# Super2 Series

The Dunlop Super2 Series (formerly known as Dunlop Series, Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, HPDC V8 Supercars Series, Konica Minolta V8 Supercars Series and Konica V8 Supercars/Lites Series) is an Australian touring car racing competition, specifically the second tier series for Supercars competitors. Competing vehicles are older than those utilised in the Supercars Championship series and are usually run by smaller teams with lower budgets.
The vast majority of drivers in the Supercars Championship have raced at least one season in the Super2 Series Championship. For parts of its history, competing in the Super2 Series was required for most drivers to qualify for a Motorsport Australia Superlicence, which is required to compete in the Supercars Championship, or was enforced as a separate requirement by the Supercars Championship organisers.

## History

The series was first held in 2000 as the 2000 Konica V8 Lites Series and this inaugural contest was won by Dean Canto. Towards the end of the season Stone Brothers Racing entered a car for David Besnard as preparation for the long distance races, in the main V8 Supercar series, the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000, which unlike the other races require two drivers for each competing vehicle. Since then main series teams have used the series to help get their endurance co-drivers up-to-speed, or have employed drivers competing for other Fujitsu Series teams. While originally Fujitsu Series teams were allowed to enter main series events, this has since been discontinued as all main series events are limited to those teams carrying valid franchise slots for the main series, although in limited circumstances Fujitsu series teams have been able to lease entries from main series teams.
The 2007 champion, Tony D'Alberto, drove for the Tony D'Alberto Racing team, and like many of his predecessors, graduated to the V8 Supercar series in 2008, again with the family team.
From 2009 onward all Super2 Series have run on the Supercars calendar.
This series carries the colloquial title of 'Development Series' which was the name given to the series by V8 Supercar Australia between the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The colloquial title is referred to in many conversations, even though there has never been a Development Series race because a naming rights sponsor was found before the start of the 2005 season.
Started during the 2016 year season of the Dunlop Super2 Series (Named as Supercars Dunlop Series) Car of The Future later known as New Generation V8 Supercar specification cars were eligible in the series.
In the 2021 season of the series, The Kumho Tyre V8 Touring Car Series (Later named as Kumho Tyre Super3 Series in 2019 before being named as Dunlop Super3 Series) joined alongside the Dunlop Super2 Series category for the first time as a class racing on track at the same time.
Started in the year 2023 season of the Dunlop Super2 & Super3 Series only the Gen2 Specification built cars (Holden Commodore ZB & Ford Mustang GT (S550)) were to become eligible in the Super2 Series class. Car of The Future also known as New Generation V8 Supercar specification built cars were sold & sent down to teams in the Super3 Series class of the Dunlop Super2 & Super3 Series.
Starting in the 2025 year season the Dunlop Series will revert down to a single class of the Super2 Series removing the Super3 Series due to low grid numbers with as much as two or three cars in the Super3 Series class during round weekends of the 2024 Dunlop Super2 & Super3 Series season. Cars that were built under Car of The Future (Also Known as New Generation V8 Supercar) Regulations such as the Holden Commodore VF, Ford Falcon FG-X and Nissan Altima are set to be re-eligible back in the Super2 Series in the 2025 Year season.

## Championship format

The Super2 series runs at a subset of Supercars Championship rounds (for instance in 2025, there will be six Super2 rounds).
During each round, there are two races of 40 minutes duration, one on the Saturday and one on the Sunday of the race weekend. There is a separate qualifying session for each race.
Championship points for each race result are awarded on a sliding scale, with each race result given equal weighting (unlike in the Supercars Championship, where longer races are awarded more points).

## Costs

One 2023 estimate puts the cost of competing in the Super2 series for a season at "up to A$600,000...for a top car". While much lower than the Supercars Championship, it is much higher than many other Australian racing series such as the Trico Trans-Am Series, TCR Australia Touring Car Series, and the now-defunct S5000 Australian Drivers Championship.

