BACKSTORY
Central Shaneville has always been a sporting nation at heart however recently it has struggled to fit in really anywhere in any sport and whilst the people behind the scenes scratch their heads continuously trying to figure out what should be the national sport, someone had a great idea.
Tony Bennett, the Shanevillean Sports Association's chief operating officer literally told the conference room to "shut up and listen" as he put a slideshow on the projector screen of Central Shaneville's domestic racing series, from the days of open wheels going up and down public roads in open wheelers and stock cars to the construction of the Central Shaneville Raceway for NSSCRA 7 to the small amount of Central Shaneville drivers going into NSSCRA 7 and other international series and with all this being shown as a presentation, Bennett was convinced that racing is Central Shaneville's national sport.
"But Central Shaneville hasn't had any races in years." A member of the SSA said, Bennett looked on and simply smiled "Yet we have all these tracks round here, all these great cars and a very passionate fanbase all waiting for something to happen, so here's what I suggest...." the conversation went on for a few hours until the President of Central Shaneville (John Poseidon) hosted a national broadcast at a rejuvenated Central Shaneville Raceway, he announced the creation of a racing series that was backed by the SSA and a group of investors and here is the information on that series.
The Series Itself
The Central Shaneville Supercars Championship (CSSC) is a touring car racing category meaning vehicles used in the series are based on road-going cars that are sold in Central Shaneville - in the case of the first season we have two cars that are sold in Central Shaneville that teams can use to participate (more will likely be added as seasons go on) these being the popular Ford Mustang and the Holden Commodore.
ShaneEyoho Airlines, the airline of Central Shaneville, will sponsor this first season.
The Cars
For a road car to participate in the Central Shaneville Supercars Championship, the car must first be modified for racing using a specification given to teams by the Shaneville Sports Association, the current "Season 1" specifications allow the use of two-door or four-door coupé body styles and turbocharged four- or six-cylinder engines, it is also a semi-spec series with the Ford Mustang and Holden Commodore chosen as the first two cars to participate due to their experience in racing elsewhere.
The regulations control many aspects of the car to ensure parity and competitiveness between the manufacturers, allowing for minor differences in the engines and body shapes so that the cars bear some resemblance to their production counterparts. The regulations were also designed to lower the costs of building and repairing a car with most of the parts of the cars (brakes, suspension, wheels etc...) all being to specification.
A Holden Commodore in Red Bull Holden Factory Team colors during a night time test.
A Ford Mustang in Ford Performance Racing factory team colors on show to the public during President John Poseidon's announcement at Central Shaneville Raceway.
Series Structure
Teams consist of one to four cars, with most one-car teams forming a technical alliance with a larger team in the championship, due to the series being a semi-spec series research and development isn't really focused on meaning strategy and close racing is the focal point of the series.
In terms of race formats there are 4 types of racing: SuperSprint, SuperStreet, International Super Sprint and Endurance Cup.
Sprint: The most common racetype, it has two one-hour practice sessions on the Friday with a fifteen-minute practice session on Saturday. The SuperSprint format features a fifteen-minute qualifying session held on Saturday to decide the grid for the race on the same day. A single twenty-minute session is held on Sunday morning to decide the grid for the Sunday race. A single 120-150 km race is held on Saturday with a single 250-300 km race held on Sunday (this 2nd race can be split into two 125-150 km races if the organizers of a SuperSprint weekend see fit.) Usually SuperSprints see the closest racing.
Street: Used for Street circuits, the format for SuperStreet is two forty-minute practice sessions take place on the Friday at each SuperStreet event, a twenty-minute qualifying session on Saturday. All street events feature a twenty-minute session on Sunday to decide the grid for Race 2. SuperStreet races must run at a distance between 200-250km on both Saturday and Sunday.
International: For events not held in Central Shaneville, International SuperSprints see three thirty-minute practice sessions are held on Friday, while Saturday and Sunday both consist of two ten-minute qualifying sessions which set the grid for the pair of 100-200 km races held on each day.
Endurance: There are three endurance events held during the year: the Bayside 500, the Altiplano 500 and the International Triple Crown. These events require two drivers per car and together they form the Endurance Cup, a prize awarded to the driver or drivers who score the most points across the three events, all feature three thirty-minute practice sessions held on Friday whilst there is a 3 stage qualifying on Saturday for Bayside and Altiplano (eg: 26 drivers-15 drivers-10 drivers) whilst for the International Triple Crown: Practice is held on Thursday, Qualifying is held on Friday morning in a traditional format then the races occur with a 250km race on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the order from the previous days race deciding the grid for the next day.
