10 Fast Facts: Chill Perth 360

1. With seven race winners from nine races so far, the 2013 V8 SupercarsChampionship can instantly be labeled the most competitive on record to thispoint.

Neverbefore in Australian Touring Car Championship/V8 Supercars Championship historyhas there been that sort of variety in the race winner's list from the firstnine races.

The two multiple race winners – Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright – are bothfrom the same Brad Jones Racing squad, while Coulthard and Fujitsu Racing GRM'sScott McLaughlin have both won their first championship races this season.

Fivedifferent teams – Red Bull Racing Australia, Tekno Autosports, Brad JonesRacing, Fujitsu Racing GRM and Ford Performance Racing – have collected thenine race wins.

Intotal contrast, two teams – Red Bull Racing Australia (then known asTeamVodafone) and Ford Performance Racing – won all 30 championship races lastyear between their four drivers.

Thisstatistic clearly illustrates how much the 2013 'Car of theFuture'-specification machines have shaken up the order.

2. The Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander racks up a special milestone athis home event in Perth – his 200th Australian Touring Car Championship/V8Supercars Championship event start.

The2007 Barbagallo winner becomes just the eighth man in ATCC/V8SC history toreach the '200' milestone having made his debut at Phillip Island back in April1998.

The35-year old has competed in 449 championship races to this point with 50 racewins – the last coming at Bathurst in 2011.

He'salso racked up 29 pole positions and 76 podium results, the most recent comingin the last event at Pukekohe in New Zealand.

Tanderwon all three races at Barbagallo in 2007 after qualifying on pole position. Healso took pole for the Saturday race at the circuit last year but was taken outin a first lap accident.

3. Fujitsu Racing GRM's Scott McLaughlin became the latest first-time V8Supercars Championship race winner in the last event in New Zealand and, indoing so, extended an amazing statistic for Garry Rogers' team.

Sevendifferent drivers have claimed their first V8SC race win while driving for GRM,more than any other team in championship history.

Thecount began with Jason Bargwanna at Calder in 1998 and continued with GarthTander (1999 Calder), Cameron McConville (2004 Winton), Dean Canto (2006Barbagallo), Lee Holdsworth (2007 Oran Park), Michael Caruso (2009 HiddenValley) and McLaughlin at Pukekohe this year.

4. Chaz Mostert will make his long-awaited V8 Supercars Championshipdebut at Barbagallo, replacing Jonny Reid in the #12 Dick Johnson RacingFalcon.

The21-year old Queenslander won the opening round of the Dunlop Series in Adelaidebut will sacrifice his points lead to move into the main championship for theremainder of the season.

Mostert,who won the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2010, has raced for FordPerformance Racing since late 2011 in the Dunlop Series and his move to DJR ispart of a strengthening of ties between the two Ford teams.

Hefinished sixth at Barbagallo in the Dunlop Series in 2011 and third last yearfor FPR.

5. While the 2012 domination of victories by Ford Performance Racing andTriple Eight has most certainly been broken in 2013, their rivals will have togo a long way to topping their recent success at Barbagallo.

Thetwo teams have claimed 10 of the last 11 races wins since 2008 between theirfour drivers – Mark Winterbottom (four), Jamie Whincup (three), Will Davison(two) and Craig Lowndes (one).

Andthe only team to stop them? It'sthe same team that is the current 'form' team of 2013 – Brad Jones Racing.

6. The number of hometown drivers for the Barbagallo event has beenhalved since last year with Garth Tander and Dean Fiore the only WesternAustralians on the grid for this year's Chill Perth 360.

WhileTander's record is well-known, Fiore has been racking up a range of career-bestresults so far this year in the #88 Dodo Insurance Racing Commodore for LucasDumbrell Motorsport.

The29-year old recorded a career-best ninth place at Symmons Plains and equaledhis career-best qualifying of 10th at the same event. Hecurrently sits 20th in the V8 Supercars Championship.

Lastyear Fiore racked up his best Barbagallo V8SC results, qualifying 11th for thefirst Sunday race and finishing 15th in the final race. 

7. Nissan makes its return to Barbagallo for the first time in over twodecades with its 2013 Altima and the Western Australian venue is one withplenty of history for the manufacturer.

GeorgeFury led home Glenn Seton in a 1-2 finish in the single-race 1986 round at thecircuit in a DR30 Skyline Turbo, while Seton won a year later in 1987, also ina DR30.

Nissanclaimed another 1-2 result in 1991 when Mark Skaife led home Jim Richards intheir mighty GT-Rs.

Theresult was a special one too given it was Skaife's very first ATCC/V8SCvictory.

RickKelly remains the highest-placed Nissan driver in the championship – hecurrently sits 13th in the pointscore.

Hequalified a season-high 12th at Pukekohe and also had a season-high race finishof seventh there.

8. The tight 'bullring' nature of the Barbagallo circuit – plus theawaiting sand traps for those that fall off the road – generally mean theappearance of the Pedders STP Safety Car is likely at some stage.

Since1998 – a span of 41 races – the Safety Car has appeared in 49% of ATCC/V8SCraces at Barbagallo Raceway.

Thelast time it appeared in all three races at Barbagallo was 2007, while the lasttime it didn't appear at all was 2011 – though this was the first time since2001 that this had occurred.

Noevent has been able to come close to 2005 though, when the Safety Car wascalled for seven times across the three races!

9. Five drivers are making their first V8 Supercars Championshipappearance at Barbagallo, though four of them have experience at the circuit inthe last two years in the Dunlop Series.

WhileSP Tools Racing's Maro Engel is a complete newcomer, Dick Johnson Racing duoChaz Mostert and Tim Blanchard, Fujitsu Racing GRM's Scott McLaughlin and EkolRacing's Scott Pye all have recent Dunlop Series success at the venue.

McLaughlinwon last year's DVS round in Perth from Pye and Mostert while Blanchardfinished fifth.

10. Erebus Motorsport V8 continues to make history in the V8 SupercarsChampionship and its trip to Barbagallo will also be a 'first'.

NoMercedes-Benz of any kind has ever raced in the ATCC/V8SC at Barbagallo Racewaysince the Championship first visited the circuit in 1973.

However,the venue does hold a unique place in ATCC/V8SC history given it was the siteof the first – and only – appearance of a Subaru in a Championship race in1973.

ElmerVajda qualified a whopping 25.2 seconds off Peter Brock's pole-sitting ToranaXU-1 and finished 11th, nine laps down on winner Allan Moffat's Falcon GT-HO – in a 35 lap race!