Michael Caruso (racing driver)
| Michael Caruso | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Caruso in 2015 | |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Born | 25 May 1983 Sydney, New South Wales |
| Racing licence |  FIA Gold |
| Supercars Championship career | |
| Car number | 18 |
| Current team | Team 18 (Endurance race co-driver) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Races | 357 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Podiums | 10 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| 2021 position | 40th (114 pts) |
Michael Caruso (born 25 May 1983) is an Australian professional motor racing driver. Caruso competes in the Pirtek Enduro Cup, co-driving a Chevrolet Camaro Mk.6 for Team 18 alongside Mark Winterbottom.
Early career
[edit]Caruso began his career in go-karts at age 12,[1] before graduating to Formula Ford in 2001. He moved to Formula 3 in 2002 and won the Australian Formula 3 Championship in 2003.[2] Despite offers to move to FIA Formula 3000 in Europe, he chose to join the Holden Young Lions team in the V8 Supercars Development Series for 2004.[1] After a poor start he quit the team mid-season. In 2005 Caruso competed in the first two rounds of the Australian Formula 3 Championship, before moving to Europe to be test and reserve driver for the F3000 outfit Team Astromega.
Touring cars
[edit]Development Series
[edit]In 2006 he returned to Australia and to the V8 Supercars Development Series with Jim Morton's Decina Racing, finishing 4th in the championship. In 2007 he was runner-up in the Development Series, again with Jim Morton's renamed Ford Rising Star program. He also made three main-game V8 Supercars starts in this period. The first of which was at the 2006 Bathurst 1000 as a replacement for Mark Porter in a Brad Jones Racing entry. Porter had a serious crash on the Friday of the event and later died in hospital. In 2007, Caruso entered the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 with WPS Racing.[3]
Garry Rogers Motorsport
[edit]In 2008, Caruso was signed to compete in his first full season in V8 Supercars, driving a Holden Commodore (VE) for Garry Rogers Motorsport, where he replaced Dean Canto. In 2009, Caruso won his first championship race at the Skycity Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway. He also finished on the podium at the 2009 Bathurst 1000, co-driving with Lee Holdsworth, and in the second race of the Sydney 500.[4] Caruso stayed at the team until 2012, only scoring one further podium in this period.
Nissan Motorsport
[edit]In 2013, Caruso moved to Nissan Motorsport, a four car team running the Nissan Altima L33. The team was the first to introduce a new manufacturer to the category under the New Generation V8 Supercar (then known as Car of the Future) regulations in 2013.[5] The team largely struggled with the new package and Caruso finished 23rd in the championship. The highlight of the year for Caruso was at the Winton 360, where he finished second in the opening race. Caruso had been leading the race at the conclusion of the first half of the split race, however was beaten by teammate James Moffat to victory in the second half.[6]
In 2014, Caruso finished a career-high 10th in the championship, despite only scoring one podium, in the second race of the Gold Coast 600. Caruso also took pole at the non-championship V8 Supercars Challenge race, a support event to the Australian Grand Prix. Having featured Norton 360 sponsorship in 2013 and 2014, from 2015 onwards, Caruso sported a corporate Nissan and Nismo livery. After another lean year in 2015, Caruso began 2016 strongly at the season-opening Adelaide 500. Caruso finished second in the Sunday race and led the championship following the event.[7] At the 2016 CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown, Caruso won his second career championship race, seven years after his first and coincidentally once again at Hidden Valley Raceway.[8] On 30 January 2019 it was announced that Caruso would lose his drive with Nissan Motorsport. He will not compete full time in 2019 and is yet to announce an ENDURO drive.[9]
-
Caruso placed tenth in the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship driving a Nissan L33 Altima -
The Nissan Altima of Michael Caruso at the 2018 Adelaide 500
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Career results
[edit]Karting career summary
[edit]| Season | Series | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Queensland Junior Kart Championship | 1st |
| Victorian Junior Kart Championship | 1st | |
| Australian Junior Intercontinental A Title | 1st | |
| North American Junior Intercontinental A Title | 1st | |
| 1998 | Queensland Intercontinental A Title | 1st |
