Stone Brothers Racing
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
-born motorsport veterans, Ross Stone and Jim Stone after buying out their partner in their previous racing team. The team enjoyed a period of considerable success in the 2003
2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series was a motor racing series for V8 Supercars. The series, which was the eighth V8 Supercar Championship Series, began on 22 March 2003 in Adelaide and ended on 30 November at Eastern Creek Raceway after 13 rounds...
, 2004
2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series featured the sixth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It began on 21 March 2004 in Adelaide and ended on 5 December at Eastern Creek Raceway after 13 rounds...
and 2005
2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2005 V8 Supercar season was the seventh running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It began on 18 March 2005 in Adelaide and ended on 27 November at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit after 13 rounds.-Teams and drivers:...
seasons, in which it was the dominant team of V8 Supercar racing.
The team is based on Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
's Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
and their nominated test track is nearby Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located near Ipswich in Queensland, Australia.The circuit plays host to V8 Supercars, the Australian Superbike Championship, Drifting as well as club level racing and ride days....
.
SBR has won three drivers championships, with Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose is a championship winning Australian racing car driver. He currently drives the #9 Stanley Black & Decker Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...
in 2003
2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series was a motor racing series for V8 Supercars. The series, which was the eighth V8 Supercar Championship Series, began on 22 March 2003 in Adelaide and ended on 30 November at Eastern Creek Raceway after 13 rounds...
/2004
2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series featured the sixth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It began on 21 March 2004 in Adelaide and ended on 5 December at Eastern Creek Raceway after 13 rounds...
; and Russell Ingall
Russell Ingall
Russell Ingall is an Australian V8 Supercar driver. Ingall won the V8 Supercar Championship for the first time in 2005, he was also the Championship runner up in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000 motor race twice, in 1995 and 1997...
in 2005
2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2005 V8 Supercar season was the seventh running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It began on 18 March 2005 in Adelaide and ended on 27 November at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit after 13 rounds.-Teams and drivers:...
. SBR has won the Teams Championship (combined points of both cars) in 2004 and 2005, the former being a 1-2 finish with the aforementioned Ambrose and Ingall respectively. 2003 also saw SBR win the V8 Development Series with Mark Winterbottom
Mark Winterbottom
Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom, is a racing driver who has competed in the V8 Supercar category since 2003. He currently drives for the Ford Performance Racing team...
at the wheel. In 1998, SBR won the Bathurst 1000
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
with Jason Bright
Jason Bright
Jason Bright is an Australian racing driver currently competing in the V8 Supercar series.-Australia:...
and Steven Richards
Steven Richards
Steven Richards is a New Zealand racing driver, currently competing in the with the team. He previously raced in the V8 Supercar series for Ford Performance Racing....
at the wheel of the team's Falcon
Ford Falcon (Australia)
The Ford Falcon is a full-size car which has been manufactured by Ford Australia since 1960. Each model from the XA series of 1972 onward has been designed, developed and built in Australia and/or New Zealand, following the phasing out of the American Falcon of 1960–71 which had been re-engineered...
.
SBR began with, and continue to campaign Ford Falcon
Ford Falcon (Australia)
The Ford Falcon is a full-size car which has been manufactured by Ford Australia since 1960. Each model from the XA series of 1972 onward has been designed, developed and built in Australia and/or New Zealand, following the phasing out of the American Falcon of 1960–71 which had been re-engineered...
s. The teams current drivers are Alex Davison
Alex Davison
Alex Davison, born 3 November 1979, in Melbourne, Australia, is best known as a racing driver. Davison currently races for Stone Brothers Racing driving a Ford Falcon in the V8 Supercar Championship Series....
and Shane Van Gisbergen
Shane Van Gisbergen
Shane Van Gisbergen is a racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand. He currently drives for Stone Brothers Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series.-New Zealand racing history:...
with Tim Slade
Tim Slade
Tim Slade in Hornsby NSW is an Australian V8 Supercar racing driver.-Early career:Slade first appeared at a national level racing Formula 3. During the 2004 Australian Formula 3 Championship Slade in his rookie season with Team BRM he won his first race with the team making a one-off appearance at...
driving a customer car for James Rosenberg Racing
James Rosenberg Racing
James Rosenberg Racing is a V8 Supercar racing team owned by South Australian agricultural business identity, James Rosenberg. The team was re-formed in 2010 season with Tim Slade as the teams driver after a toe-in-the water year working with Paul Morris Motorsport in 2009...
