1999 The Year That Was

The 1999 season saw the final implementation of changes that created modern-day Supercars, from the inclusion of the endurance events into the championship and the move to a control tyre to the debut of the Adelaide 500.

- Adrian Musolino

Three critical developments in the 1990s set Australian tour-ing cars down the path to what we now know as Supercars. There was the implementation of the V8-only regulations from 1993, the rebranding from the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) to V8 Supercars in 1997 and, finally, the reworking of the schedule in 1999.

Not only did the Bathurst 1000 become part of the ATCC/Supercars championship for the first time but there was the debut of the Adelaide 500, which would establish a template that the category could use for marquee street-circuit events across Australia and New Zealand.

The historic season started at Eastern Creek with the paddock chat dominated by talk of tyres. Bridgestone had been awarded the contract to provide the control tyre in a move away from the tyre war of recent V8 seasons.

It was a logical move for a category that had put such a heavy emphasis on achieving parity between the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon, with variance in tyre performance often masking the form of the teams, drivers and cars.

The Holden Racing Team entered the season as the team to beat following Craig Lowndes’ triumphant return from racing in Europe to winning his second title in 1998. Holden entries had filled the top-four places that year with the debut of the VT in the final rounds against the EL Falcon.

Ford teams upgraded to the AU for 1999 and with the new-look Falcon was a radical departure from recent efforts from the Blue Oval. And the arrival of the new car coincided with significant changes amongst its teams: Glenn Seton Racing receiving backing from Ford to become the unofficial factory team, John Bowe’s departure from Dick Johnson Racing for the new-look Caterpillar Racing and Paul Radisich replacing Bowe in the #18.

But it would be a troubled season for the new Falcon. Teething problems with bodywork and setup left the Ford teams playing second fiddle.