As the 2018 Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia season enters round three at Phillip Island – and kick starts the 2018 Endurance Cup – here are the best facts and stats from Australia’s fastest one-make series.

EVENT HISTORY
The third round of the 2018 Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia will be the 109th round held in the history of the series since it began in 2003. Phillip Island hosted the first-ever round of the series in that year, won by Jim Richards.

Last year Phillip Island hosted the 300th Carrera Cup championship race.

The Phillip Island round this year will feature races number 322 and 323 in series history.

Each race is scheduled to be held over 25 laps (111.125-kilometres), making them the longest single driver races ever seen in Carrera Cup history. Should they be affected by a time certain finish, at least 21 laps (93.345-kilometres) will need to be completed to break the record given the previous longest single driver race was Race 1 at Bathurst last year over 15 laps (93.195-kilometres).

This year is the 10th time the Carrera Cup has competed at Phillip Island and the first single driver round held there since 2012, won by Craig Baird.

The circuit has featured on the Carrera Cup calendar in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011-2012, 2014-2015 and 2017.

In 2005 and 2006 the circuit hosted the final round of the Carrera Cup and in 2014, 2015 and 2017 it hosted the Pro- Am round of the series with two drivers in each car.

David Wall and Stephen Grove are the only drivers in the 2018 field to have won a Carrera Cup round overall at Phillip Island. Grove teamed with Scott McLaughlin to win the 2014 Pro-Am round, while Wall teamed with Shane Smollen to win the 2017 Pro-Am round last year.

Grove and Scott McLaughlin made history at Phillip Island in 2014 – they won the round having qualified 15th – it’s the lowest qualifying position for a round winner in championship history.

Phillip Island is the only circuit in Carrera Cup history where there have been multiple occasions that drivers have won the round without winning a race that weekend. Jim Richards did it in 2005, Stephen Grove/Scott McLaughlin did it in 2014 and last year David Wall/Shane Smollen won the round without winning a race.

Jim Richards Racing remains the only team to ever win multiple Phillip Island Carrera Cup rounds. Team owner/driver Jim Richards won the 2003 and 2005 rounds while the remaining round wins have since been split between Sonic Motor Racing, Fitzgerald Racing Services, Melbourne Performance Centre, Alliance Group Racing, Grove Racing, McElrea Racing and Wall Racing.

Reigning TAG Heuer Pro-Am Champion Stephen Grove has finished on the podium in the category in the last three Phillip Island rounds in a row. He was Pro-Am (and overall) round winner in 2014 and runner-up in 2015 and 2017.

GAPS AND MARGINS
Phillip Island is the site of the biggest race-winning margin in Carrera Cup history. Jonny Reid led home Alex Davison by 13.7760s to win Race 3 in 2012.

The closest race-winning margin at Phillip Island in Carrera Cup is 0.1234s with Craig Baird holding off Daniel Gaunt in Race 2 in 2011. It remains the fourth-closest race finish in the category’s history.

The closest pole position margin at Phillip Island in Carrera Cup is 0.0194s between Nick Foster and Jonny Reid in 2012.

The biggest pole margin at Phillip Island in Carrera Cup is 1.5672s (on combined times) between Nick Foster/Ryan Simpson and Shae Davies/Adam Gowans in 2014’s Pro-Am round. It is the biggest pole-winning margin in PWSCCA history.

DRIVER MILESTONES
Alex Davison will make his 54th Carrera Cup round start at Phillip Island, tying him with Rodney Jane for third on the list of most rounds started in series history. Only Marc Cini (97) and Craig Baird (66) have started more.

Stephen Grove makes his 46th Carrera Cup round start at Phillip Island, tying him with Steve Richards and Shane Smollen in series record books for eighth on the list of most rounds started.

STREAKS
Jaxon Evans is aiming for his fourth straight Carrera Cup round victory having won the last round in 2017 on the Gold Coast and first two rounds of 2018 at Adelaide and Albert Park. The last driver to win four rounds in a row in Carrera Cup was Craig Baird in 2008 – he won at Barbagallo, Sandown, Queensland Raceway and Phillip Island.

In fact, Alex Davison (six in a row across 2003/04), Jim Richards (four in a row in 2003) and Baird are the only drivers in PWSCCA history to ever win four rounds of the series in a row.

Evans’ team McElrea Racing has won the last three rounds of Carrera Cup with Evans driving and is aiming for four – Fitzgerald Racing Services (with Baird in 2008) is the last team to win four rounds of the series in a row.

PHILLIP ISLAND LAP RECORDS
Qualifying Matt Campbell McElrea Racing 1m30.0141s 2015
Race Scott Mclaughlin Grove Motorsport 1m31.1343s 2015

PHILLIP ISLAND ROUND WINNERS
2003 Jim Richards
2005 Jim Richards
2006 David Reynolds
2008 Craig Baird
2011 Daniel Gaunt
2012 Craig Baird
2014 Stephen Grove/Scott McLaughlin
2015 Shane Smollen/Nick Percat
2017 David Wall/Shane Smollen
2 – Jim Richards, Craig Baird, Shane Smollen
1 – David Reynolds, Daniel Gaunt, Stephen Grove, Scott McLaughlin, Nick Percat, David Wall