. The team also runs young New Zealand driver Scott McLaughlin
Scott McLaughlin (racing driver)
Scott McLaughlin is a motor racing driver from Hamilton, New Zealand, currently competing in the New Zealand V8 touring car series and who currently competes for the Stone Brothers Racing in the 2011 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series...
in the second-tier Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.
History
The team was originally formed as Alan Jones RacingAlan Jones Racing
Alan Jones Racing was a motorsport team contesting the Australian Touring Car Championship. The team ceased operations at the end of 1997, with the owner Alan Jones selling the team to Stone Brothers Racing- History :...
in 1996, with Ross and Jim each holding a one-third ownership stake along with the team's lead driver, 1980 Formula One World Champion, Alan Jones. Racing initially under the Pack Leader Racing identity with Paul Romano as #2 driver, the team moved through several names during 1996 and 1997 before the Stone brothers bought out Jones' ownership stake.
Now a single car team under the name Stone Brothers Racing, the team signed 1997 Bathurst Classic co-driver Jason Bright
Jason Bright
Jason Bright is an Australian racing driver currently competing in the V8 Supercar series.-Australia:...
to drive a Pirtek-sponsored EL Falcon for the 1998 season
1998 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1998 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship was the 39th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship and was run for cars eligible to V8 Supercar specifications. It began on 1 February 1998 at Sandown Raceway and ended on 2 August at Oran Park Raceway after 10 rounds.-Teams and...
. The team also ran the Larkham Motor Sport
Larkham Motor Sport
Larkham Motor Sport was a motorsport team contesting the V8 Supercar Championship. The team ceased operations at the end of 2005, with the owner Mark Larkham selling the team to WPS Racing.- History :...
Falcon of Mark Larkham
Mark Larkham
Mark Larkham is a retired Australian racing driver, former racing team owner and television commentator.-Open wheelers:...
, essentially as a full team-mate to Bright. Bright and Larkham had a mixed year, with the highlight being a win in the Bathurst 1000
1998 FAI 1000
The 1998 FAI 1000 Classic was the second running of the Australia 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 the previous year. It was the 41st race that traces its lineage back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island...
with co-driver Steven Richards
Steven Richards
Steven Richards is a New Zealand racing driver, currently competing in the with the team. He previously raced in the V8 Supercar series for Ford Performance Racing....
, which was almost a team 1-2 result as the team displayed excellent strategy and teamwork during the day, only a battery problem slowing the satellite car of Larkham and Brad Jones who still managed to finish fourth. The team continued to show promise in 1999, with Bright scoring three poles, and three podiums including a win at the Hidden Valley Raceway
Hidden Valley Raceway
Hidden Valley Raceway is part of the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The race track is used as a round of the V8 Supercar series...
round.
Bright left the team to pursue opportunities in the United States and the team expanded to a two-car operation, with Craig Baird
Craig Baird
Craig George Baird MNZM is a race car driver. Baird is a very successful driver in his homeland, winning three consecutive New Zealand Formula Atlantic championship titles , and then four consecutive New Zealand Touring Car Championship titles .Since then Baird has raced in Australian Super...
taking his seat in the Pirtek car, while Tony Longhurst
Tony Longhurst
Tony Longhurst is an Australian former racing driver and Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series....
drove the new Caltex-sponsored entry. In a lean year, the team's best finish was a podium for Baird at Phillip Island
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing racing circuit on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The circuit was opened in 1956.-Road circuit:...
, although Longhurst and co-driver David Besnard
David Besnard
David Besnard, , in Sydney, Australia is a professional race car driver. Starting in Karts in 1981, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Eastern Creek Raceway and broke his leg. In 1996 he made a comeback and won the Australian title...
lead late in the 2000 Bathurst 1000 until tangling with another car.
SBR then opted for some young talent for the 2001 season, with Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose is a championship winning Australian racing car driver. He currently drives the #9 Stanley Black & Decker Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...
and David Besnard
David Besnard
David Besnard, , in Sydney, Australia is a professional race car driver. Starting in Karts in 1981, he quickly proceeded into Formula Ford in 1995. After initial success, he had a major accident at Eastern Creek Raceway and broke his leg. In 1996 he made a comeback and won the Australian title...
taking over the driving duties in the Pirtek and Caltex Falcons respectively. Ambrose won a round, took two podiums, and impressed with his qualifying speed. Besnard had a mixed year, taking one podium. Both drivers remained with the team for the 2002 season, and took three round wins between them; including a Queensland 500 enduro victory for Besnard, and a dominant win at Sandown Raceway
Sandown Raceway
Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre. It is considered a power circuit with its front straight being 899m long and back straight 910m long.-History:...
for Ambrose.
