# 2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship

The 2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as a national championship with Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd appointed as the Category Manager by CAMS. The title, which was the eleventh Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship, was won by Nick Foster.
Sonic Motor Racing Services driver Foster won eight races during the season, with two runs of four consecutive victories including weekend sweeps at Townsville and Sandown. Foster finished sixty-four points ahead of Finance EZI Racing's David Russell, who took eleven podium finishes during the season but only one win, at Bathurst. Third place in the championship went to Matt Campbell (McElrea Racing), who won six races, including a weekend sweep at Surfers Paradise as part of a four-race win streak to close the season. Defending champion Steven Richards won five of the first six races, but only returned to the podium four times over the remaining sixteen races to finish fourth in the championship. Foster's teammate Nick McBride and Hamilton Autohaus driver Shane Smollen were the other race-winners, winning at Albert Park and Phillip Island respectively. Foster also won the Professional sub-classification by 46 points, while Smollen won the Elite sub-classification by 60 points ahead of Stephen Grove.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the championship.
| Team | No. | Driver | Rd 3 co-driver | Class | Rounds |
| Steve Richards Motorsport | 1 | Steven Richards | Dean Grant | Professional | All |
| Grove Group | 4 | Stephen Grove | Scott McLaughlin | Elite | All |
| McElrea Racing | 5 | Spike Goddard | | Professional | 1–2 |
| McElrea Racing | 5 | Tony Walls | | Elite | 7 |
| McElrea Racing | 7 | Matt Campbell | Tim Miles | Professional | All |
| McElrea Racing | 56 | Shane Smollen | Nick Percat | Elite | All |
| Garth Walden Racing | 6 | Ash Samadi | Dean Fiore | Elite | All |
| Porsche Centre Melbourne | 8 | Craig Baird | Max Twigg | Professional | All |
| Hallmarc | 9 | Marc Cini | Christopher Mies | Elite | All |
| Finance EZI Racing | 10 | David Russell | James Koundouris | Professional | All |
| Team BRM | 11 | Simon Hodge | Ray Angus | Professional | 1–5 |
| Team BRM | 11 | John Magro | | Professional | 6 |
| Team BRM | 22 | Richard Muscat | Sam Walter | Professional | All |
| Team BRM | 45 | Duvashen Padayachee | Indiran Padayachee | Professional | All |
| Porsche Centre Brighton | 13 | James Bergmuller | Alex Davison | Elite | All |
| Buik Motorsport | 14 | Cameron McConville | John Goodacre | Professional | 1–3 |
| Buik Motorsport | 25 | John Martin | | Professional | 4–8 |
| Buik Motorsport | 26 | Michael Almond | John Karytinos | Professional | All |
| AVCS | 18 | Max Twigg | | Elite | 2 |
| Lago Racing | 23 | Roger Lago | Steve Owen | Elite | 1–4 |
| Tony Bates Racing | 24 | Tony Bates | Daniel Gaunt | Elite | All |
| Sonic Motor Racing Services | 39 | Adrian Mastronardo | Tim Slade | Elite | All |
| Sonic Motor Racing Services | 77 | Nick McBride | Neale Muston | Professional | All |
| Sonic Motor Racing Services | 777 | Nick Foster | Dylan Thomas | Professional | All |
| DNA Racing | 65 | Fraser Ross | David Ryan | Professional | All |
| Koala Motorsport | 69 | Brenton Griguol | | Elite | 7 |
| Scott Taylor Motorsport | 88 | Shae Davies | Geoff Emery | Professional | 2–3, 5-6, 8 |
| Scott Taylor Motorsport | 222 | Scott Taylor | Dean Canto | Elite | 1–5, 7–8 |
| Scott Taylor Motorsport | 222 | Aaron Seton | | Professional | 6 |
All vehicles were Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991 cars, as mandated by the championship regulations.