Teams are required to employ a co-driver for each car during the three endurance races due to the increased race distance and the need for driver substitutions during the race, teams are required each full-time driver to remain in his/her own car and be joined by a co-driver not competing full-time in the series.
The Drivers Championship title is awarded to the driver who accumulates the most points over the course of the season. If there is a points tie for the series win, the champion will be decided based on the number of races won by each driver (if there is still a tie, it is based on second-place finishes and so on). Teams also compete for the Teams Championship, with the champion team being decided in the same manner as the Drivers Championship. A Manufacturers Cup is also raced for in the same manner as both Drivers and Teams championships.
Championship Points are awarded as follows at all championship events. Various different points scales are applied to events having one, two, three or four races, ensuring that a driver will be awarded 300 points for winning all races at any event.
CALENDAR
The calendar was revealed during the press event at Central Shaneville Raceway by President John Poseidon, it features some of the best tracks in Central Shaneville (most tracks are new) whilst some races will take place on some of Central Shaneville's smaller islands to its south in its tourism district, the season though will start on the streets of the capital before ending up in the vacation hotspot of Hideaway.
Rd1: (Races 1-2) - Shaneville City SuperStreet 400 - Streets of Shaneville City - (2x 200km races)
Rd2: (Races 3-5) - Central Shaneville SuperSprint - Central Shaneville Raceway - (1x 125km race, 2x 150km races)
Rd3: (Races 6-8) - Central Park SuperSprint - Central Park Raceway - (3x 150km races)
Rd4: (Races 9-11) - Southern City SuperSprint - Southern City Motorsport Park - (3x 150km races)
Rd5: (Races 12-13) - Ford Queensland SuperSprint - Queensland Motorsport Park - (2x 125km races)
Rd6: (Races 14-15) - Mountainside 450 - Streets of Dereham - (2x 225km races)
Rd7: (Races 16-18) - Laguna SuperSprint - Laguna Motorsport Park - (3x 150km races)
Rd8: (Races 19-20) - Pepsi Max Catia Island 250 - Catia Island Circuit -(2x 125km races)
Rd9: (Race 21) - Bayside 500 - Streets of Bayside - (1x 500km race) - ENDURANCE CUP
Rd10: (Race 22) - Altiplano 500 - Macedonia Peak Raceway - (1x 500km race) - ENDURANCE CUP
Rd11: (Races 23) - Firestone Sandown 600 - Sandown Raceway - (1x 600km races) - ENDURANCE CUP
Rd12: (Races 24-25) - Hideaway Resort 400 - Hideaway Street Circuit - (2x 200km races)
TEAMS AND DRIVERS (so far)
The series will start with 24 drivers and 13 teams below is a list of confirmed entries into Season 1 of the Central Shaneville Supercars Championship.
FORD TEAMS
Ford Performance Racing
The Ford factory team will head the Mustang charge in Season 1 and whilst the title of Ford factory team can be debated between this team and JSR Team Penske the only way to settle their differences will be on track, leading the Ford charge is youngsters Cameron McConville, Jamie Coulthard and Cam McLaughlin who all have development series experience in touring cars meaning Ford's lineup is definitely more youth over experience.
#3 - Cameron McConville - (Endurance Co-Driver: Gary Rogers)
#30 - Jamie Coulthard - (Endurance Co-Driver: John Bowe
#89 - Cam McLaughlin - (Endurance Co-Driver: Paul Caruso)
JSR Team Penske
Drivers: #1 Jeff Shreeves - Central Shaneville racing legend and part share owner in the team, the other half of the team is shared by businessman Brydon Penske who signed the contract to work with Ford. (Endurance Cup Co-Driver: Jack Perkins)
#91 David Land - Born outside of Central Shaneville yet made his name by open wheel racing in the country, Land looks to put himself into the history books in Supercars. (Endurance Cup Co-Driver: Fabian Waters)
#74 Taylor Anderson (Endurance Cup Co-Driver: Andrew King) - Anderson and King have been rivals around the world for years and yet now they become teammates after a long and storied rivalry, will they be able to co-exist?
HVS Racing Team
HVS Racing Team is a family ran team and will use the Ford Mustang, it will be a single car team ran by main driver Harry Vigor who has had moderate success in national championships in Central Shaneville.
#60 Harry Vigor (Endurance Co-Driver: Hana Vigor)
Shell V-Power Racing Team
Fuel giants Shell also jump on the touring car bandwagon and will join the Ford side of this Ford and Holden rivalry, they will field 2 cars and will use two former endurance racers which some see as a gamble
#55 Andy Priaulm (Endurance Co-Driver: Lucas Luhr)
#56 David Seeley (Endurance Co-Driver: Glenn Seton)
Black Swan Racing
A team based outside of Central Shaneville, Black Swan Racing is also known for endurance racing but like the Shell team they look to bring themselves success in touring cars.