| 2000 | Victorian Formula A Kart Title | 1st |
Racing career summary
[edit]Supercars Championship results
[edit](Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Bathurst 1000 results
[edit]| Year | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Brad Jones Racing | Ford Falcon BA | Dale Brede Mark Porter†
|
DNF | 59 |
| 2007 | WPS Racing | Ford Falcon BF | Grant Denyer
|
15th | 159 |
| 2008 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Lee Holdsworth
|
DNF | 139 |
| 2009 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Lee Holdsworth
|
3rd | 161 |
| 2010 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Greg Ritter
|
10th | 161 |
| 2011 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Marcus Marshall
|
10th | 161 |
| 2012 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Greg Ritter
|
5th | 161 |
| 2013 | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan Altima L33 | Daniel Gaunt
|
25th | 147 |
| 2014 | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan Altima L33 | Dean Fiore
|
15th | 158 |
| 2015 | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan Altima L33 | Dean Fiore
|
13th | 161 |
| 2016 | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan Altima L33 | Dean Fiore
|
8th | 161 |
| 2017 | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan Altima L33 | Dean Fiore
|
6th | 161 |
| 2018 | Nissan Motorsport | Nissan Altima L33 | Dean Fiore
|
DNF | 69 |
| 2019 | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang S550 | Cam Waters
|
20th | 148 |
| 2020 | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang S550 | Lee Holdsworth
|
7th | 161 |
| 2021 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Holden Commodore ZB | Mark Winterbottom
|
16th | 161 |
| 2022 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Holden Commodore ZB | Mark Winterbottom
|
15th | 161 |
| 2023 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Chevrolet Camaro Mk.6 | Mark Winterbottom
|
DNF[10] | 160 |
| 2024 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Chevrolet Camaro Mk.6 | Mark Winterbottom
|
18th | 161 |
† Porter was the entered driver but was killed in a support race. Caruso would replace him.
TCR Australia results
[edit]| TCR Australia results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Position | Points | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | GRM Team Valvoline | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | SYM R1 12 |
SYM R2 Ret |
SYM R3 9 |
PHI R4 17 |
PHI R5 15 |
PHI R6 17 |
BAT R7 15 |
BAT R8 DSQ |
BAT R9 18 |
SMP R10 6 |
SMP R11 3 |
SMP R12 1 |
BAT R13 3 |
BAT R14 Ret |
BAT R15 3 |
11th | 326 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | SYM R1 12 |
SYM R2 9 |
SYM R3 8 |
PHI R4 17 |
PHI R5 8 |
PHI R6 7 |
BAT R7 10 |
BAT R8 4 |
BAT R9 11 |
SMP R10 20 |
SMP R11 14 |
SMP R12 20 |
QLD R13 10 |
QLD R14 Ret |
QLD R15 DNS |
SAN R16 6 |
SAN R17 10 |
SAN R18 1 |
BAT R19 10 |
BAT R20 C |
BAT R21 9 |
12th | 520 | |||||||||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b http://www.michaelcaruso.com.au/about/ About Michael Caruso
- ^ http://www.speedsport-magazine.com/race-driver-database/biography/Michael-Caruso-,2171.html Speedsport Magazine Driver Database Profile
- ^ Greenhalgh, David; Tuckey, Bill (2013). The official history of The Great Race Bathurst : 50 years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 9780980591231.
- ^ Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship – 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
- ^ "Nissan confirms Kelly Racing V8 Supercars entry". Speedcafe.com. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Moffat leads Nissan one-two at Winton". SpeedCafe. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (6 March 2016). "Percat wins chaotic rain hit Clipsal 500". Speedcafe. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ Bartholomaeus, Stefan (18 June 2016). "Caruso breaks win drought in Darwin opener". Speedcafe. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
- ^ "Kelly Racing confirms Caruso departure". 30 January 2019.
- ^ "Winterbottom's cruel last-lap DNF explained". V8 Sleuth. 9 October 2023.
External links
[edit]- Official Website
- V8 Supercars Official Profile
- Michael Caruso career summary at DriverDB.com
- Michael Caruso driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- 1983 births
- Australian Formula 3 Championship drivers
- Living people
- Racing drivers from Sydney
- Sportsmen from New South Wales
- Supercars Championship drivers
- Australian Endurance Championship drivers
- Kelly Racing drivers
- Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers
- Nismo drivers
- Porsche Carrera Cup Australia drivers
- Racing drivers from New South Wales
- TCR Australia Touring Car Series drivers
- 21st-century Australian sportsmen