2015 Australia women's national soccer team strike, Strike
On 16 October, the ABC revealed that former players had previously had to go on welfare benefits to make ends meet while playing for the national team. A few days later, FFA president David Gallop told the ABC that the Federation would offer the players pay equal to minimum wage, but stated that "it’s always problematic when you talk about a minimum wage because it denotes that they’re full time contracts" and that he expected that several players would still have to find second jobs to make ends meet.


2015 Australia women's national soccer team strike, Strike
On 6 November, the PFA signed a new agreement with the FFA, resolving the strike. The new agreement included a significant pay rise, the maximum salary rising to $41,000 a year. The new agreement also included substantial increases in investment into the women's game and improved working conditions. After the agreement was struck, Hayley Raso stated that the strike was "something we had to do".


2015 Australia women's national soccer team strike, Aftermath
After the resolution of the strike, PFA chair Adam Vivian stated that the union intended to try and negotiate an increase to minimum wage for domestic W-League players as well, stating that "the Matildas have a problem with that too, they want to see equity among the playing group." In 2018, the Professional Footballers Australia W-League report found that more than half of players were considering retiring early because of financial reasons.


2015 Australia women's national soccer team strike, Aftermath
In 2019, a new collective bargaining agreement was signed between Professional Footballers Australia and the Football Federation Australia. The new CBA guaranteed equal split of all commercial revenues between the men's and women's national teams and a number of improvements to working conditions to bring the women's standards equal to the men's, including allowing business class for international travel, increased coaching support, and better parental leave policies.


2015 Australian Baseball League postseason, Preliminary Final Series, Composite line score
2015 ABL Preliminary Final Series (2–0): Perth Heat over Sydney Blue Sox


2015 Australian Baseball League postseason, Championship Series, Composite line score
2015 ABL Championship Series (2–1): Adelaide Bite over Perth Heat


2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship
The 2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as a national championship with Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd appointed as the Category Manager by CAMS. The title, which was the eleventh Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship, was won by Nick Foster.


2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship
Sonic Motor Racing Services driver Foster won eight races during the season, with two runs of four consecutive victories including weekend sweeps at Townsville and Sandown. Foster finished sixty-four points ahead of Finance EZI Racing's David Russell, who took eleven podium finishes during the season but only one win, at Bathurst. Third place in the championship went to Matt Campbell (McElrea Racing), who won six races, including a weekend sweep at Surfers Paradise as part of a four-race win streak to close the season.


2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship
Defending champion Steven Richards won five of the first six races, but only returned to the podium four times over the remaining sixteen races to finish fourth in the championship. Foster's teammate Nick McBride and Hamilton Autohaus driver Shane Smollen were the other race-winners, winning at Albert Park and Phillip Island respectively. Foster also won the Professional sub-classification by 46 points, while Smollen won the Elite sub-classification by 60 points ahead of Stephen Grove.


2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Teams and drivers
All vehicles were Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991 cars, as mandated by the championship regulations.


2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Championship standings
Championship points were awarded at each race as per the table below:


2015 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, Championship standings
Each driver was deemed by the Category Manager to be in either the Professional Class or the Elite Class for the purpose of awarding class points. For class awards, each driver in each class who was classified as a finisher received points in accordance with the above pointscore table relative to each other driver in their class.


2015 Australian Formula 3 Championship
The 2015 Australian Formula 3 Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for cars constructed in accordance with FIA Formula 3 regulations. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as a national championship, with Formula 3 Management Pty Ltd appointed as the Category Manager. The Championship began on 27 March at Sandown Raceway and ended on 18 October at Wakefield Park after seven rounds across three states. The title, which was the 15th Australian Formula 3 Championship, was won by Gilmour Racing's Jon Collins by 1 point over Ricky Capo after both were excluded from the final race of the year.


2015 Australian Formula 3 Championship
CAMS removed the Gold Star award from the Australian Formula 3 Championship for 2015. The move ended a 58-year tradition, the award being the third oldest continually awarded CAMS title after the Australian Grand Prix and Australian Hillclimb Championship.


2015 Australian Formula 3 Championship, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers contested the 2015 Australian Formula 3 Championship. All teams and drivers were Australian-registered.


