Jason Bright

Jason Paul Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a satellite team of Prodrive Racing Australia, before retiring from full-time racing at the end of the 2017 season.

Racing career

Australia Bright started his motor racing career at the age of 15 in 1988 and won the Junior Club Championship at the Gippsland Go-Kart Club. One year later, Bright won the Senior Club Championships.

In 1990, Bright was the runner-up in the Victorian Go Karting Championship and he went on to win the championship in 1991.

1992 saw Bright move into single-seaters and into the Victorian Formula Ford Championship and finished fourth and dovetailed this with another go-kart campaign, finishing third overall in Australia.

Bright made his debut in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 1993, in a factory-backed Spectrum. In the season, he had a best finish of sixth at Symmons Plains, but in the Australian Formula Ford Festival at Winton, he finished second. Bright finished third in the 1994 Australian Formula Ford Championship, behind Steven Richards and Gavin Monaghan. He won the Formula Ford race supporting the Australian Grand Prix.

1995 was a fantastic season for Bright, winning the Australian Formula Ford Championship, winning the Australian Grand Prix support race and the Lexmark Indy 300 support race. He was also nominated for two major Australian awards.

Bright finished runner-up in the 1996 Australian Drivers' Championship behind Paul Stokell, winning three races. But in 1997, Bright dominated that championship, winning seven races and made his V8 Supercar debut at Symmons Plains, finishing ninth, but better was to come as he finished third in the Sandown 500 with Alan Jones but failed to capitalise at Bathurst a few weeks later, finishing eleventh.

In 1998, Bright became a full-time touring car driver, joining Stone Brothers Racing, showing considerable promise with several top six performances and a third place at Calder Park. He and co-driver Steven Richards won the Bathurst Classic (the V8Supercar version of the Bathurst 1000 that year) coming back after Bright crashed heavily in practice and only being able to record a single flying lap in qualifying because of the extensive repairs.

In 1999, Bright had six podiums, including a win at Hidden Valley Raceway and three pole positions. He also took part in the sportscar race at Adelaide to bring in 2000 and finished third in class.

2001 saw Bright return to the V8 Supercar series after a stint in Champ Car competition (see below), with the multi-championship-winning Holden Racing Team. Bright won the season-opening Clipsal 500 and led for most of the first half of the season before fading to third. 2002 was another good season at HRT, with two wins and a pole.

2003 saw Bright move to Paul Weel Racing and consistency was the key to get him fourth in the standings. 2004 saw Bright win three races finishing third in the championship. Bright also won the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour race in a Holden Monaro driving with the late Peter Brock, Greg Murphy and Todd Kelly. This car was run by rival V8 Supercar team Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Bright crossed marques in 2005 when he moved to Ford Performance Racing. Bright finished ninth overall for FPR.

Bright had an awful start to the 2006 season, finishing 15th and 25th in Adelaide. However he improved throughout the season, ending with a win at the Sandown 500 and the inaugural Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit as well as podiums at Surfers Paradise and Symmons Plains.

For 2007, Bright left FPR to join his struggling Britek Motorsport team and battled in the midfield. After two seasons with funds tightening, Bright leased out one of his two Racing Entitlement Contracts and focussed on just one car. Further to the team cutbacks, Bright came to an arrangement with Stone Brothers Racing to do vehicle preparation and but most of his team equipment and workshop on the market, effectively shutting down Britek as a racing team. His form gradually improved at SBR and jumped forward when his older Britek BF Falcon was replaced with a SBR FG Falcon picking up a third at the Sydney 500 and leading the race, but by this stage Bright's major sponsor Fujitsu had announced they would be leaving the team.

Brad Jones Racing team owner, Kim Jones confirmed that Bright would be joining the team for the 2010 season.

Bright confirmed that he would re-join Prodrive Racing Australia after leaving BJR for the 2017 Supercars Championship season, just 10 years after he left the team for Britek Motorsports, making him the fourth driver in the team.

Overseas Bright's first taste of international competition was in 1996, a hectic year in which he raced in both the United States and Australia. He won two races in the US Formula Ford 2000 Championship, at St. Petersburg and Mosport, finished second in the championship behind Steve Knapp and was awarded Rookie of the Year.

In 2000, Bright left Australia to join the Indy Lights series in America, where with race engineer Gerald Tyler, had five podium finishes and finished sixth in the standings. He also made his Champ Car debut at the Lexmark Indy 300 that year.

In 2006, Bright drove for Prodrive in an Aston Martin at the Sebring 12 Hour finishing fourth. 2013 he made his debut at the Le mans 24 Hour race driving for 8 Star Motorsports. They finished 10th in class.

