Jason Bright's Supercars career, from Formula Ford champion to team owner

Jason Bright's racing life ran from Victorian karts to Formula Ford, then into touring cars and American open-wheel racing before he returned to V8 Supercars. He won the Australian Formula Ford crown in 1995 and later ran his own V8 operation. He stepped back from full-time driving once the 2017 season was over.

How did Bright get into racing?

Bright first raced karts as a teenager, winning a junior club title in 1988 at the Gippsland Go-Kart Club and a senior title the following year. He became Victorian karting champion in 1991. By 1992 he had moved on to single-seaters, and a national Formula Ford debut in 1993 followed.

His karting results were steady rather than spectacular. He was runner-up in the Victorian championship in 1990 before taking the title outright a year later. In 1992 he also finished third overall in Australian karting, while his Victorian Formula Ford campaign ended fourth.

His first national Formula Ford season, in 1993, was run in a factory-supported Spectrum. The best result was sixth at Symmons Plains, and he came second at the Formula Ford Festival at Winton.

A Formula Ford champion who raced Champ Car, owned his own V8 team and walked away from full-time racing after 2017.

How did his Formula Ford career peak?

In 1994 Bright finished third in the national Formula Ford series, with Steven Richards and Gavin Monaghan ahead of him. He also took the Formula Ford event that supported the Australian Grand Prix that year. The 1995 season brought the national title, two support-race wins and nominations for two major Australian awards.

What did the 1996 and 1997 seasons bring?

In the 1996 Australian Drivers' Championship Bright was runner-up to Paul Stokell, and he won three races. That year he also crossed to the United States, winning twice in the Formula Ford 2000 series at St Petersburg and Mosport. He was second in that series behind Steve Knapp and took the rookie award.

1997 was a different story. Bright won seven races and dominated the Australian Drivers' Championship, then had his first V8 Supercar outing at Symmons Plains, which ended in ninth. At Sandown he co-drove with Alan Jones to third.

A few weeks later at Bathurst he could not turn that form into a result and finished eleventh.

Why did full-time touring car racing begin in 1998?

From 1998 onward Bright raced full-time in touring cars, signing with Stone Brothers Racing. He picked up third at Calder Park and won the Bathurst Classic with Steven Richards, the V8 Supercar counterpart of the Bathurst 1000 that year, even though a heavy practice crash had left him with only one timed lap in qualifying.

The 1999 season gave him six podiums, a Hidden Valley victory and three poles. He also ran an Adelaide sportscar race and finished third in class, an early taste of endurance racing.

How did his American years affect him?

In 2000 Bright moved to the United States for the Indy Lights series, finishing sixth with five podiums. That year he also took the wheel in Champ Car for the first time, at the Lexmark Indy 300, a race where he had won a support event back in 1995.

His race engineer during the Indy Lights years was Gerald Tyler.

How did the Holden Racing Team and Paul Weel years compare?

Bright returned to V8 Supercars in 2001 with the Holden Racing Team, which had already won several championships, and he opened the season with a win at the Clipsal 500. He then led most of the first half before losing ground and finishing third in the standings. Two wins and a pole followed for the team in 2002.

In 2003 he moved to Paul Weel Racing, where steady finishes produced fourth place in the championship. That year his Bathurst 24 Hour win came in a Holden Monaro, which he shared with Peter Brock, Greg Murphy and Todd Kelly. The car was prepared by Garry Rogers Motorsport, a rival outfit.

2004 brought three wins and third place in the championship. Ford Performance Racing was his home for 2005, and he finished ninth overall. Across those years he won races for several teams, including the Holden Racing Team, Ford Performance Racing and Brad Jones Racing.

Why did Bright create Britek Motorsport?

Bright set up Britek Motorsport in 2005, while still driving for Ford Performance Racing. That contract limited the testing and licensing his own team could do, and Britek competed under the name Fujitsu Racing. He joined the team as a driver from 2007.

2006 started badly, with results of 15th and 25th at Adelaide. The season improved, and he won the Sandown 500 and the first Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit. A fourth at Sebring with Prodrive in an Aston Martin rounded out a useful year.

In 2007 Bright came close to winning the Bathurst 1000, but a poor tyre decision left him against the barrier at McPhillamy Park, 10 laps from the end. Funding was tight by then, and Fujitsu announced it would leave. He had also finished third at the Sydney 500 that year, leading the race for a spell.

Britek's equipment and workshop went on the market, and the team shut down in effect. The franchises survived into 2009, one leased out, while Bright ran the other as a customer team for Stone Brothers. The leased franchise was sold to Brad Jones Racing at the end of 2009.

How did the Brad Jones Racing years unfold?

From 2010 Bright's machine was a Holden VE Commodore run by Brad Jones Racing. He ended that year 14th in the championship, but the team took its first V8 Supercars win in Race 8 at Perth. He also finished fourth at the 2010 Bathurst 1000, and a Winton win followed. For a time he was among the favourites for the title.

The 2011 season faded after rib injuries cost him three events. In 2012 he finished sixteenth, the second year running that he landed in that position.

Car of the Future rules arrived in 2013 and changed his results. He won twice in Tasmania, back to back, and then took Race 4 at Pukekohe, which earned him the first Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for the most weekend points. He ended 2013 seventh, one place behind his teammate Fabian Coulthard.

The 2014 season opened with a severe crash at the Clipsal 500, his only retirement of the year. Afterwards he managed one podium, a win at the Auckland 500.

What did his endurance programme include?

Bright raced at Sebring in 2006, driving an Aston Martin for Prodrive, and finished fourth. He made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in 2013 with 8 Star Motorsports, and that team placed tenth in class. His Bathurst 24 Hour triumph came in 2003.

How did Bright's career finish?

Bright ended his full-time driving at the close of the 2017 Supercars season. Having left Brad Jones Racing, he returned to Prodrive Racing Australia for 2017, a decade after he had left the team to start Britek. The Prodrive operation had changed names several times during his career.

That made him the fourth driver to race for the team, and it closed a career that covered Formula Ford, Champ Car, sportscars and his own team.

Career summary at a glance