## Series winners

| Season | Series Name | Series Winner | Car | Team |
| 2000 | Konica V8 Lites Series | Dean Canto | Ford EL Falcon | Dean Canto Racing |
| 2001 | Konica V8 Supercar Series | Simon Wills | Holden VT Commodore | Team Dynamik |
| 2002 | Konica V8 Supercar Series | Paul Dumbrell | Holden VX Commodore | Independent Race Cars Australia |
| 2003 | Konica V8 Supercar Series | Mark Winterbottom | Ford AU Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing |
| 2004 | Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series | Andrew Jones | Ford AU Falcon | Brad Jones Racing |
| 2005 | HPDC V8 Supercar Series | Dean Canto | Ford BA Falcon | Dick Johnson Racing |
| 2006 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Adam Macrow | Ford BA Falcon | Howard Racing |
| 2007 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Tony D'Alberto | Holden VZ Commodore | Tony D'Alberto Racing |
| 2008 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Steve Owen | Holden VZ Commodore | Scott Loadsman Racing |
| 2009 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Jonathon Webb | Ford BF Falcon | MW Motorsport |
| 2010 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Steve Owen | Holden VE Commodore | Greg Murphy Racing |
| 2011 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | Andrew Thompson | Holden VE Commodore | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| 2012 | Dunlop V8 Supercar Series | Scott McLaughlin | Ford FG Falcon | Stone Brothers Racing Matt Stone Racing |
| 2013 | Dunlop V8 Supercar Series | Dale Wood | Ford FG Falcon | MW Motorsport |
| 2014 | Dunlop V8 Supercar Series | Paul Dumbrell | Holden VE Commodore | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2015 | V8 Supercars Dunlop Series | Cam Waters | Ford FG Falcon | Prodrive Racing Australia |
| 2016 | Supercars Dunlop Series | Garry Jacobson | Ford FG X Falcon | Prodrive Racing Australia |
| 2017 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Todd Hazelwood | Holden VF Commodore | Matt Stone Racing |
| 2018 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Chris Pither | Holden VF Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2019 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Bryce Fullwood | Nissan Altima L33 | MW Motorsport |
| 2020 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Thomas Randle | Nissan Altima L33 | MW Motorsport |
| 2021 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Broc Feeney | Holden VF Commodore | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| 2022 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Declan Fraser | Holden VF Commodore | Triple Eight Race Engineering |
| 2023 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Kai Allen | Holden ZB Commodore | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2024 | Dunlop Super2 Series | Zach Bates | Holden ZB Commodore | Walkinshaw Andretti United |

### Rookie of the Year Winners

| Season | Winner | Car | Team |
| 2021 | Matt McLean | Holden Commodore VF | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2022 | Matthew Payne | Nissan Altima L33 | Grove Racing |
| 2023 | Kai Allen | Holden Commodore ZB | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2024 | Jarrod Hughes | Holden Commodore ZB | Image Racing |

## Records (Top-5)

| Series wins | Series wins | Series wins | Driver starts | Driver starts | Driver starts | Driver round wins | Driver round wins | Driver round wins | Driver race wins | Driver race wins | Driver race wins | Team round wins | Team round wins | Team round wins |
| Pos. | Driver | Titles | Pos. | Driver | Starts | Pos. | Driver | Wins | Pos. | Driver | Wins | Pos. | Team | Wins |
| 1 | Dean Canto | 2 | 1 | Aaron McGill | 68 | 1 | Steve Owen | 10 | 1 | Dean Canto | 21 | 1 | MW Motorsport | 21 |
| 1 | Steve Owen | 2 | 2 | Geoff Emery | 55 | 2 | Dean Canto | 9 | 1 | Paul Dumbrell | 21 | 2 | Tickford Racing | 18 |
| 1 | Paul Dumbrell | 2 | 3 | Marcus Zukanovic | 53 | 3 | Andrew Thompson | 8 | 3 | Steve Owen | 20 | 3 | Eggleston Motorsport | 15 |
| 4 | 19 drivers with single series wins | 19 drivers with single series wins | 4 | Mark Howard | 39 | 3 | Paul Dumbrell | 8 | 4 | Andrew Thompson | 16 | 4 | Howard Racing | 11 |
| 4 | 19 drivers with single series wins | 19 drivers with single series wins | 4 | Drew Russell | 39 | 5 | Adam Macrow | 7 | 5 | Owen Kelly | 13 | 5 | Dick Johnson Racing | 9 |
    Note: bold text indicates active drivers and teams.