Britek Motorsport

Bright established his own V8 Supercar team, Britek Motorsport, in 2005. He was driving for Ford Performance Racing at the time and thus his team had restrictions on testing and driver licensing. The team is officially referred to as Fujitsu Racing, after their marquee sponsor. Bright joined his own team in 2007. He nearly won the 2007 Bathurst 1000 but a bad tyre call in the pits left him hitting the wall at McPhillamy Park with 10 laps to go.

Britek also briefly ran Ford Australias entry in the Australian Rally Championship, a pair of Super 2000 Ford Fiestas for Michael Guest and Darren Windus.

The team wound down after the 2008 season. The team's franchises remained live in 2009 with one leased out and Bright running the other as a Stone Brothers Racing customer team. At the end of 2009, the leased franchise was sold off to Brad Jones Racing.

Brad Jones Racing

For the 2010 season, Bright drove a Holden VE Commodore for Brad Jones Racing.

Bright's 2010 season was rather inconsistent, but a couple of good qualifying performances at the back half of the year, a fourth place at the 2010 Bathurst 1000, and a podium finish at Symmons Plains, finishing behind Paul Dumbrell and Mark Winterbottom led to an overall result of 14th place in the championship. Race 8 in Perth saw Bright win Brad Jones Racing its first-ever V8 Supercars win. Bright followed this up with a win at Winton and was amongst the favourites to win the championship with a high of fourth in the championship standings. However, Bright's 2011 season faded away. Later in the season, Bright injured his ribs and missed three events as a result. His 2012 season was rather inconsistent, finishing 16th – for the second year in a row.

In 2013, with the introduction of the Car Of The Future rules, Brad Jones Racing saw a dramatic change in performance in both Bright and teammate Fabian Coulthard. Using the new Holden VF Commodore, the team saw back-to-back wins at Tasmania, with Bright winning his first race since Winton 2011. Bright then went on to win Race 4 at Pukekohe Raceway, which awarded him the inaugural Jason Richards Memorial Trophy, for scoring the most points over the weekend; his famous celebration ended up in him busting a fluorescent light while jumping for joy. Bright's form thus far has been rather consistent, landing him with enough points to make the top-ten in the 2013 championship. A stroke of bad luck, however, saw Bright not being able to compete in Race 1 at Gold Coast, after Andrew Jones severely damaged the car during practice. However, they did manage to repair the car to such an extent that they competed in Race 2, where they managed to place 15th. Bright finished the 2013 Championship season in 7th place, one place below teammate Fabian Coulthard.

Bright had a disastrous start to 2014, with a monumental crash in Race 3 at the Clipsal 500 giving him his first and only DNF for the season. Since then, Bright has been rather inconsistent, with only one podium finish; a win at the Auckland 500.