PHILLIP ISLAND RACE WINNERS
2003 Jim Richards Jim Richards Jim Richards
2005 David Reynolds Fabian Coulthard Fabian Coulthard
2006 David Reynolds David Reynolds David Reynolds
2008 Craig Baird Aaron Caratti David Russell
2011 Daniel Gaunt Craig Baird Daniel Gaunt
2012 Daniel Gaunt Craig Baird Jonny Reid
2014 Craig Baird/Max Twigg Shane Smollen/Nick Percat
2015 Shane Smollen/Nick Percat Nick Foster/Dylan Thomas
2017 Nick McBride/Dylan Thomas Dean Grant/Lee Holdsworth
4 – David Reynolds, Craig Baird
3 – Jim Richards, Daniel Gaunt
2 – Fabian Coulthard, Shane Smollen, Nick Percat, Dylan Thomas
1 – Aaron Caratti, David Russell, Jonny Reid, Max Twigg, Nick Foster, Nick McBride, Dean Grant, Lee Holdsworth

PHILLIP ISLAND PODIUM FINISHERS
2003 Jim Richards Peter Fitzgerald Marcus Marshall
2005 Jim Richards Fabian Coulthard Jonathon Webb
2006 David Reynolds Alex Davison David Wall
2008 Craig Baird Aaron Caratti Bryce Washington
2011 Daniel Gaunt Jonny Reid Craig Baird
2012 Craig Baird Daniel Gaunt Steve Richards
2014 Stephen Grove/Scott McLaughlin Craig Baird/Max Twigg James Bergmuller/Dale Wood
2015 Shane Smollen/Nick Percat Nick Foster/Dylan Thomas Stephen Grove/Scott McLaughlin
2017 David Wall/Shane Smollen Dean Grant/Lee Holdsworth Andre Heimgartner/Aaron Ireland
4 – Craig Baird
2 – Jim Richards, Daniel Gaunt, Stephen Grove, Scott McLaughlin, David Wall, Shane Smollen
1 – Peter Fitzgerald, Marcus Marshall, Fabian Coulthard, Jonathon Webb, David Reynolds, Alex Davison, Aaron Caratti, Bryce Washington, Jonny Reid, Steve Richards, Max Twigg, James Bergmuller, Dale Wood, Nick Percat, Nick Foster, Dylan Thomas, Dean Grant, Lee Holdsworth, Andre Heimgartner, Aaron Ireland

PHILLIP ISLAND POLE POSITIONS
2003 Jim Richards
2005 Jim Richards
2006 David Reynolds
2008 Aaron Caratti
2011 Jonny Reid
2012 Nick Foster
2014 Nick Foster/Ryan Simpson
2015 Shane Smollen/Nick Percat
2017 Stephen Grove/Tim Slade
2 – Jim Richards, Nick Foster
1 – David Reynolds, Aaron Caratti, Jonny Reid, Ryan Simpson, Shane Smollen, Nick Percat, Stephen Grove, Tim Slade

PHILLIP ISLAND TAG HEUER PRO-AM ROUND WINNERS
2005 Andrew Luxton
2006 Dean Grant
2008 James Koundouris
2011 Max Twigg
2012 Max Twigg
2014 Stephen Grove
2015 Shane Smollen
2017 Dean Grant
2 – Max Twigg, Dean Grant
1 – Andrew Luxton, James Koundouris, Stephen Grove, Shane Smollen

PHILLIP ISLAND TAG HEUER PRO-AM RACE WINS
2005 James Koundouris Andrew Luxton Andrew Luxton
2006 Tony Quinn Dean Grant Rodney Jane
2008 James Koundouris Max Twigg James Koundouris
2011 Max Twigg Damien Flack Max Twigg
2012 Max Twigg Max Twigg Max Twigg
2014 Stephen Grove Shane Smollen
2015 Shane Smollen Shane Smollen
2017 Sam Shahin Dean Grant
6 – Max Twigg
3 – James Koundouris, Shane Smollen
2 – Andrew Luxton, Dean Grant
1 – Tony Quinn, Rodney Jane, Damien Flack, Stephen Grove, Sam Shahin

 

PHILLIP ISLAND TAG HEUER PRO-AM POLE POSITIONS
2005 James Koundouris
2006 Tony Quinn
2008 Peter Hill
2011 James Koundouris
2012 James Koundouris
2014 Tony Bates
2015 Shane Smollen
2017 Stephen Grove
3 – James Koundouris
1 – Tony Quinn, Peter Hill, Tony Bates, Shane Smollen, Stephen Grove

PHILLIP ISLAND TAG HEUER PRO-AM PODIUM FINISHERS
2005 Andrew Luxton Theo Koundouris Tony Quinn
2006 Dean Grant Tony Quinn Shaun Juniper
2008 James Koundouris Theo Koundouris Shaun Juniper
2011 Max Twigg Damien Flack James Koundouris
2012 Max Twigg Shane Smollen Tony Bates
2014 Stephen Grove James Bergmuller Ash Samadi
2015 Shane Smollen Stephen Grove Adrian Mastronardo
2017 Dean Grant Stephen Grove Sam Shahin
3 – Stephen Grove
2 – Theo Koundouris, Tony Quinn, Dean Grant, Shaun Juniper, James Koundouris, Max Twigg, Shane Smollen
1 – Andrew Luxton, Damien Flack, Tony Bates, James Bergmuller, Ash Samadi, Adrian Mastronardo, Sam Shahin