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 FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars. It was the eighteenth running of the Supercars Championship and the twentieth series in which Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title.

Mark Winterbottom started the season as the defending drivers' champion, while Triple Eight Race Engineering were the defending teams' champions.

Shane van Gisbergen, driving for Triple Eight Race Engineering, secured his first championship title with one race remaining, winning eight races during the season. Triple Eight Race Engineering won the Teams' Championship for the seventh consecutive season.^[1] Van Gisbergen, along with Alexandre Prémat, also won the Pirtek Enduro Cup.

Teams and drivers

Twenty-six cars contested the 2016 season.^[2] Holden, Nissan and Volvo were all represented by factory-backed teams.^[3][4][5] Ford, having scaled back its involvement in 2015, were providing no financial or technical assistance,^[6] but were still represented by Prodrive Racing Australia^[7] and DJR Team Penske.

The following drivers contested the 2016 championship.

Season entries							Endurance entries
Manufacturer	Vehicle	Team	No.	Driver	Events		Co-driver	Events
Ford	Falcon FG X	Prodrive Racing Australia	1	Mark Winterbottom[8]	All		Dean Canto[9]	10–12
			6	Cameron Waters[10]	All		Jack Le Brocq[11]	10–12
		DJR Team Penske	12	Fabian Coulthard[12]	All		Luke Youlden[13]	10–12
			17	Scott Pye[12]	All		Tony D'Alberto[13]	10–12
		Rod Nash Racing (PRA)	55	Chaz Mostert[14]	All		Steve Owen[11]	10–12
		Super Black Racing (PRA)	111	Chris Pither[15]	All		Richie Stanaway[16]	10–12
Holden	Commodore VF	Holden Racing Team	2	Garth Tander[17]	All		Warren Luff[18]	10–12
			22	James Courtney[19]	All		Jack Perkins[18]	10–12
		Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport	3	Andre Heimgartner[20]	All		Aaren Russell[21]	10–12
			222	Nick Percat[22]	All		Cameron McConville[23]	10–12
		Erebus Motorsport[24]	4	Aaren Russell[25]	1–7
				Craig Baird[26]	8
				Shae Davies[27]	9–14		Chris van der Drift[28]	10–12
			9	David Reynolds[29]	All		Craig Baird[30]	10–12
		Brad Jones Racing	8	Jason Bright[31]	All		Andrew Jones[32]	10–12
			14	Tim Slade[33]	All		Ashley Walsh[32]	10–12
		Charlie Schwerkolt Racing	18	Lee Holdsworth[34]	1–6, 10–14		Karl Reindler[35]	10–12
				Kurt Kostecki[36]	7–8
				Karl Reindler[37]	9
		Tekno Autosports	19	Will Davison[38]	All		Jonathon Webb[39]	10–12
		Britek Motorsport (BJR)	21	Tim Blanchard[31]	All		Macauley Jones[32]	10–12
		Triple Eight Race Engineering	88	Jamie Whincup[40]	All		Paul Dumbrell[41]	10–12
			97	Shane van Gisbergen[42]	All		Alexandre Prémat[41]	10–12
			888	Craig Lowndes[42]	All		Steven Richards[41]	10–12
Nissan	Altima L33	Nissan Motorsport	7	Todd Kelly[43]	All		Matt Campbell[44]	10–12
			15	Rick Kelly[43]	All		Russell Ingall[45]	10–12
			23	Michael Caruso[46]	All		Dean Fiore[44]	10–12
			96	Dale Wood[47]	All		David Russell[48]	10–12
Volvo	S60 Mk.2	Garry Rogers Motorsport	33	Scott McLaughlin[49]	All		David Wall[50]	10–12
			34	James Moffat[51]	All		James Golding[50]	10–12
Wildcard Entries
Nissan	Altima L33	Nissan Motorsport	360	—		Renee Gracie[52] Simona de Silvestro[52]	11

Team changes

Erebus Motorsport switched from running Mercedes-AMG E63 W212s (top) to Holden Commodore VFs (bottom).

• Charlie Schwerkolt Racing terminated its customer arrangement with the Holden Racing Team, to field an in-house entry under the new Team 18 name.^[53]
• DJR Team Penske expanded to run two cars, having run a single car in 2015.^[12] The team took back the Racing Entitlement Contract (REC) it had leased to Super Black Racing in 2015.^[54]
• Erebus Motorsport switched from running Mercedes-AMG E63 W212s to Holden Commodore VFs.^[24]
• Triple Eight Race Engineering expanded to field three cars, purchasing a REC last used in 2014 by James Rosenberg Racing.^[55]
• Walkinshaw Racing ceased at the end of 2015, with its REC sold to Super Black Racing.^[56]

Driver changes

Changed teams

• Tim Blanchard moved from Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport to Britek Motorsport.^[31]
• Fabian Coulthard moved from Brad Jones Racing to DJR Team Penske.^[12]
• Will Davison moved from Erebus Motorsport to Tekno Autosports.^[38]
• Andre Heimgartner moved from Super Black Racing to Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.^[20]
• James Moffat moved from Nissan Motorsport to Garry Rogers Motorsport to replace David Wall.^[51]
• Chaz Mostert moved from Prodrive Racing Australia to Rod Nash Racing, a customer team whose car is prepared by Prodrive Racing Australia. The team cited commercial reasons for Mostert's move.^[14]
• David Reynolds moved from Rod Nash Racing to Erebus Motorsport.^[29]
• Tim Slade moved from Walkinshaw Racing to Brad Jones Racing.^[33]
• Shane van Gisbergen moved from Tekno Autosports to Triple Eight Race Engineering.^[42]
• Dale Wood moved from Britek Motorsport to Nissan Motorsport.^[47]

Entering series

• Aaren Russell, having raced a wildcard entry at the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, joined Erebus Motorsport for his first full-time season, replacing Ashley Walsh.^[25]
• Cameron Waters replaced Chaz Mostert at Prodrive Racing Australia after winning the 2015 V8 Supercars Dunlop Series for the team. Waters had previously raced for the team in the main series as a substitute for Mostert while the latter recovered from an injury.^[10]

Mid-season changes

• Lee Holdsworth was injured in a heavy crash at the start of Race 13 at the CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown. His team, Team 18, originally planned to use its endurance co-driver, Karl Reindler, to replace Holdsworth at the Townsville event. However, as the team's car could not be fixed in time for the event, a deal was made with Dunlop Series driver Kurt Kostecki, with Kostecki to race for the team at the Townsville and Ipswich events using his own chassis.^[36] The team completed the build of a new car ahead of the Sydney SuperSprint and Reindler drove the car at the event,^[37] with Holdsworth making his racing return at the Sandown 500.^[57]
• Aaren Russell and his sponsor Plus Fitness split with Erebus Motorsport prior to the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint. He was replaced by Craig Baird, one of the team's endurance co-drivers, for the event.^[26] Dunlop Series racer Shae Davies, who was scheduled to contest the Enduro Cup events with the team,^[58] was announced as the full-time replacement for Russell.

Calendar

The 2016 calendar was released on 8 September 2015.^[59] On 1 October 2015 the calendar was revised, with Tasmania and the non-championship Australian Grand Prix races switching dates due to an updated 2016 Formula One calendar.^[60] A further revision was made on 22 March 2016, with the Sydney 500 being moved back one week to avoid clashing with other events at Sydney Olympic Park.^[61]