Jason Bright

Jason Bright

Born: March 7, 1973
Age: 51
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Biography

Jason Bright (born 7 March 1973) is an Australian professional racing driver who competes in the International V8 Supercars Championship as lead driver of Brad Jones Racing.

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Racing career

Australia

Born in Moe, Victoria, 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 supported 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.

He finished runner-up in the 1996 Australian Drivers' Championship behind Paul Stokell, winning 3 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, he 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 2 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 mid field. 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 will be joining the team for the 2010 season.

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 he 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, he 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

Main article: 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

Main article: Brad Jones Racing

For the 2010 season Bright is driving a Holden VE Commodore for Brad Jones Racing.

Jason Bright's 2010 season was rather inconsistent, but a couple of good qualifying performances at the back half of the year, a 4th 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. Bright's 2011 and 2012 seasons were also rather inconsistent, finishing 16th both years.

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 10 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

Season Series Position Car Team
1992 Victorian Formula Ford Championship 1st Spectrum 05 Ford
1993 Australian Formula Ford Championship 17th Spectrum 05 Ford Borland Racing Developments
1994 Australian Formula Ford Championship 3rd Swift SC93F Ford Jason Bright
1995 Australian Formula Ford Championship 1st Van Diemen RF95 Ford Valvoline Australia
1996 United States Formula Ford 2000 2nd Van Diemen RF96 Ford
1996 Australian Drivers' Championship 2nd Reynard 91D Holden Birrana Racing
1997 Australian Touring Car Championship 21st Holden VS Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport
1997 Australian Drivers' Championship 1st Reynard 91D Holden Birrana Racing
1998 Australian Touring Car Championship 9th Ford EL Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
1999 Shell Championship Series 8th Ford AU Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
2000 Indy Lights 6th Lola B2K/20 Buick Doricott Racing
2000 Champcar World Series 31st Reynard 2Ki Toyota Della-Penna Racing
2000 Shell Championship Series 26th Ford AU Falcon Dick Johnson Racing
2001 Shell Championship Series 3rd Holden VX Commodore Holden Racing Team
2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 4th Holden VX Commodore Holden Racing Team
2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series 4th Holden VX Commodore Paul Weel Racing
2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series 3rd Holden VY Commodore Paul Weel Racing
2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series 9th Ford BA Falcon Ford Performance Racing
2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series 5th Ford BA Falcon Ford Performance Racing
2006 American Le Mans Series: GT1 Class 11th Aston Martin DBR9 Prodrive
2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series 21st Ford BF Falcon Britek Motorsport
2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series 19th Ford BF Falcon Britek Motorsport
2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series 19th Ford BF Falcon
Ford FG Falcon
Britek Motorsport
2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series 14th Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2011 International V8 Supercars Championship 16th Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2011 Australian Production Car Championship 25th HSV VXR Racer Industries
2012 International V8 Supercars Championship 16th Holden VE Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2013 International V8 Supercars Championship 7th Holden VF Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2014 International V8 Supercars Championship 11th Holden VF Commodore Brad Jones Racing
2015 International V8 Supercars Championship 16th Holden VF Commodore Brad Jones Racing

Bathurst 1000 results

Year Number Team Car Co-driver Position Laps
1997 9 Alan Jones Racing Ford EL Falcon Alan Jones
Scott Pruett
11th 153
1998 4 Stone Brothers Racing Ford EL Falcon Steven Richards 1st 161
1999 4 Stone Brothers Racing Ford AU Falcon Craig Baird DNF 145
2000 18 Dick Johnson Racing Ford AU Falcon Paul Radisich 2nd 161
2001 2 Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore Tomas Mezera DNF 126
2002 2 Holden Racing Team Holden VX Commodore Tomas Mezera 3rd 161
2003 50 Team Brock Holden VX Commodore Paul Weel DNF 44
2004 50 Paul Weel Racing Holden VY Commodore Paul Weel 12th 159
2005 6 Ford Performance Racing Ford BA Falcon David Brabham 14th 152
2006 6 Ford Performance Racing Ford BA Falcon Mark Winterbottom DNF 28
2007 25 Britek Motorsport Ford BF Falcon Adam Macrow DNF 149
2008 25 Britek Motorsport Ford BF Falcon Adam Macrow 9th 161
2009 25 Britek Motorsport Ford FG Falcon Karl Reindler 11th 161
2010 14 Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore Matt Halliday 4th 161
2011 8 Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore Andrew Jones 5th 161
2012 8 Brad Jones Racing Holden VE Commodore Andrew Jones 21st 153
2013 8 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Andrew Jones 5th 161
2014 8 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Andrew Jones 14th 158
2015 8 Brad Jones Racing Holden VF Commodore Andrew Jones 7th 161

Indy Lights results

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

Champ Car

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rank Points
2000 Della-Penna Racing MIA LBH RIO MOT NZR MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LS STL HOU SRF
FON 31st 0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2013 8 Star Motorsports Enzo Potolicchio
Rui Águas
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 LMGTEAm 294 38th 10th

Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
2003 1 A 05 Garry Rogers Motorsport Peter Brock
Greg Murphy
Todd Kelly
Holden Monaro 427C D 527
Chevrolet LS6 7.0L V8

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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