Aaren Leigh Russell (born 22 August 1991) is an Australian motor-racing driver in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

Career history

Junior formulae

In 2008 and 2009, Russell competed in the

NSW New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. T ...

Formula Vee Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in Germany) or Formula Volkswagen is a open wheel, single-seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford. On the international stage, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi ...

championship, a stepping stone taken by several current main series

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

drivers. After placing 8th in his 2008 rookie season and 2nd in 2009, the Development V8 Supercar Series, the second tier of V8 Supercars racing, became his next target.

Development Series

Russell moved into the Development Series in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

with family team

Novocastrian Motorsport Novocastrian Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team based in Newcastle, New South Wales. The team has competed in domestic touring car and production car competitions. History Privateer entry The team made its competition debut at the ...

. His debut year saw him finish 9th in the championship. While he matched this feat in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, he would not improve on this championship position until

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, when he finished 7th. During the 2014 Dunlop Series, Aaren received two round podiums, one at Queensland Raceway and one at Sydney Olympic Park. In the 2015 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series, Russell moved teams to drive for

Paul Morris Motorsport Paul Morris Motorsport, also known as its business name of Nemo Racing, is an Australian motor racing team that competed in V8 Supercars between 2000 and 2012. The team also won the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 and four Australian Super Touring Cham ...

Supercars Championship

In 2015, Russell, alongside his brother Drew Russell, competed in the

2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 The 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was a motor race for V8 Supercars held on 11 October 2015 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It was the twenty-fifth race of the 2015 International V8 Supercars Champ ...

in a wildcard entry run by family team Novocastrian Motorsport. The entry finished 17th and on the lead lap. In 2016, Russell signed for

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport (formerly known as Erebus Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team's current drivers are Jack ...

to drive a

Holden VF Commodore The Holden Commodore (VF) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden between June 2013 and October 2017. It was the second and last significantly restyled iteration of the fourth (and final) generation of the Holden Commodore to be manufac ...

in the

2016 International V8 Supercars Championship The 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship (often simplified to the 2016 V8 Supercars Championship and known from 1 July as the 2016 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanc ...

, which will be his first full-time drive in the main series. This relationship ended after the Townsville round when major sponsor Plus Fitness dropped their support for the team. He then joined

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. The team was sold to Phil Munday and re-branded as 23Red Racing at the end of 2017. Background Lucas Dumbrell comes f ...

to partner

Andre Heimgartner Andre Emil Heimgartner (born 8 June 1995) is a New Zealand motor-racing driver who currently competes in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

in the Pirtek Enduro Cup series. In

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, he returned to the

team for initially three rounds starting at the

Townsville 400 The Townsville 500 (formally known as the NTI Townsville 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held on the Reid Park Street Circuit in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The event has been held since 2009. The event was known ...

, but including the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

and

Newcastle 500 The Newcastle 500 was an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Newcastle Street Circuit in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia in 2017 Newcastle 500, 2017, 2018 Newcastle 500, 2018, 2019 Newcastle 500, 2 ...

. This deal was later extended to include the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...

and

Gold Coast 600 The Gold Coast 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Boost Mobile (Australia), Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Parad ...

. For 2018 he will run as co-driver to Heimgartner at

Nissan Motorsport , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

for the endurance races. He won the co-driver qualifying race at the Sandown 500 after a mid-race hailstorm disrupted the race order. The pairing finished 16th and were the last car on the lead lap at the 2018 Bathurst 1000.

Career results

V8 Supercars Development Series results

( key) (Race results only)

Complete Supercars Championship results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete Bathurst 6 Hour results

References

External links

Official Aaren Russell web site

Novocastrian Motorsport Official Site
*
Aaren Russell profile on US Racing Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Aaren 1991 births Formula Ford drivers Living people Supercars Championship drivers Racing drivers from the Hunter Region Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales People from the Hunter Region Nismo drivers Kelly Racing drivers