#77 Connor Smith (Endurance Co-Driver: Nick Pollard)
Erebus Racing
Erebus is a Central Shaneville based computer company who decided to run a team using the Ford Mustang in the championship, they have no racing experience so this team is a very big unknown, the driver of the 7 car, Ian Johnson, chose his son Nick Johnson as his co-driver.
#7 Ian Johnson (Endurance Co-Driver: Nick Johnson)
#9 John Martin (Endurance Co-Driver: Chris Jackson)
Steve Owen Racing
#90 Steve Owen (Endurance Co-Driver: Jamie Kelly) - Steve Owen is a popular overseas touring car racer who has fielded his own team for Season 1 of the championship, he says he is looking forward to this new venture of his career and aims to be competitive but expects an uphill battle.
HOLDEN TEAMS
Red Bull Holden Factory Racing
Red Bull have a big presence in Central Shaneville so it was no surprise when they decided to be the main title sponsor to a Holden factory team once the announcement of the Central Shaneville Supercars Championship was out, a spectacular reveal at Shaneville City's Red Bull Arena football pitch definitely suggested the team is looking forward to being here, their drivers are as followers
Drivers: #19 Shane Wray - Shane Wray is a man of many talents in Central Shaneville yet the 21 year old footballer turned racer is really looking to find a place where he truly belongs so joined up with Red Bull and Holden to try and see if hes any good, a risky choice by the team. (Endurance Cup Co-Driver: Josh Smith)
#2 Jeff Favignano - Favignano has alot of experience on his side when it comes to racing however he can be very accident prone which maybe a cause for concern however he has assured everyone that his time crashing is well and truly behind him. (Endurance Cup Co-Driver: Jamie Pollock)
#99 James Whincup (Endurance Co-Driver: Craig Alan) - Whincup is experienced when it comes to Touring cars however during testing he declared that the Holden is very different and looks forward to seeing what it can do on track.
Team KA
Team KA was formed by Kurtis Alonso, the team is small yet scored a deal with Holden to run two cars for this season with two overseas talents in their cars, Alonso is confident the team can be dark horses.
#17 James Courtney - Courtney is a touring car "specialist" overseas and now wishes to bring his talent to the Central Shaneville Supercars Championship (Endurance Co-Driver: Greg Skaife)
#44 Ryan Walkinshaw - Walkinshaw is an unknown in racing, he recently was scouted in a touring car development series by Team KA. (Endurance Co-Driver: John Wood)
Beachside Racing
Beachside Racing was formed in Bayside in southern Central Shaneville meaning you could say its more of a franchise than a racing team as their Holden Commodore is supposedly very colorful despite the livery not being officially released, the team have also gone with youth over experience as they have apparently scouted "two future champions" according to an anonymous source.
#21 Matt Hall (Endurance Co Driver: Will Kelly) - Hall is the first of the scouted talent with the 20 year old saying he is "very excited to join the series."
#97 Chris van Dyck (Endurance Co Driver: Sam Power) - Van Dyck had a promising junior career in open wheelers however Van Dyck is known for his aggressive nature on track which has caused him to have a few crashes in his junior career but despite this there is no denying he is fast.
Lucky Dip Racing
Lucky Dip has been a sponsor of Central Shaneville racing for years now, the Central Shaneville based gambling company is now ready to take themselves to the next level by entering a team, they feel confident the Holden Commodore can give them good results.
#10 Sebastien Neuville (Endurance Co-Driver: Dean Fiore) - Neuville maybe a rower most of the time however his passion for racing runs deep and he hopes for a long and storied run in the championship.
#11 Tom Costantinou (Endurance Co-Driver: Lucas Bird) - Not much is known about Costantinou other than he started his career on bikes doing TT events all over the world, despite this he returns to his home of Central Shaneville to participate in this championship.
Velocity Racing Ltd.
#22 Joshua Beardmore (Endurance Co-Driver: Jenson Hamilton) - Beardmore is a great talent with an eye for racing, usually though its in open wheelers but following great success in open wheelers with 10 championships to his name - Beardmore looks to take the Supercars world too.
Scuderia Macleod Motorsport
#32 Kyle Macleod (Endurance Co-Driver: Kieran Macleod) - Macleod is another great open wheel talent that looks to transfer his success into Supercars and with his own team behind him he tends to do just that.
And with that we are all ready for lights out so stay tuned for the first race report and keep an eye on this thread as this is the home of Central Shaneville's new racing series.