Stock Car Pro Series
The BRB Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in 1979 with Chevrolet as the only constructor, the series has also seen other constructors joining in and leaving such as Peugeot and Volkswagen, currently the three manufacturers are Chevrolet, Mitsubishi and Toyota. The competition has seen many internationally famous drivers in its ranks, such as Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa, Bruno Junqueira, Lucas di Grassi, Nelson Piquet Jr., Ricardo Zonta and Tony Kanaan. The series is named for its current title sponsor, Banco de Brasília.
It began in 1979 as the Campeonato Brasileiro de Stock Cars, created by General Motors as an alternative to the Division 1 series. From 2005 to 2009, a deal with Nextel gave the series the title of Copa Nextel Stock Car. In 2010, Caixa Econômica Federal signed a three-year title sponsorship deal with Vicar, and the series was renamed to Copa Caixa Stock Car until 2012. Despite its prestige in South America as a whole, the series is largely centered in Brazilian circuits, with the vast majority of races occurring in the country. However, in recent years, Uruguay and Argentina have both held races.
The Stock Series, formerly known as Stock Car Light, serves as the access category to the Pro Series.
History
1970s
The series was created in 1979 as an alternative to the former Division 1 championship that competed with Chevrolet Opala and Ford Maverick. The dominance of Chevrolet over Ford models was causing a lack of public interest and sponsors. General Motors then created a new category, with a name reminiscent of the famous NASCAR with standardized performance and components for all competitors. The first race was run on 22 April 1979 at the Autódromo Internacional de Tarumã, Rio Grande do Sul with 19 cars competing, all of them being 6-cylinder Chevrolet Opalas. The pole position was held by José Carlos Palhares, and the race was won by Affonso Giaffone.1980s
This decade saw the emergence of several rivalries between drivers.The first major change in the Stock Car standard occurred in 1987. With the support of General Motors, a fairing designed and built by coachbuilder Caio was adopted, which was adapted to the Opala's chassis. The car exhibited improved aerodynamics and performance. Safety equipment become more sophisticated.
1990s
In 1990 General Motors renewed its interest in the category and built a prototype intended to replace the Caio/Hidroplas model.In 1991 new rules were established and the races were disputed in double rounds on the weekends, with two drivers per car, but the series continued to lose ground with the public, sponsors and television networks to other championships with many manufacturers involved, such as Campeonato Brasileiro de Marcas e Pilotos that included the involvement of Chevrolet, Fiat, Ford and Volkswagen, as well as the always popular Formula racing championships.
In 1994 the championship returned to the old rules and Chevrolet announced that the Chevrolet Omega would be introduced as the new standard model. As part of a marketing strategy and in order to reduce costs, the tickets were free and the races were now held in double rounds sponsored by Brazilian Formula Chevrolet in an event called Chevrolet Challenger. This decade marked a dominant era for Ingo Hoffmann with eight titles, three in partnership with Ângelo Giombell. His only serious challenges came from Paulo Gomes in 1995 and Chico Serra in 1999.
2000s
From 2000 on, General Motors departed the series' management and Vicar Promoções Desportivas, owned by former racing driver Carlos Col, took over the organization. This ushered in a period of modernization and improved security as the category started to use a tubular chassis designated JL G-09. The project engineer was Edgardo Fernandez, who did something similar for the Argentina category Top Race V6, inspired by both NASCAR and the DTM. The chassis was built by Zeca Giaffone's JL Racing.In 2003 the category replaced the Chevrolet 6-cylinder engine used with modifications since 1979 with a Chevrolet V8 imported from the United States by JL Racing, similar to the engines used by the NASCAR Busch Series. Despite not managing the series anymore, General Motors still participated in the series with the Vectra.
In 2005 Mitsubishi entered the series with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, marking the first time in the series' history in which Chevrolet was not the sole manufacturer competing. 30 October of that same year marked the first race held in Argentina at Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez, alongside the TC 2000 category. Attendance was 70,000. Giuliano Losacco was the winner, with Mateus Greipel second and Luciano Burti coming in third.
