Jason Bright

Jason Bright (born March 7, 1973 in Moe, Victoria) is an Australian racing driver currently competing in the V8 Supercar series for Britek Motorsport, a team he also owns.

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 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 24hr 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 and finished ninth overall. 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.

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.

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 run Ford Australias entry in the Australian Rally Championship, a pair of Ford Fiestas for Michael Guest and Darren Windus.

Personal life

Bright lives in Melbourne

Career results