Career results

Karting career summary

Circuit career results

Complete Supercars Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)(Someone please fill in Brights results from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016,) Year Team No. Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 DC Points 1997 Garry Rogers Motorsport 34 Holden VS Commodore CALR1 CALR2 CALR3 PHIR4 PHIR5 PHIR6 SANR7 SANR8 SANR9 SYMR10 SYMR11 SYMR12 WINR13 WINR14 WINR15 EASR16 EASR17 EASR18 LAKR19 LAKR20 LAKR21 BARR22 BARR23 BARR24 MALR25 MALR26 MALR27 ORAR28 ORAR29 ORAR30 21st 24 1998 Stone Brothers Racing 4 Ford EL Falcon SANR1 SANR2 SANR3 SYMR4 SYMR5 SYMR6 LAKR7 LAKR8 LAKR9 PHIR10 PHIR11 PHIR12 WINR13 WINR14 WINR15 MALR16 MALR17 MALR18 BARR19 BARR20 BARR21 CALR22 CALR23 CALR24 HIDR25 HDVR26 HDVR27 ORAR28 ORAR29 ORAR30 9th 584 1999 Ford AU Falcon EASR1 EASR2 EASR3 ADER4 ADER5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 PHIR9 PHIR10 PHIR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 HDVR14 SANR15 SANR16 SANR16 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 CALR21 CALR22 CALR23 SYMR24 SYMR25 SYMR26 WINR27 WINR28 WINR29 ORAR30 ORAR31 ORAR32 QLDR33 BATR34 8th 1276 2000 Dick Johnson Racing 18 Ford AU Falcon PHIR1 PHIR2 BARR3 BARR4 BARR5 ADER6 ADER7 EASR8 EASR9 EASR10 HDVR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 CANR14 CANR15 CANR16 QLDR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 WINR20 WINR21 WINR22 ORAR23 ORAR24 ORAR25 CALR26 CALR27 CALR28 QLDR29 SANR30 SANR31 SANR32 BATR33 26th 216 2001 Holden Racing Team 2 Holden VX Commodore PHIR1 PHIR2 ADER3 ADER4 EASR5 EASR6 HDVR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 CANR10 CANR11 CANR12 BARR13 BARR14 BARR15 CALR16 CALR17 CALR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 QLDR21 WINR22 WINR23 BATR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SANR28 SANR29 SANR30 3rd 2819 2002 ADER1 ADER2 PHIR3 PHIR4 EASR5 EASR6 EASR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 CANR11 CANR12 CANR13 BARR14 BARR15 BARR16 ORAR17 ORAR18 WINR19 WINR20 QLDR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SANR28 SANR29 4th 1459 2003 Paul Weel Racing 50 Holden VX Commodore ADER1 ADER1 PHIR3 EASR4 WINR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 HDVR11 QLDR12 ORAR13 SANR14 BATR15 SURR16 SURR17 PUKR18 PUKR19 PUKR20 EASR21 EASR22 4th 1770 2004 Holden VY Commodore ADER1 ADER2 EASR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 PUKR6 HDVR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 BARR10 BARR11 BARR12 QLDR13 WINR14 ORAR15 ORAR16 SANR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SYMR23 EASR24 EASR25 EASR26 3rd 1920 2005 Ford Performance Racing 6 Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 EASR9 EASR10 SHAR11 SHAR12 SHAR13 HDVR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 SURR24 SYMR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 PHIR28 PHIR29 PHIR30 9th 1566 2006 ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 WINR9 WINR10 WINR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 HDVR14 QLDR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 SANR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 SURR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 SYMR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 PHIR32 PHIR33 PHIR34 5th 2868 2007 Britek Motorsport 25 Ford BF Falcon ADER1 ADER2 BARR3 BARR4 BARR5 PUKR6 PUKR7 PUKR8 WINR9 WINR10 WINR11 EASR12 EASR13 EASR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 HDVR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 ORAR21 ORAR22 ORAR23 SANR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 SURR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 SYMR32 SYMR33 SYMR34 PHIR35 PHIR36 PHIR37 21st 71 2008 ADER1 ADER2 EASR3 EASR4 EASR5 HAMR6 HAMR7 HAMR8 BARR9 BARR10 BARR11 SANR12 SANR13 SANR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 HDVR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 WINR21 WINR22 WINR23 PHIQ PHIR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 SURR28 BHRR29 BHRR30 BHRR31 SYMR32 SYMR33 SYMR34 ORAR35 ORAR36 ORAR37 19th 1438 2009 Ford FG Falcon ADER1 ADER2 HAMR3 HAMR4 WINR5 WINR6 SYMR7 SYMR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 TOWR11 TOWR12 SANR13 SANR14 QLDR15 QLDR16 PHIQ PHIR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SURR21 SURR22 PHIR23 PHIR24 BARR25 BARR26 SYDR27 SYDR28 19th 1607 2010 Brad Jones Racing 14 Holden VE Commodore YMCR1 YMCR2 BHRR3 BHRR4 ADER5 ADER6 HAMR7 HAMR8 QLDR9 QLDR10 WINR11 WINR12 HDVR13 HDVR14 TOWR15 TOWR16 PHIR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SANR23 SANR24 SYDR25 SYDR26 14th 1642 2011 8 YMCR1 YMCR2 ADER3 ADER4 HAMR5 HAMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 WINR10 WINR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 QLDR18 PHIR19 BATR20 SURR21 SURR22 SYMR23 SYMR24 SANR25 SANR26 SYDR27 SYDR28 16th 1633 2012 ADER1 ADER2 SYMR3 SYMR4 HAMR5 HAMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 PHIR10 PHIR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 SMPR18 SMPR19 SANQR SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 YMCR24 YMCR25 YMCR26 WINR27 WINR28 SYDR29 SYDR30 16th 1737 2013 Holden VF Commodore ADER1 ADER2 SYMR3 SYMR4 SYMR5 PUKR6 PUKR7 PUKR8 PUKR9 BARR10 BARR11 BARR12 COAR13 COAR14 COAR15 COAR16 HIDR17 HIDR18 HIDR19 TOWR20 TOWR21 QLDR22 QLDR23 QLDR24 WINR25 WINR26 WINR27 SANR28 BATR29 SURR30 SURR31 PHIR32 PHIR33 PHIR34 SYDR35 SYDR36 7th 2381 2014 ADER1 ADER2 ADER3 SYMR4 SYMR5 SYMR6 WINR7 WINR8 WINR9 PUKR10 PUKR11 PUKR12 PUKR13 BARR14 BARR15 BARR16 HIDR17 HIDR18 HIDR19 TOWR20 TOWR21 TOWR22 QLDR23 QLDR24 QLDR25 SMPR26 SMPR27 SMPR28 SANQR SANR29 BATR30 SURR31 SURR32 PHIR33 PHIR34 PHIR35 SYDR36 SYDR37 SYDR38 11th 1927 2015 ADER1 ADER2 ADER3 SYMR4 SYMR5 SYMR6 BARR7 BARR8 BARR9 WINR10 WINR11 WINR12 HIDR13 HIDR14 HIDR15 TOWR16 TOWR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 SMPR21 SMPR22 SMPR23 SANQR SANR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 PUKR28 PUKR29 PUKR30 PHIR31 PHIR32 PHIR33 SYDR34 SYDR35 SYDR36 16th 1671 2016 ADER1 ADER2 ADER3 SYMR4 SYMR5 PHIR6 PHIR7 BARR8 BARR9 WINR10 WINR11 HIDR12 HIDR13 TOWR14 TOWR15 QLDR16 QLDR17 SMPR18 SMPR19 SANQR SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 PUKR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SYDR28 SYDR29 17th 1459 2017 Britek Motorsport 56 Ford FG X Falcon ADER1 ADER2 SYMR3 SYMR4 PHIR5 PHIR6 BARR7 BARR8 WINR9 WINR10 HIDR11 HIDR12 TOWR13 TOWR14 QLDR15 QLDR16 SMPR17 SMPR18 SANQR SANR19 BATR20 SURR21 SURR22 PUKR23 PUKR24 NEWR25 NEWR26 20th 1524 2018 Team 18 18 Holden ZB Commodore ADER1 ADER2 MELR3 MELR4 MELR5 MELR6 SYMR7 SYMR8 PHIR9 PHIR10 BARR11 BARR12 WINR13 WINR14 HIDR15 HIDR16 TOWR17 TOWR18 QLDR19 QLDR20 SMPR21 BENR22 BENR23 SANQR SANR24 BATR25 SURR26 SURR27 PUKR28 PUKR29 NEWR30 NEWR31 48th 216

Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps 1997 Alan Jones Racing Ford Falcon EL Alan Jones Scott Pruett 11th 153 1998 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon EL Steven Richards 1st 161 1999 Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon AU Craig Baird DNF 145 2000 Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon AU Paul Radisich2nd 161 2001 Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VX Tomas Mezera DNF 126 2002 Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VX Tomas Mezera 3rd 161 2003 Team Brock Holden Commodore VX Paul Weel DNF 44 2004 Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore VY Paul Weel 12th 159 2005 Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BA David Brabham 14th 152 2006 Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BA Mark Winterbottom DNF 28 2007 Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon BF Adam Macrow DNF 149 2008 Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon BF Adam Macrow 9th 161 2009 Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon FG Karl Reindler 11th 161 2010 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VE Matthew Halliday 4th 161 2011 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VE Andrew Jones 5th 161 2012 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VE Andrew Jones 21st 153 2013 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VF Andrew Jones 5th 161 2014 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VF Andrew Jones 14th 158 2015 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VF Andrew Jones 7th 161 2016 Brad Jones Racing Holden Commodore VF Andrew Jones DNF 89 2017 Britek Motorsport Ford Falcon FG X Garry Jacobson 8th 161 2018 Team 18 Holden Commodore ZB Lee Holdsworth 21st 157

American Open-Wheel (key)

Indy Lights results Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points Ref 2000 Dorricott Racing LBH MIL DET POR MIC CHI ROA VAN LS STL HOU FON 6th 91

Champ Car

International GT Racing Complete American Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overallposition Classposition 2003 Garry Rogers Motorsport Peter Brock Greg Murphy Todd Kelly Holden Monaro 427C A 527 1st 1st

12 Hours of Sebring results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overallposition Classposition 2006 Aston Martin Racing Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 337 4th 2nd

Bathurst 12 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overallposition Classposition 2010 Action Racing Marcus Zukanovic Allan Simonsen Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 I 121 26th 1st 2013 Team Peugeot RCZ Stéphane Caillet Julien Rueflin Peugeot RCZ Cup I1 214 23rd 2nd 2014 skwirk.com.au Warren Luff Rod Salmon Liam Talbot Audi R8 LMS Ultra A – DNS DNS

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overallposition Classposition 2013 8 Star Motorsports Enzo Potolicchio Rui Águas Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 LMGTEAm 294 37th 10th