The Team - History

Super Nova Racing is one of the most successful teams in international motor sport.

Founded by David Sears and Nozumo Saruhashi in 1991 to contest in the All-Japan Formula 3 Championship. Building on this success, the team soon moved into the international arena of European Formula 3000.

In 1994, Super Nova hit the ground running with drivers, Taki Inoue and Vincenzo Sospiri, title contenders until the final round. It was the following year that they stylishly claimed first and second place in the championship with Sospiri and Ricardo Rosset scoring nearly three times as many points as the second place team!

Over the next ten years, Super Nova won the F3000 Championship a record four times setting just about every other record in the series along the way, with more poles, podiums and wins than any other team in the Championship's 20-year history.

Following the sad demise of F3000 in 2004, Super Nova were one of just 12 teams invited by the FIA to campaign in the exciting new F1-feeder series, GP2. In 2005 the team finished an impressive third place in the opening season, with Giorgio Pantano and Adam Carroll, and have continued to be competitive since.

Unfortunately, due to financial problems caused by a defaulted sponsor payment in 2011, Super Nova Racing ended its participation in Formula One support racing.

In early 2012 Super Nova International Racing was set up to participate in the ever expanding  AUTO GP World Series. The team  personnel have a highly successful history in F3000 and A1GP with the Lola / Zytek package that is used in AUTO GP.

The results speak for itself, including championship wins in 1995 (Vincenzo Sospiri), 1997 (Ricardo Zonta), 1998 (Juan Pablo Montoya), 2002 (Sebastien Bourdais) and 2006/7 in A1GP with current Williams Formula 1 driver, Nico Hulkenberg. The team also has a number of second place finishes in F3000, with Ricardo Rosset, Kenny Brack and Nicolas Minassian and Mark Webber and A1GP in 2006/7 and 2007/8 with Team New Zealand.

Many of our drivers have gone on to race not only in Formula One, but in America too, where excellent relations with top IRL and Champ Car teams are still maintained. The team also harbour strong connections with many F1 teams, previously running as the junior team to Benetton, Renault, Williams, Jordan, BAR and, most recently, Mercedes GP.