Jason Eric Bargwanna (born 26 April, 1971) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

motor racing driver. Best known as a

Supercars Championship 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 ...

competitor, Bargwanna raced in the series for 25 years, the pinnacle of which was winning, with Garth Tander, the 2000 Bathurst 1000 in a

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the t ...

prepared

Holden Commodore The Holden Commodore is a series of automobiles that were sold by now-defunct Australian manufacturer Holden from 1978 until 2020. They were manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of ...

. Bargwanna was the Driving Standards Observer for the Supercars Championship from

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 ...

until

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Career history

Bargwanna commenced his racing career in the late 1980s, initially competing in the

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 ...

category. He made his

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 ...

début while still a teenager in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and won the 1992 Bathurst 1600 cc class at 20, with his cousin Scott, however a lack of funding limited his motor sport participation for the next few seasons and he pursued a career in the financial sector. His career finally started to move forward in 1995, racing in the Australian Formula Ford Championship. He impressed in his seven-year-old

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a list of literary cycles, literary cycle of medieval allegorical Folklore of the Low Countries, Dutch, English folklore, English, French folklore, French and German folklore, German fables. The first extant versions of the cy ...

, racing against younger drivers with the latest cars from Van Diemen and

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

and against drivers of the calibre of

Jason Bright Jason Paul Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Supercars Championship, Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford Falcon (FG X), Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a ...

and Mark Webber. His 1995 showing allowed him to attract the budget to run a campaign with late model equipment in 1996 and he finished second in the championship to Van Diemen's factory supported driver, David Besnard. He also represented Australia in the EFDA Nations Cup in both

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. A move to Formula Holden resulted in second place in the 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship with SH Racing.

V8 Supercars

As a member of the Holden Young Lions V8 Supercar program in 1997, he surprised many by taking provisional pole position in the #97 Holden Commodore at the Bathurst 1000 Classic only to damage the car beyond repair in a race day warm up accident. His career further advanced in 1998 with a move full-time to

, where he stayed for five years. Bargwanna is best known for winning the 2000 Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander for that team. He also scored two round wins at the Winton event in 1999 and 2000 and at the inaugural championship round supporting the

Gold Coast Indy 300 The Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event that took place at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 1991 to 2008. The challenging track, alongside a str ...

, the V8 Supercar Challenge, in 2002. In 2003, Bargwanna switched to Ford and drove for Larkham Motor Sport from 2003 to 2005. In 2006, Larkham Motor Sport merged with WPS Racing, the team folding immediately prior to the 2008 season and leaving Bargwanna without a full-time drive. He did however co-drive a

Holden Commodore (VE) The Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was produced from 2006 to 2013 by Holden, the former Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Dubbed Holden's "billion dollar baby", the car was available as the Holden Berlina—the mid-ra ...

for Rod Nash Racing alongside Tony D'Alberto in the 2008 Phillip Island 500 and the

endurance races. Bargwanna joined Tasman Motorsport for 2009 and, following the closure of that team at the end of the season, he joined Kelly Racing for 2010. He was also voted in the top 50 all time Australian Touring car drivers in 2010. In 2011 Bargwanna drove a Brad Jones Racing Commodore alongside his junior open-wheel rival, Jason Bright. In

, Bargwanna was appointed as the Driver Standards Observer for the Supercars Championship. Bargwanna left the post at the end of

New Zealand V8

In late 2011, Bargwanna left the V8 Supercars Australia and joined the New Zealand V8. He resulted runner-up in the 2011/12 season behind Angus Fogg, collecting a round win and podiums in the six rounds driving a Tulloch Ford Falcon. The team switched to a Holden Commodore for the 2013 season. The driver won nine out of 15 races and got the TLX title.

TCR

In 2020, Bargwanna was to make his debut in the TCR Australia and TCR Asia Pacific Cup driving a

Peugeot 308 The Peugeot 308 is a small family car ( C-segment car; compact car in North America) produced by French automobile manufacturer Peugeot. It was unveiled in June 2007, and launched in September 2007 in hatchback form, which was followed by stati ...

. Both series were cancelled due to the Corona Virus Pandemic. In 2021, he and his son Ben, debuted in the series. Jason scored his first win at Phillip Island

Personal life

Bargwanna is married to Debra and has two children. He lives in Nar Nar Goon, Victoria. His father, Harry Bargwanna, himself an Australian racing driver, owns and operates a mechanical repair shop in the Southern

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places * Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland * Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan Engadine ( ) is an unincorporated community in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

. His uncle Alf and cousin Scott are also national level race drivers. Bargwanna attended Heathcote High School in Sydney. Bargwanna owns four

Red Rooster Red Rooster is an Australian fast food chain. It sells roast chicken alongside common fast food items, such as burgers, chips, salads, and beverages. Since 2021, it has offered fried chicken. In 1972, Peter and Theo Kailis opened the first R ...

franchises in Hampton Park, Fountain Gate,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, and Pakenham West.

Career results

Holden VE Commodore of Jason Bargwanna at Calder Park

† team result

Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

TCR Australia results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* *
News articles, pictures & videos on Motorsport.comNews Articles on Speedcafe.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bargwanna, Jason 1972 births Supercars Championship drivers Formula Ford drivers Formula Holden drivers EFDA Nations Cup drivers Sportsmen from New South Wales Living people Bathurst 1000 winners Toyota Racing Series drivers Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Racing drivers from Sydney Australian Endurance Championship drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers Kelly Racing drivers Racing drivers from New South Wales TCR Australia Touring Car Series drivers