Top 10 Supercars stories of 2021: Part 1
The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship featured some remarkable and unpredictable headlines.
Shane van Gisbergen and Red Bull Ampol Racing dominated, but much unfolded behind them.
Notably, 2021 featured a busy silly season, while several milestones were also recorded.
Look back on a turbulent 2021 as Supercars.com counts down the first five of the year's biggest stories.
10) Heimgartner’s first win
Andre Heimgartner ended his long wait for victory in the OTR SuperSprint opener in May.
The Kiwi won from pole at a sodden Tailem Bend; such was his speed, he still had margin despite a penalty for a pit lane infringement.
The win came on Heimgartner’s 161st race start, some seven years after his championship debut as a teenager.
9) Feeney replaces Whincup
Midway through the year, Broc Feeney was announced as Jamie Whincup’s replacement at Red Bull Ampol Racing in 2022.
Teenager Feeney was embroiled in a Super2 title fight he refused to let slip, which helped convince Triple Eight he was the one.
It marked a full circle of sorts for Triple Eight, which took on a young Whincup all the way back in 2006.
Feeney will still be 19 years old when he makes his full-time debut in Newcastle in March.
8) Reynolds in and out
David Reynolds was sidelined for the middle two Sydney events following after having his request for a vaccination exemption request denied by NSW Health.
He was substituted by co-driver Luke Youlden, with Reynolds returning for the final Sydney event.
Reynolds and Youlden later competed at the season-ending Great Race, and finished 11th.
Earlier in the season, Reynolds scored a memorable podium at Sandown in his 350th race.
7) De Pasquale takes Ford’s 400th win
Anton De Pasquale won from pole in Tailem Bend to bring up Ford’s 400th ATCC/Supercars race win.
A day after Heimgartner broke through, De Pasquale scored No. 400 for the Blue Oval in a Shell V-Power Racing Team one-two.
Just hours later, Cameron Waters added No. 401 with a stirring defensive drive, holding out a racy Shane van Gisbergen.
6) The crazy silly season
It was a silly season to remember, and one headlined by Nick Percat’s return to the Walkinshaw fold.
Percat and Bryce Fullwood completed an effective swap, with the latter heading to Brad Jones Racing.
Andre Heimgartner’s shift to BJR was the first major move, with Percat and Fullwood’s moves later confirmed.
Jake Kostecki moved to Tickford Racing from Matt Stone Racing, which will take on Todd Hazelwood and Jack Le Brocq.
Thomas Randle will also make his full-time season debut with Tickford in 2022.
The 13-event 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle next year. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
The 13-round draft calendar was released during the Repco Bathurst 1000 weekend.
