The Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event was a

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 ...

motor racing event held at the

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is a 5.281 km (3.281 mi) motorsport circuit situated on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke. It has hosted the season-ending Formula One ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. The event was held from 2010 to 2012.

History

The inaugural Yas V8 400 in 2010 was the opening event of the

2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series The 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the twelfth V8 Supercar Championship Series and the fourteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premi ...

, becoming the first, and so far only, event outside Australia to open a championship season. The 2010 event was held as the first part of a double-header in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

to start the season, which included the

Desert 400 The Desert 400 was a V8 Supercar motor racing event held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Manama, Bahrain. It was held from 2006 to 2008 and in 2010. History First held in 2006, the Desert 400 was only the second V8 Supercar championship ...

at the

Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit () is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Formula One season, 2004 Gr ...

one week later. The first event at Yas Marina Circuit was won by

Jamie Whincup Jamie David Whincup (born 6 February 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden Commodore (ZB), Ho ...

, who dominated the weekend, winning both of the races. Whincup also was the overall winner of the second event in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, taking one race win with

James Courtney James Anthony Courtney (born 29 June 1980) is an Australian racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 7 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Blanchard Racin ...

taking the other following a fortuitous safety car. Whincup again dominated in the final year of the event in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, winning all three races.

Layout

For 2010 and 2011, the race used a shorter version of the

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix () is a Formula One motor racing event. The first race took place on 1 November 2009, held at the Hermann Tilke-designed Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The ...

track used for

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

, with a "corkscrew" section between Turn 3 and halfway down the back straight. This shortened the track to 4.7 km, with lap times of approximately 2 minutes. The 2012 race moved to the full 5.5 km Grand Prix circuit, as the V8 Supercars event was part of the support bill to the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

Format

In 2010 and 2011, the event featured two 200 km races across the weekend. For 2012, the race format was shortened to three 66 km sprint races. These featured lunchtime starts to allow primetime Australian television broadcasts, and not to clash with the Formula One schedule.

Demise

The event was initially scheduled to continue into 2013, once again supporting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. However, with the Grand Prix support bill expanding to include rounds of the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

and

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

championships, there was no longer space for the V8 Supercars, and the round was removed from the 2013 calendar.

Winners

Multiple winners

By driver

By team

By manufacturer

Event names

* 2010–11: Yas V8 400 * 2012: Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official event website

Yas Marina Circuit
Supercars Championship races Motorsport competitions in the United Arab Emirates Auto races in the United Arab Emirates Recurring sporting events established in 2010