In 2003, Ambrose continued to drive the Pirtek-sponsored SBR Falcon, but star driver Russell Ingall
Russell Ingall
Russell Ingall is an Australian V8 Supercar driver. Ingall won the V8 Supercar Championship for the first time in 2005, he was also the Championship runner up in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000 motor race twice, in 1995 and 1997...
took over for the FPR-bound Besnard in the Caltex car. 2003 saw the introduction of the Project Blueprint parity rules, and the new BA Falcon for Ford, and the VY Commodore for Holden. On this new playing field, SBR was the dominant force, with Ambrose winning the championship and Ingall finishing 7th. Between them they won eight of thirteen rounds (6 to Ambrose, 2 for Ingall). Ambrose took 5 pole positions. Meanwhile, Mark Winterbottom
Mark Winterbottom
Mark "Frosty" Winterbottom, is a racing driver who has competed in the V8 Supercar category since 2003. He currently drives for the Ford Performance Racing team...
won the Level Two Development Series in an SBR Falcon.
This dominance continued in the 2004 season, with Ambrose winning a second championship and Ingall finishing 2nd overall, giving SBR a historic 1-2 championship finish. The team recorded 6 round wins - 5 to Ambrose and 1 to Ingall. Among these round victories was an outstanding Sandown 500
Sandown 500
The Sandown 500 is an endurance motor race staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne in Victoria, Australia between 1964 and 2011. It was typically held in September, the month before Australia’s premier endurance race, the Bathurst 1000. The “500” was not run in 1966, 1967, 1999, 2000, 2008,...
victory to Ambrose and co-driver Greg Ritter
Greg Ritter
Greg Ritter is an Australian racing driver. He was the winner of the 1999 Australian Formula Ford Championship. and shared the winning drive at the 2004 Betta Electrical 500-Career results:-External links:*...
- a race where Ambrose reset the lap record. The same race saw Ingall and his co-driver Cameron McLean come in 2nd for a 1-2 race finish.
In 2005, Ingall won the championship, finally shedding the dubious "bridesmaid" tag. Consistency and strategy, rather than outright speed and wins were crucial to Ingall's win. Ambrose had led the championship until he was involved in an incident in the Bathurst 1000
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 is a touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia...
with Greg Murphy
Greg Murphy
Greg Murphy is a racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond presenting Top Gear, when it had its first international Live show at ASB Showgrounds in Auckland from February 12 - 15th 2009, and again when the show...
. He went on to finish 3rd behind Ingall and Craig Lowndes
Craig Lowndes
Craig Lowndes is a multi-championship winning Australian racing driver. He is a three-time V8 Supercar champion and five-time winner of Australia's most famous motor race, the Bathurst 1000...
. Ingall won a single round, while Ambrose took victories in the first and last rounds of the year. Both took multiple podiums, while Ambrose managed a pair of pole positions.
In both 2004 and 2005, SBR won the Team's Championship by comfortable margins.
2006 saw Ambrose leave V8 Supercar to pursue a career in NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
, and Pirtek withdrew its sponsorship. Former F1 Test Driver James Courtney
James Courtney
James Courtney is an Australian racing driver who competes in the V8 Supercar Championship. He is the current Australian Touring Car Champion after winning the 2010 title for Dick Johnson Racing....
was signed to drive the #4 car, now sponsored by JELD-WEN
JELD-WEN
Jeld-Wen is a corporation with over 150 divisions and 20,000 employees worldwide. The business manufactures building products, including windows, interior and exterior doors, and garage doors. Jeld-Wen owns several distribution facilities and operates several resort properties...
