The Commodore Cup is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n motor racing series. The series, a one-make

One-design

One-Design is a racing method where all vehicles or boats have identical or very similar designs or models. It is also known as Spec series. It is heavily used in sailboat racing. All competitors in a race are then judged based on a single start time...

 series originally devised by Victorian racers Maurie Platt and David Gittus, is named for the car all competitors must use in competition, the Holden Commodore

Holden Commodore

The Holden Commodore is an automobile manufactured since 1978 by the Holden subsidiary of General Motors in Australia, and, formerly, in New Zealand. In the mid-1970s, Holden established proposals to replace the long-serving Kingswood nameplate with a smaller, Opel-based model...

. Eligibility is limited to specific Commodore models. Originally, only the first three series were allowed: VB, VC and VH

Holden VH Commodore

The Holden VH Commodore, an evolution of the previous Holden Commodore VC model, was released in October 1981. The frontal appearance was mildly facelifted with a new horizontal-slat grille and new lighting components designed to give a lower, wider look, and for interest of aerodynamics...

. Motive power was limited to the 4.2 litre version of the Holden V8 engine

Holden V8 engine

The Holden V8 is an overhead valve V8 engine which was produced by the Australian General Motors subsidiary Holden between 1969 and 2000. The engine was used initially in the Kingswood and Monaro model ranges; it was later utilised in the Torana and Commodore ranges...

. The regulations were designed to provide a limited level of performance modification, while not making the category overly expensive to run. The first season was held in 1994. Since its beginning, the category has always been moderately well supported with grid sizes in the 15-25 bracket.

The first major change to series regulations came in 2004 when VR

Holden VR Commodore

The Holden VR Commodore of July 1993 came with an updated, sleeker and more modern design, as well as safety enhancements such as anti-lock brakes . From the side, the biggest change was the use of a round rear wheelarch, instead of a squared-off shape used on the previous VN and VP model Commodores...

 and VS

Holden VS Commodore

The Holden VS Commodore, released in 1995, was the ninth model of the Holden Commodore, a large car built by Holden, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors. The VS Commodore served as a mechanical update of the second generation architecture, destined to assist sales before the all-new VT model...

 model Commodores were made eligible. The mechanical package was not changed substantially. The later model cars proved to be faster than the older ones, leading to a drop off in numbers of the older model Commodores.

The category has always been a national series, but also mostly an amateur series. Despite this, the category has produced a V8 Supercar

V8 Supercar

V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...

 race winner in Lee Holdsworth

Lee Holdsworth

Lee Holdsworth was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 2 February 1983. Holdsworth is currently an Australian V8 Supercar racing driver. Holdsworth drives the #33 Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VE Commodore.-History:...

. The category is currently one of the core categories of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships

Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships

The Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships is a series of motor racing events held across five states of Australia. It was first held as the CAMS National Racing Championships in 2006 and adopted its present name the following year when it gained Shannons Insurance as a new partner.The...

. The most successful driver in the series has been Geoff Emery, who has won the Commodore Cup series five times.

Series champions

Year	Champion
1994	David Gittus
1995	Gary Baxter
1996	Gary Baxter
1997	Dean Croswell
1998	Maurie Platt
1999	Wayne Wakefield
2000	Christian D'Agostin
2001	Christian D'Agostin
2002	Geoff Emery
2003	Geoff Emery
2004	Geoff Emery
2005	Geoff Emery
2006	Marcus Zukanovic
2007	Geoff Emery
2008	Michael Tancredi
2009 2009 Commodore Cup National Series The 2009 Commodore Cup National Series was the 16th running of the Commodore Cup. It began on 26 April 2009, at Wakefield Park and ended on 29 November 2009, at Sandown Raceway. The series was won by Brett Holdsworth, who won three of the six rounds...	Brett Holdsworth
2010 2010 Commodore Cup National Series The 2010 Commodore Cup National Series was the 17th running of the Commodore Cup. It began on 7 March 2010, at Wakefield Park and ended on 24 October 2010, at Sandown Raceway. The series was won by Adam Beechey, winning two rounds during the season, sharing one with Dean Crosswell in the Winton round...	Adam Beechey
2011 2011 Commodore Cup National Series The 2011 Commodore Cup National Series is an Australian motor racing series. It is the 18th running of the Commodore Cup and runs on the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships calendar. The series began on April 3, 2011, at Wakefield Park and will end on November 6, 2011, at Phillip Island...	Adam Beechey