10 stats that mattered in season 2020
- Repco Supercars Championship
- |
- 31/12/2020
The 2020 Supercars Championship played host to some record-breaking milestones, with some key droughts also being broken.
The season featured 27 races amid a truncated schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn't stop competitors putting on some masterclasses.
Some drivers and teams ended long waits for glory, while others’ sustained runs of success were rewarded with trips to the history books.
In the wake of a crazy year, Supercars.com has highlighted 10 key statistics which helped shape the 2020 season.
86) Whincup the lion king
Jamie Whincup is no stranger to milestones, and he began 2020 with one he’ll remember for some time.
His 119th career race win was his 86th in a Holden, moving one ahead of former Triple Eight teammate turned co-driver Craig Lowndes on the all-time tally.
The milestone came in an emotional week for Holden, with parent company General Motors announcing it will wind up the Holden brand by 2021.
2:03.5592) Waters paces the mountain
The Monster Energy Mustang was on the money all weekend, and Waters made the form count when it mattered.
The Tickford ace was the only driver to dip into the 2:03s bracket with his brilliant Shootout lap, with his 2:03.5592s flyer putting him a whopping 0.4429s clear of Scott McLaughlin.
Waters also eclipsed Chaz Mostert’s 2019 pole time by 0.2305s.
50) Hot Pye
Scott Pye emerged as the strongest lights-to-flag racer in 2020, with the Team 18 recruit’s average finishing position (10.9) far better than his average starting position (13.3).
Pye was one of 10 drivers who started 13 or more races in 2020 to have a better average finishing position than where he started.
His 2.4 position gain per race was miles ahead of the rest, with Chris Pither (1.7), Jack Smith (1.6), Rick Kelly (1.6) and James Courtney (1.4) behind.
Just how good was Pye in 2020? His three Darwin podiums came from starts of 10th, third and eighth - but it gets better.
Across the six Townsville races, he gained a staggering 50 positions - 15th to ninth, 19th to ninth, 15th to sixth, 17th to ninth, 11th to sixth, and 17th to fifth.
48) McLaughlin overtakes Brock
Scott McLaughlin became no stranger to winning in his time in Shell colours, and he’ll depart for IndyCar among the all-time greats in the Supercars record books.
He didn't stop there, with the Kiwi moving into fourth on the all-time winners list with 56 victories prior to the Bathurst 1000.
Garth Tander, co-driving with Shane van Gisbergen, drew level with McLaughlin on 56 wins following his Bathurst victory.
4) Percat doubles his tally
Nick Percat entered 2020 with two career wins. At the end of the season, he had doubled his career tally.
His stunning rookie win at Bathurst in 2011 came almost four years before his 2016 Adelaide triumph, and it would be over four years before he’d win another race.
Desperate not to wait as long again, Percat followed up his Race 8 win at Sydney Motorsport Park with victory in Race 11 at the same circuit three weeks later.
105) SVG and GT lead the way
Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander waltzed to a stunning Bathurst 1000 victory, with the #97 Commodore the class of the field.
The duo led 105 of the race’s 161 laps, which marked the most laps led by a Bathurst-winning combo since Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup combined for 109 laps in the lead in 2008.
Whincup and Paul Dumbrell led 102 laps en route to victory in 2012, but the mountain isn’t always kind - they also led 133 laps in 2016, but failed to win the race following the infamous redress incident.
1570) BJR's Townsville delight
Brad Jones Racing had a day to remember in Townsville, with the Albury team’s cars starting on pole for both Sunday races.
Nick Percat clinched pole for Race 23, before Todd Hazelwood backed it up for Race 24. The results marked career-first poles for both drivers.
For Jones’ squad, it marked a first P1 start since Tim Slade’s Race 10 pole at Winton - a gap of 1570 days.
85) Jack gets his own back
Jack Le Brocq’s maiden Supercars win came in his 85th championship race start.
Any of the top three could have claimed their first victory, with second-placed Andre Heimgartner beating home a fast-finishing Todd Hazelwood.
At the next event in Darwin, Erebus young gun Anton De Pasquale took his maiden win in his 70th start.
1134) Consistency the key
Just two drivers - Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert - completed all racing laps in 2020.
McLaughlin and Mostert crossed the finish line on the lead lap in every race, completing all 1134 laps across the 27 completed races, which added up to nearly 4240 kilometres of racing.
Fabian Coulthard was next with 1122 laps, with reliability dramas in Sydney and Tailem Bend ruining his shot at a perfect record.
8) Sharing the top step
Eight different full-time drivers won races in 2020, with Bathurst-winning co-driver Garth Tander taking the tally to nine different winners.
Scott McLaughlin won the most races (13) ahead of Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen (four each).
Nick Percat was the only other multiple winner thanks to his Sydney double, while Jack Le Brocq (Sydney), Anton De Pasquale (Darwin), and Cameron Waters and Fabian Coulthard (Tailem Bend) grabbed a win rach.
Five different teams won races in 2020, with Shell V-Power Racing's 14 wins more than the combined total of Red Bull Holden Racing Team (eight), Brad Jones Racing (two), Tickford (two) and Erebus (one).
