The 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship (often simplified to the 2015 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international auto racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the seventeenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the nineteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.

Mark Winterbottom of Prodrive Racing Australia secured his first championship title with one race remaining, winning nine races during the season, while Triple Eight Race Engineering won the Teams' Championship.2015 V8 Supercars Championship Points, www.v8supercars.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org The Enduro Cup was won by Garth Tander and Warren Luff, driving for the Holden Racing Team.

Teams and drivers Holden, Nissan and Volvo were all represented by factory-backed teams. Ford reduced its commitment as a prelude to a complete exit from the series at the end of the season, while Mercedes-Benz continued to be represented without any factory support.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2015 championship.

Championship entries ManufacturerModelTeam Driver nameRoundsCo-driver nameRounds Ford Falcon FGRod Nash Racing () 55 David Reynolds 1colspan=2 Super Black Racing () 111 Andre Heimgartner 1colspan=2 Falcon FG X Prodrive Racing Australia 5 Mark Winterbottom All Steve Owen 9–11 6 Chaz Mostert Cam Waters Cam Waters 11–13 Russell Ingall 11 Steve Owen 14 colspan=2 DJR Team Penske 17 Marcos Ambrose 1 colspan=2 Scott Pye 2–14 Marcos Ambrose 9–11Rod Nash Racing () 55 David Reynolds 2–14 Dean Canto 9–11 Super Black Racing () 111 Andre Heimgartner 2–12 Ant Pedersen 9–11 Chris Pither 13–14colspan=2 Holden 1 Jamie Whincup All Paul Dumbrell 9–11 888 Craig Lowndes All Steven Richards 9–11 Holden Racing Team Garth Tander All Warren Luff 9–11 22 James Courtney 1–7, 11–14 Jack Perkins 11 Jack Perkins 8–10 Russell Ingall 9–10 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 3 Tim Blanchard All Karl Reindler 9–11 222 Nick Percat 1–12 Oliver Gavin 9–11 Paul Dumbrell 13 rowspan=2 colspan=2 Jack Perkins 14 Brad Jones Racing Jason Bright All Andrew Jones 9–11 14 Fabian Coulthard All Luke Youlden 9–11 18 Lee Holdsworth All 9–11Britek Motorsport () 21 Dale Wood All Macauley Jones 9–11Walkinshaw Racing () Tim Slade All Tony D'Alberto 9–11Tekno Autosports 97 All Jonathon Webb 9–11 Erebus Motorsport Ashley Walsh 1–12 Jack Le Brocq 9–11 Dean Canto 13 rowspan=2 colspan=2 Alex Davison 14 9 Will Davison All Alex Davison 9–11 Nissan Altima L33 Nissan Motorsport 7 Todd Kelly All Alex Buncombe 9–11 15 Rick Kelly All David Russell 9–11 23 Michael Caruso All Dean Fiore 9–11 99 James Moffat All Taz Douglas 9–11 Volvo S60 Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 Scott McLaughlin All Alexandre Prémat 9–11 34 David Wall All Chris Pither 9–11 Wildcard entries Ford Falcon FG X Prodrive Racing Australia 200 colspan="2" Renee Gracie Simona de Silvestro 10 Holden Novocastrian Motorsport 62 colspan="2" Aaren Russell Drew Russell 10

Team changes

Teams competing with the Ford Falcon updated to the new Falcon FG X, though Rod Nash Racing and Super Black Racing started the season with the previous FG configuration. Both teams updated to the FG X for the second event of the championship.

Ford Performance Racing was rebranded as Prodrive Racing Australia, following Ford reducing its funding to the team.

Charlie Schwerkolt Racing switched from racing a customer Ford Performance Racing Falcon to a customer Holden Racing Team Commodore.

Dick Johnson Racing was rebranded as DJR Team Penske, after Team Penske purchased a 51% stake in the team. The team scaled back to run a single car.

James Rosenberg Racing returned its Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) to the series' management.

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport returned to fielding two cars having scaled back to run a single car in 2014.

Super Black Racing entered the series full-time as a customer of Prodrive Racing Australia with a REC leased from DJR Team Penske.

Driver changes

After making a one-off appearance at the 2014 Sydney NRMA 500 for Dick Johnson Racing, former series champion Marcos Ambrose returned to the championship on a full-time basis. With the team scaling back to run a single car for Ambrose, Scott Pye was left without a drive.

Tim Blanchard joined Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport full-time after driving for the team in the endurance races in 2014.

Andre Heimgartner competed in his first full-time season, driving for Super Black Racing, after racing in a wildcard entry in the 2014 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Lee Holdsworth moved from Erebus Motorsport to Charlie Schwerkolt Racing, replacing Jack Perkins. Holdsworth's place at Erebus Motorsport was taken by Ashley Walsh.

Nick Percat moved from James Rosenberg Racing to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport following Russell Ingall's retirement from full-time driving.