## Race calendar

The championship was contested over eight rounds.
| Round | Round | Circuit | City / state | Date | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team | Round winner |
| 1 | R1 | Adelaide Street Circuit | Adelaide, South Australia | 27 February | Nick Foster | Steven Richards | Steven Richards | Steve Richards Motorsport | Steven Richards |
| 1 | R2 | Adelaide Street Circuit | Adelaide, South Australia | 28 February | | Nick Foster | Steven Richards | Steve Richards Motorsport | Steven Richards |
| 1 | R3 | Adelaide Street Circuit | Adelaide, South Australia | 1 March | | Steven Richards | Steven Richards | Steve Richards Motorsport | Steven Richards |
| 2 | R1 | Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit | Melbourne, Victoria | 13 March | Nick McBride | Cameron McConville | Nick McBride | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Steven Richards |
| 2 | R2 | Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit | Melbourne, Victoria | 14 March | | Steven Richards | Steven Richards | Steve Richards Motorsport | Steven Richards |
| 2 | R3 | Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit | Melbourne, Victoria | 15 March | | Shae Davies | Steven Richards | Steve Richards Motorsport | Steven Richards |
| 3 | R1 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 23 May | Cameron McConville John Goodacre | Stephen Grove Scott McLaughlin | Shane Smollen Nick Percat | Hamilton Autohaus | Shane Smollen Nick Percat |
| 3 | R2 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 24 May | Matt Campbell Tim Miles | Stephen Grove Scott McLaughlin | Nick Foster Dylan Thomas | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Shane Smollen Nick Percat |
| 4 | R1 | Townsville Street Circuit | Townsville, Queensland | 11 July | David Russell | Richard Muscat | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 4 | R2 | Townsville Street Circuit | Townsville, Queensland | 12 July | | Steven Richards | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 4 | R3 | Townsville Street Circuit | Townsville, Queensland | 12 July | | Nick Foster | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 5 | R1 | Sydney Motorsport Park | Eastern Creek, New South Wales | 22 August | Nick Foster | Matt Campbell | Matt Campbell | McElrea Racing | Nick Foster |
| 5 | R2 | Sydney Motorsport Park | Eastern Creek, New South Wales | 22 August | | Nick Foster | Matt Campbell | McElrea Racing | Nick Foster |
| 5 | R3 | Sydney Motorsport Park | Eastern Creek, New South Wales | 23 August | | Nick Foster | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 6 | R1 | Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 12 September | Matt Campbell | Nick Foster | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 6 | R2 | Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 12 September | | Nick McBride | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 6 | R3 | Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 13 September | | Nick McBride | Nick Foster | Sonic Motor Racing Services | Nick Foster |
| 7 | R1 | Mount Panorama Circuit | Bathurst, New South Wales | 9 October | Matt Campbell | Matt Campbell | David Russell | Finance EZI Racing | Matt Campbell |
| 7 | R2 | Mount Panorama Circuit | Bathurst, New South Wales | 10 October | | Race abandoned | Race abandoned | Race abandoned | | Matt Campbell |
| 7 | R3 | Mount Panorama Circuit | Bathurst, New South Wales | 11 October | | Matt Campbell | Matt Campbell | McElrea Racing | Matt Campbell |
| 8 | R1 | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | 24 October | David Russell | Matt Campbell | Matt Campbell | McElrea Racing | Matt Campbell |
| 8 | R2 | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | 25 October | | Craig Baird | Matt Campbell | McElrea Racing | Matt Campbell |
| 8 | R3 | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | 25 October | | Matt Campbell | Matt Campbell | McElrea Racing | Matt Campbell |

## Championship standings
### Points system

Championship points were awarded at each race as per the table below:
| Points format | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position | Position |
| Points format | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th |
| Three races | 60 | 54 | 48 | 42 | 36 | 32 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Two races | 90 | 81 | 72 | 63 | 54 | 48 | 43.5 | 39 | 34.5 | 30 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 16.5 | 15 | 13.5 | 12 | 10.5 | 9 | 7.5 | 6 | 4.5 | 3 | 1.5 |
Each driver was deemed by the Category Manager to be in either the Professional Class or the Elite Class for the purpose of awarding class points. For class awards, each driver in each class who was classified as a finisher received points in accordance with the above pointscore table relative to each other driver in their class.