. Ingall continued in the Caltex entry, but couldn't defend his title - eventually finishing a disappointing eighth. Courtney improved throughout the season to finish 11th, and won Rookie of the Year. The highlight of the year was the team's performance at Bathurst, with Courtney and co-driver Glenn Seton
Glenn Seton
Glenn Seton is an Australian racing driver.Seton, father of Courtney and Aaron Seton and husband to Jayne Seton, retired from full time racing after the 2005 V8 Supercar season, and is only one of five drivers to have competed in over 200 rounds in the series. The other drivers are Dick Johnson ,...
third, with Ingall and co-driver Luke Youlden
Luke Youlden
Luke Youlden is an Australian motor racing driver. He is the son of two-time Australian Production Car champion Kent Youlden. Youlden has been a V8 Supercar endurance co-driver for various teams since 2001 but has never raced in the series full-time...
coming in fourth.
Ingall and Courtney continued driving for SBR in 2007, which proved to be an inconsistent season. Courtney scored round podiums in Adelaide, Bathurst and Bahrain, and a pole position in Adelaide; while Ingall managed a podium on the Gold Coast. Along with these strong results came disappointing ones.
It was announced that both Caltex
Caltex
Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in more than 60 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and southern Africa.-History:...
and driver of car #9 Russell Ingall
Russell Ingall
Russell Ingall is an Australian V8 Supercar driver. Ingall won the V8 Supercar Championship for the first time in 2005, he was also the Championship runner up in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 1000 motor race twice, in 1995 and 1997...
would leave the team after the completion of the 2007 series. The new driver for the 2008 season was Shane Van Gisbergen
Shane Van Gisbergen
Shane Van Gisbergen is a racing driver from Auckland, New Zealand. He currently drives for Stone Brothers Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series.-New Zealand racing history:...
and SP Tools became the new title sponsor on car #9. Courtney and JELD-WEN continue to be the driver and title sponsor respectively on car #4.
2008 was an average year for SBR, with Courtney and Van Gisbergen doing well in the series. Courtney broke through for his first race win in the series at the team's test track, Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway
Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located near Ipswich in Queensland, Australia.The circuit plays host to V8 Supercars, the Australian Superbike Championship, Drifting as well as club level racing and ride days....
although round wins still proved elusive for the high profile driver. Courtney and Bathurst team mate David Besnard finished third, while Van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb finished the weekend in the wall at McPhillamy Park.
Courtney left the team at seasons end with formerly European based sportscar racer Alex Davison
Alex Davison
Alex Davison, born 3 November 1979, in Melbourne, Australia, is best known as a racing driver. Davison currently races for Stone Brothers Racing driving a Ford Falcon in the V8 Supercar Championship Series....
returning home to steer the #4 Falcon. The team prepaired a car in 2009 for one of SBR's two Bathurst winning
1998 FAI 1000
The 1998 FAI 1000 Classic was the second running of the Australia 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 the previous year. It was the 41st race that traces its lineage back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island...
drivers, Jason Bright
Jason Bright
Jason Bright is an Australian racing driver currently competing in the V8 Supercar series.-Australia:...
as Bright's team Britek Motorsport
Britek Motorsport
Britek Motorsport is an Australian V8 Supercar motor racing team. Established in 2005 under the ownership of Bathurst 1000 winning driver Jason Bright, they have struggled in their first two seasons due to testing and licensing restrictions...
was a customer of SBR. In 2010, the team undertook the operation of a new satellite team, James Rosenberg Racing
James Rosenberg Racing
James Rosenberg Racing is a V8 Supercar racing team owned by South Australian agricultural business identity, James Rosenberg. The team was re-formed in 2010 season with Tim Slade as the teams driver after a toe-in-the water year working with Paul Morris Motorsport in 2009...
who has Tim Slade
Tim Slade
Tim Slade in Hornsby NSW is an Australian V8 Supercar racing driver.-Early career:Slade first appeared at a national level racing Formula 3. During the 2004 Australian Formula 3 Championship Slade in his rookie season with Team BRM he won his first race with the team making a one-off appearance at...
as their driver.
The Stone Brothers
Ross and Jim Stone, two New Zealand-born brothers, are the team manager and chief engineer of SBR respectively. Ross won the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship twice in the 1970's. Since then, the Stone Brothers have been behind several winning teams, before forming Pack Leader Racing with former world champion, Alan Jones in 1996. The brothers bought out Jones' share in the team after two seasons and the team was re-named Stone Brothers Racing in 1998. A highlight of their pre-SBR career was engineering the winning Falcon with Dick Johnson RacingDick Johnson Racing
Dick Johnson Racing is Australia's oldest operating motor racing team. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team has won seven Australian Touring Car Championship titles and has taken three victories in Australia's hallmark race, the Bathurst 1000...
at Bathurst in 1994.