, and Steven Johnson was the highest-placed Ford driver. Todd Kelly finished sixth after a strong final round, and Radisich was seventh after consistent form all year.
Marcos Ambrose was named Rookie of the Year after finishing eighth overall, although he earned only 112 points in the endurance rounds. Steve Ellery, the highest-placed driver from a single-car team, took ninth, Garth Tander finished tenth, and Lowndes ended his first year with Ford in eleventh.
For a single season, the series offered several stories: a champion who took the title on the strength of his final rounds, a rookie who finished eighth, and a Ford line-up that had to absorb a new arrival. The final table shows how much the endurance events counted. Ambrose would likely have regretted his endurance results, which brought him only 112 points, while the sprint rounds gave Skaife and Ingall room to build their leads.