### Overall

| Pos. | Driver | No. | ADE | ADE | ADE | MEL | MEL | MEL | PHI | PHI | TOW | TOW | TOW | SYD | SYD | SYD | SAN | SAN | SAN | BAT | BAT | SUR | SUR | SUR | Pts. |
| 1 | Nick Foster | 777 | Ret | Ret | DNS | Ret | 10th | 5th | 6th | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 956 |
| 2 | David Russell | 10 | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | 5th | 8th | 6th | Ret | 16th | 3rd | 2nd | 17th | 5th | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 5th | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 892 |
| 3 | Matt Campbell | 7 | Ret | 15th | Ret | 4th | 7th | 7th | Ret | 11th | 4th | 6th | 5th | 1st | 1st | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 860 |
| 4 | Steven Richards | 1 | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 7th | 10th | 6th | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | Ret | 8th | Ret | 7th | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 12th | 12th | 11th | 846.5 |
| 5 | Craig Baird | 8 | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 6th | 4th | 2nd | 9th | 7th | 5th | 5th | 3rd | 6th | 4th | 2nd | Ret | 10th | 6th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 4th | Ret | 806 |
| 6 | Richard Muscat | 22 | 5th | 5th | 6th | 8th | 6th | 8th | 12th | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 4th | Ret | DNS | 9th | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 8th | 7th | 6th | 5th | 4th | 754 |
| 7 | Nick McBride | 77 | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 3rd | 23rd | 4th | 5th | DNS | 10th | 7th | 8th | 6th | 6th | 17th | 11th | 11th | 6th | 6th | 9th | 8th | 7th | 692 |
| 8 | Michael Almond | 26 | 7th | 7th | 7th | 10th | 9th | 9th | 11th | Ret | 7th | 7th | Ret | 10th | 7th | 7th | 8th | 5th | 8th | 7th | 11th | 4th | 7th | 8th | 538 |
| 9 | Shane Smollen | 56 | 15th | 14th | 12th | 17th | 17th | 16th | 1st | 2nd | 12th | 11th | 13th | 13th | 13th | 13th | 9th | 16th | 14th | 12th | 13th | 10th | 15th | 15th | 445 |
| 10 | Shae Davies | 88 | | | | 7th | 5th | 4th | 5th | 8th | | | | 4th | 5th | 4th | 12th | 13th | 9th | | | 8th | 6th | 6th | 438 |
| 11 | Stephen Grove | 4 | 11th | 13th | 13th | 13th | 18th | 18th | 2nd | 6th | 13th | 12th | 11th | 14th | 11th | 15th | 13th | 15th | 15th | 14th | 14th | 18th | 14th | 13th | 388 |
| 12 | Duvashen Padayachee | 45 | Ret | 11th | 9th | 9th | 13th | 12th | 16th | 17th | 9th | 16th | 8th | 12th | 9th | 12th | Ret | 17th | 12th | 9th | 9th | 7th | 16th | 10th | 366.5 |
| 13 | Fraser Ross | 65 | 8th | 9th | Ret | 14th | 12th | 10th | 15th | Ret | 11th | 19th | 12th | 9th | 8th | 19th | 10th | 6th | Ret | 10th | 10th | 15th | 9th | 9th | 359.5 |
| 14 | Cameron McConville | 14 | 6th | 6th | 5th | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 322 |
| 15 | Tony Bates | 24 | 9th | 10th | 10th | 15th | 14th | 17th | 14th | 19th | Ret | 13th | 10th | DNS | DNS | DNS | 7th | 14th | 13th | 13th | 12th | 11th | 11th | 12th | 284.5 |
| 16 | John Martin | 25 | | | | | | | | | 10th | 9th | 6th | 7th | Ret | 10th | Ret | 9th | 7th | 11th | 8th | 20th | 10th | 5th | 282 |
| 17 | Simon Hodge | 11 | 10th | 8th | 8th | Ret | Ret | 14th | 17th | 18th | 8th | 8th | 9th | 11th | 10th | 11th | | | | | | | | | 240.5 |
| 18 | Ash Samadi | 6 | 13th | 17th | 15th | 20th | 21st | 20th | 13th | 13th | 16th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 16th | 16th | 14th | 20th | 18th | 16th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 18th | 227 |
| 19 | Adrian Mastronardo | 39 | Ret | 16th | 16th | 21st | 20th | 21st | 10th | 4th | 18th | 20th | Ret | Ret | 14th | 17th | 16th | 18th | 17th | 18th | 20th | 19th | Ret | 17th | 221 |
| 20 | Marc Cini | 9 | 14th | Ret | 14th | 16th | 19th | 19th | 18th | 14th | 15th | 14th | 16th | 18th | 17th | Ret | 15th | 19th | 19th | 17th | 19th | 14th | Ret | 16th | 191 |
| 21 | James Bergmuller | 13 | DNS | DNS | DNS | 18th | 22nd | 22nd | Ret | 15th | 14th | 18th | 14th | 16th | 12th | 14th | 11th | 21st | 16th | Ret | 18th | 13th | 13th | 14th | 183.5 |
| 22 | Roger Lago | 23 | 12th | 12th | 11th | Ret | 15th | 15th | 8th | 9th | DNS | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | | | | | | 145.5 |
| 23 | Scott Taylor | 222 | 16th | 18th | 17th | 19th | 23rd | Ret | Ret | 12th | 17th | 17th | Ret | 17th | 15th | 18th | | | | Ret | 16th | 16th | 18th | Ret | 135 |
| 24 | Aaron Seton | 222 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6th | 12th | 10th | | | | | | 68 |
| 25 | John Magro | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5th | 8th | Ret | | | | | | 62 |
| 26 | Max Twigg | 18 | | | | 11th | 11th | 13th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 50 |
| 27 | Spike Goddard | 5 | Ret | DNS | DNS | 12th | 16th | 11th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 44 |
| 28 | Tony Walls | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 15th | 15th | | | | 22 |
| 29 | Brenton Griguol | 69 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 19th | Ret | | | | 7 |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |

