The V8 Supercars Championship Series has become an internationally-recognised category after the sport’s world governing body endorsed the V8 class at the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council last week.
The international status will stand for five years and will allow the category to hold 12 events in Australasia and six internationally.
Next year’s calendar includes 14 Australasian events and one international race, but with the category’s much-publicised desire to expand to countries like Singapore, the new international recognition will help with negotiations and placement.
The new deal will also see the ‘Australia’ identification dropped off the V8 Supercars logo from next year onwards.
“This is tremendous news for the sport and we thank the FIA for their endorsement and recognition of V8 Supercars as a major international player, particularly in the Asia Pacific region,” V8 Supercars CEO Martin Whitaker said.
“Our sport is generating strong growth across younger audiences, the highly successful Rock’n’Race format, incredible racing, strong grids and varied race formats. We also have tremendous differentiators across all of our events whether they are in Australia or overseas.
“After an enormous amount of hard work by CAMS and with the support of the FIA Touring Car Commission this gives V8 Supercars flexibility in exploring further expansion of the sport.
“V8 Supercars is the most high-profile motorsport category in the Asia Pacific region and we thank the FIA for their consideration in elevating the status of our sport accordingly. The tremendous contribution of CAMS in liaising with the FIA has been invaluable and we thank them for their ongoing support of V8 Supercars.
“Australia and New Zealand remain our absolute priority in terms of where we race although the new status means we can move forward with confidence when exploring growth outside of Australasia.”
The 2011 V8 Supercar calendar:
Feb 10-12: Yas V8 400, Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi UAE
Mar 17-20: Clipsal 500, Adelaide Parklands, Adelaide (F)
Mar 24-27: Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne*
April 15-17: ITM 400 Hamilton, Hamilton, NZ
May 6-8: Barbagallo Raceway, Perth (F)
May 20-22: Winton Motor Raceway, Winton, Victoria
June 17-19: SkyCity Triple Crown, Hidden Valley, Darwin
July 8-10: Sucrogen Townsville 400, Reid Park, Townsville (F)
Aug 19-21: Queensland Raceway, Ipswich (F)
Sep 16-18: L&H 500, Phillip Island, Victoria
Oct 6-9: Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, Bathurst (F)
Oct 21-23: Armor All Gold Coast 600, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
Nov 11-13: Falken Tasmania Challenge, Symmons Plains, Launceston
Nov 18-20: Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, Sandown Raceway, Melbourne (F)
Dec 2-4: Sydney Telstra 500, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney (F)