David Wall moved from Dick Johnson Racing to Garry Rogers Motorsport to replace Robert Dahlgren.

Mid-season changes Marcos Ambrose stepped down from full-time driving duties at DJR Team Penske prior to the second event of the championship. He was replaced by Scott Pye, who had originally been listed as the team's endurance co-driver, for the rest of the season. Ambrose returned as a co-driver for the endurance races.

James Courtney was injured during practice for the Sydney Motorsport Park Super Sprint when he was hit by pieces of pit equipment which were flung into the air by a low-flying helicopter. His endurance co-driver, Jack Perkins, replaced him for the remainder of the weekend. Courtney also missed the Wilson Security Sandown 500 and Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, with Russell Ingall coming out of retirement to be co-driver for Perkins.

Cam Waters made his full-time V8 Supercar début, replacing Chaz Mostert at Prodrive Racing Australia after Mostert was injured in an accident at the Bathurst 1000. As Waters was originally scheduled to partner Mostert for the Gold Coast 600, Russell Ingall was drafted in as co-driver ahead of James Courtney's return to the Holden Racing Team. Steve Owen drove the car at the Sydney 500 to allow Waters to concentrate on his Dunlop Series commitments.

Dean Canto replaced Ashley Walsh at the Phillip Island event, with Erebus Motorsport citing the need for an experienced driver to help with car setup. Alex Davison drove the car at the Sydney 500 as Erebus Motorsport continues its development program.

Chris Pither replaced Andre Heimgartner at the Phillip Island event as Super Black Racing evaluated its full-time driver options for 2016. Pither also drove at the Sydney 500, having been confirmed as Heimgartner's replacement for 2016.

After taking part in Friday practice at the Phillip Island event, Nick Percat elected not to take part in the rest of the weekend due to a foot injury sustained at the Gold Coast 600. He was replaced by Paul Dumbrell for the rest of the event. Percat did not recover in time for the Sydney 500 and was replaced by Jack Perkins for the event.

Wildcard entries

Two wildcard entries would be granted for the Bathurst 1000. Prodrive Racing Australia elected to run an all-female wildcard for Renee Gracie and Simona De Silvestro, while family team Novocastrian Motorsport ran a Commodore for brothers Aaren Russell and Drew Russell.

Calendar The 2015 calendar was released on 12 September 2014. Two non-championship events were held; one being the V8 Supercars Challenge in conjunction with the Australian Grand Prix on 12–15 March, and the other a demonstration using five cars (one from each manufacturer) at the Kuala Lumpur City Grand Prix in Malaysia over 7–9 August. Event name Circuit Location Format Date 1 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia ST 2 Tasmania SuperSprint Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania SP 28–29 March 3 Perth SuperSprint Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia SP 2–3 May 4 Winton SuperSprint Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria SP 16–17 May 5 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory SP 20–21 June 6 Townsville 400 Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland ST 11–12 July 7 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland SP 1–2 August 8 Sydney Motorsport Park SP 22–23 August 9 Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria EC 13 September 10 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales EC 11 October 11 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland EC 24–25 October 12 Auckland 500 Pukekohe Park Raceway Pukekohe, New Zealand SP 6–8 November 13 Phillip Island SuperSprint Phillip Island, Victoria SP 14 Sydney 500 Homebush Street Circuit Sydney, New South Wales ST 5–6 December Icon Meaning ST Super Street SP Super Sprint EC

Calendar changes The Auckland event moved from April to November, while the Winton and Perth events swapped positions on the calendar.

Format changes Each Super Sprint event featured two hours of Friday practice which incorporated testing time for the teams. The Townsville event reverted to its original 400-kilometre format, with a 200-kilometre race held on both Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday races of Super Sprint events were contested over a shorter distance of 60 kilometres per race, compared to the 100-kilometre races held in 2014. No twilight races were held. After holding a fourth race on the Friday in 2013 and 2014, the Auckland event was reduced to three races, the same as all other Super Sprint events.

Rule changes The number of test days allocated to each team was reduced from four to three. A compulsory two-day test was held at Sydney Motorsport Park on 7–8 February 2015, with teams allocated one further day of private testing that could be used at their discretion. The amount of track time on Fridays at eight rounds has been increased to account for the reduced number of test days.

From Darwin, in response to processional racing in the 60 km SuperSprint races, the V8 Supercar Commission changed tyre allocations to give teams a set of soft compound rubber for the second race.

Other changes The season saw the commencement of a new television deal, with Foxtel and Network Ten taking over the broadcasting rights from Seven Network. All races are being shown live on Foxtel's Fox Sports with six events – Adelaide, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst, the Gold Coast and Sydney – also being televised live on Ten. Ten also broadcasts limited highlights of the other events. The television series Inside Supercars and Supercars Life were also launched by Fox Sports to accompany their coverage. Ten revived their motorsport magazine series RPM to accompany their own coverage.

Results and standings Season summary