In 2006, Volkswagen entered in the series with the Bora and the championship adopted a point system similar to the one used in NASCAR, as well as a new system with 16 teams and 32 drivers. At the end of the season, the 10 best drivers were automatically qualified to run the 4 final races, called Super Final, similar to the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The 2007 season marked the largest amount of manufacturers competing in the category, with the entrance of Peugeot and the 307 Sedan. The season had the presence of Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, and Volkswagen. Volkswagen announced it was withdrawing from the category in 2008, with two-time champion Mitsubishi doing the same one year later in 2009. In 2008, the championship changed from Pirelli tires to Goodyear.
2010s
In 2010 the category started using ethanol as fuel and engines with electronic injection, and Caixa signed a title sponsorship deal that lasted until 2012.In 2011, Peugeot re-entered the championship announced with the 408 sedan model, replacing the 307. In 2012, Chevrolet introduced the Chevrolet Sonic as its competing model, replacing the Vectra. 2012 was also the last season in which Goodyear supplied tires, with Pirelli returning as the sole tire supplier in the championship from 2013 onward. The category announced changes in the championship for the 2012 season, dropping the Super Final system. The scoring system was also changed, with the top twenty drivers in each race being awarded points.
For the 2016 season, General Motors announced the Chevrolet Cruze as the replacement for the Sonic. In 2017, Peugeot announced its withdrawal from the championship, leaving Chevrolet as the sole automaker to compete in the series, making it a one-make championship, with all drivers using Cruze models.
2020s
In 2020, Toyota Gazoo Racing entered alongside Chevrolet, fielding a regulation version of their Toyota Corolla, which received a facelift in 2021. The season also saw a return to a monocoque chassis, replacing the tubular chassis used since 2000. On 12 December 2022, Vicar and Pirelli announced that they would not be renewing their contract and that from 2023 onward, Stock Car, Stock Series, and the F4 Brazil Championship will be supplied exclusively by Hankook.In 2025, the series will switch to a Crossover SUV-based formula. A decision based on Brazilian passenger vehicle sales, the Chevrolet Tracker and Toyota Corolla Cross will replace the existing cars whilst Mitsubishi will return to the category with the Eclipse Cross.
Special races
In 1982, the Stock Car held two non-points races at Autodromo do Estoril in Portugal.The Corrida do Milhão was a special race with a prize pool of R$1 million, held in 2008 and from 2010 to 2020.
The Corrida de Duplas was a two-driver race held from 2014 to 2016, and later in 2018 and 2022. Guest drivers included Jacques Villeneuve, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jaime Alguersuari, Mark Winterbottom, Oliver Jarvis, António Félix da Costa, Álvaro Parente, Filipe Albuquerque, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Maxime Martin, Laurens Vanthoor and Néstor Girolami.
The series has raced at street circuits in Salvador, Ribeirão Preto and currently Belo Horizonte, as was as the Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport. It has also raced multiple times at the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez in Argentina, and once at the Autódromo Víctor Borrat Fabini in Uruguay.
Support series
Created in 1992, the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet was the Series' main support category. It used the same chassis as Formula Opel until 1994, subsequently switching to a Techspeed chassis until 2002, which was the same year the category was retired.The Stock Car Light second tier was created in 1993, and reformulated in 2008 to become the Copa Vicar. After a merger with Pick-up Racing Brasil, the Copa Chevrolet Montana was established and standardized around the Chevrolet Montana model. Pick-up Racing Brasil was a category created in 2001 but only became part of the Stock Car Brasil programme until 2006.
The Stock Car Jr. third tier was created in 2006. It was intended for young and amateur drivers moving from Kart racing. In 2010 the category was replaced with the Mini Challenge Brasil. After three seasons it was cancelled.
Manufacturer representation
Scoring systems
Prior 2012
2012–2013
2014–2015
Points were awarded for each race at an event, to the driver/s of a car that completed at least 75% of the race distance and was running at the completion of the race, up to a maximum of 48 points per event.- Dual Race: Used for the first round with Wildcard drivers.
- Feature races: Used for the first race of each event and the Stock Car Million race.
- Sprint races: Used for the second race of each event, with partially reversed grid.
- Final race: Used for the last round of the season with double points.