The 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship is officially launched today at the iconic Adelaide Oval stadium. Less than a month out from the season opening Clipsal 500 Adelaide, all 26 Supercars drivers visited the South Australian capital for the launch.[show_more more=” Read More ” less=” Show Less “]

The 2017 season would be a milestone season because Simona de Silvestro is becoming the first female full-time driver in the history of the championship. The Swiss driver will compete in the #78 Harvey Norman Nissan Altima.

One more record is set with naming Alex Rullo as Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport’s full-time entry, so the 16-year-old driver from Perth becomes the youngest ever V8 Supercars competitor. LDM intended to nominate Matt Chahda as the second driver, but he was denied a Superlicense from CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motor Sport).

The most of last year’s leading drivers remain in their respective teams, including Triple Eight trio Shane van Gisbergen/Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes, Tekno Autosports’ Will Davison or Ford’s Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert. Of other drivers, the biggest change is Scott McLaughlin‘s move from Garry Rogers Motorsport to DJR Team Penske. Last year’s third-placed driver will replace Volvo, which pulls out from the championship, with Ford FG X Falcon.

Other changes are: Jason Bright moves from Brad Jones Racing to his own team Britek Motorsport, Nick Percat moves from Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport to Brad Jones Racing, Scott Pye moves from DJR Team Penske to Walkinshaw Racing, Garth Tander moves from Walkinshaw Racing to Garry Rogers Motorsport, Dale Wood moves from Nissan Motorsport to Erebus Motorsport.[/show_more]

2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship entry list

No. Team Car Driver 2 Walkinshaw Racing/Mobil 1 HSV Racing Holden VF Commodore Scott Pye 3 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden VF Commodore 5 Prodrive Racing Australia/The Bottle-O Racing Ford FG X Falcon Mark Winterbottom 6 Prodrive Racing Australia/Monster Energy Racing Ford FG X Falcon Cameron Waters 7 Nissan Motorsport/carsales Racing Nissan L33 Altima Todd Kelly 8 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Nick Percat 9 Erebus Motorsport/Penrite Racing Holden VF Commodore David Reynolds 12 DJR Team Penske/Shell V-Power Racing Ford FG X Falcon Fabian Coulthard 14 Brad Jones Racing/Freightliner Racing Holden VF Commodore Tim Slade 15 Nissan Motorsport/Sengled Racing Nissan L33 Altima Rick Kelly 17 DJR Team Penske/Shell V-Power Racing Ford FG X Falcon Scott McLaughlin 18 Charlie Schwerkolt Racing/Preston Hire Racing Holden VF Commodore Lee Holdsworth 19 Tekno Woodstock Racing Holden VF Commodore Will Davison 21 Tim Blanchard Racing-BJR/CoolDrive Racing Holden VF Commodore Tim Blanchard 22 Walkinshaw Racing/Mobil 1 HSV Racing Holden VF Commodore James Courtney 23 Nissan Motorsport Nissan L33 Altima Michael Caruso 33 Wilson Security Racing/Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VF Commodore Garth Tander 34 Wilson Security Racing/Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VF Commodore James Moffat 55 Rod Nash Racing-PRA/Supercheap Auto Racing Ford FG X Falcon Chaz Mostert 56 Britek Motorsport-PRA/MEGA Racing Ford FG X Falcon Jason Bright 62 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden VF Commodore Alex Rullo 78 Nissan Motorsport/Team Harvey Norman Nissan L33 Altima Simona de Silvestro 88 Triple Eight Race Engineering/Red Bull Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore Jamie Whincup 97 Triple Eight Race Engineering/Red Bull Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore Shane van Gisbergen 99 Erebus Motorsport/GB Galvanising Racing Holden VF Commodore Dale Wood 888 Triple Eight Race Engineering/TeamVortex Holden VF Commodore Craig Lowndes

Photos: supercars.com,