### Professional

| Pos. | Driver | Pts. |
| 1 | Nick Foster | 971 |
| 2 | David Russell | 925 |
| 3 | Matt Campbell | 883.5 |
| 4 | Steven Richards | 881 |
| 5 | Craig Baird | 839 |
| 6 | Richard Muscat | 778 |
| 7 | Nick McBride | 748 |
| 8 | Michael Almond | 557.5 |
| 9 | Shae Davies | 478 |
| 10 | Duvashen Padayachee | 423.5 |
| 11 | Fraser Ross | 416.5 |
| 12 | Cameron McConville | 340 |
| 13 | John Martin | 292 |
| 14 | Simon Hodge | 277 |
| 15 | Aaron Seton | 68 |
| 16 | John Magro | 62 |
| 17 | Spike Goddard | 50 |

### Elite

| Pos. | Driver | Pts. |
| 1 | Shane Smollen | 1178 |
| 2 | Stephen Grove | 1118 |
| 3 | Tony Bates | 972.5 |
| 4 | Ash Samadi | 784 |
| 5 | James Bergmuller | 684 |
| 6 | Marc Cini | 675 |
| 7 | Adrian Mastronardo | 637 |
| 8 | Scott Taylor | 459 |
| 9 | Roger Lago | 393 |
| 10 | Max Twigg | 180 |
| 11 | Tony Walls | 84 |
| 12 | Brenton Griguol | 26 |