Team Red the first to reach 50.
Holden Racing Team created Australian touring car history by becoming the first team to clinch 50 round victories in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar Championship Series.
HRT, the official factory racing team of Holden, first tasted success in a championship event thanks to Peter Brock at Eastern Creek in 1994, and had won 49 rounds prior to the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series.
Holden Racing Team created Australian touring car history by becoming the first team to clinch 50 round victories in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar Championship Series.
HRT, the official factory racing team of Holden, first tasted success in a championship event thanks to Peter Brock at Eastern Creek in 1994, and had won 49 rounds prior to the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series.
Since that inaugural win in 1994, eight drivers have pushed Team Red to the top of the list. Prior to this weekend, team owner/driver Mark Skaife has claimed 19 of the victories individually, with Craig Lowndes (16), Brock (3), Greg Murphy (3), Jason Bright (3) and Todd Kelly (1) all contributing to the tally.
In addition, the team has won four endurance races that have counted towards the championship where two drivers shared a car. Included in this tally are Skaife's back-to-back Bathurst 1000 wins - in 2001 with Tony Longhurst and 2002 with Jim Richards - his win in the 2000 Queensland 500 with Lowndes and the 2003 Sandown 500 with Kelly.
The milestone reinforces HRT's position as the most successful team in ATCC/V8SCS history, clear of Dick Johnson Racing (41 wins). The forerunner to HRT, the famous Holden Dealer Team, clocked up 35 round victories between 1973 and 1986.
On top of that, prior to this weekend, Skaife had himself won 35 rounds of the ATCC/V8SCS, and was within two victories of equalling all-time leader Peter Brock, who has 37 round wins to his credit. Allan Moffat is third on the all-time list on 32 wins.
"The significance of winning 50 rounds is that it highlights the success of this team in a relatively short time since our first win in 1994," Skaife explained, "We have set a benchmark for consistency with nine round victories in a season once (2002) and eight (1999) and seven wins (1996) once each. We've also won the championship six times, and Bathurst four times. We're proud to own an honour roll that no team in Australian touring car history can match."