2015 Australian Formula 3 Championship, Race calendar
The Championship was contested over a seven-round series. All races were held in Australia.


2015 Australian Formula 4 Championship
The 2015 CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Formula 4 cars. It was the inaugural Australian F4 Championship. It commenced on 10 July at the Townsville Street Circuit and ended on 6 December at the Homebush Street Circuit after seven events comprising three races each.


2015 Australian Formula 4 Championship
The championship, which was organised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport and certified by the FIA, was won by Jordan Lloyd.


2015 Australian Formula 4 Championship, Teams and drivers
All cars comprised a mandatory Mygale M14-F4 chassis powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged Ford EcoBoost engine.


2015 Australian Formula 4 Championship, Race calendar and results
The calendar was published on 1 December 2014. All events were held in Australia and were contested at V8 Supercar events.


2015 Australian Formula 4 Championship, Points system
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in each race. Five points were awarded to the driver with the fastest time in qualifying. One point was awarded for fastest lap.


2015 Australian Formula Ford Series
The 2015 Australian Formula Ford Series was an Australian motor racing series open to Formula Ford and Formula Ford 1600 cars. The series was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS)  with the Formula Ford Association Inc appointed as the Category Manager. It was the second Australian Formula Ford Series to be staged  following the withdrawal of national championship status from the Australian Formula Ford Championship at the end of 2013.


2015 Australian Formula Ford Series
The series was won by Cameron Hill, driving a Mygale SJ10a.


2015 Australian Formula Ford Series, Race calendar
The series was contested over six rounds with three races per round.


2015 Australian Formula Ford Series, Points system
Points were awarded within each category on a 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis to the first ten finishers in each race. In addition, one point was awarded to the driver achieving the fastest lap time in qualifying in each category in each round.


2015 Australian GT Championship
The 2015 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing championship open to FIA GT3 cars and similar cars as approved for the championship. The Australian GT Sportscar Group Pty Ltd was appointed by CAMS as the Category Manager for the championship. The title, which was the 19th Australian GT Championship, was won by Christopher Mies, driving an Audi R8 Ultra.


2015 Australian GT Championship, 2015 Australian Tourist Trophy
The 2015 Australian Tourist Trophy was awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport to the driver accumulating the highest aggregate points total from Rounds 2 and 4 of the Australian GT Championship. The title, which was the 25th Australian Tourist Trophy, was won by Christopher Mies driving an Audi R8 Ultra.


2015 Australian Goldfields Open
The 2015 Australian Goldfields Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 29 June and 5 July 2015 at the Bendigo Stadium in Bendigo, Australia. It was the first ranking event of the 2015/2016 season.


2015 Australian Goldfields Open
Judd Trump was the defending champion, but he lost 1–5 against Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals.


2015 Australian Goldfields Open
John Higgins defeated Martin Gould 9–8 in the final to win the 27th ranking title of his career.


2015 Australian Goldfields Open, Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2015 Australian Goldfields Open, Qualifying stages
The qualifying stages for this event took place at K2 in Crawley, England between 1–5 June 2015.


2015 Australian Grand Prix
The 2015 Australian Grand Prix, formally titled the 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race that was held on 15 March 2015 in Melbourne. The race was contested over fifty-eight laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit and was the first round of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race marked the 80th race in the combined history of the Australian Grand Prix – which dates back to the 100 Miles Road Race of 1928 – and the 20th time the event was held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.


2015 Australian Grand Prix
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was the defending race winner. His team-mate, Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole, his fourth at the circuit and a record for the venue. Hamilton led home Rosberg in a Mercedes 1–2 finish, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel completing the podium in his first start with the team.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Pre-season testing
After a dominant performance by Mercedes in the 2014 season, pre-season testing for the 2015 season proved they would still be fastest of the field. The new Williams FW37 looked to be quick and reliable, while Ferrari in particular seemed to have made a big step forward. Former four-time world champions Red Bull ran a car in black-and-white camouflage, that did nothing to disguise the fact that the Austrian team still struggled with problems concerning their Renault engines, doing the second least laps during the first test days in Jerez.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Pre-season testing
While Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber were considered to be contesting for points with considerable advances made over the winter, the new partnership between McLaren and Honda got off to a bad start. The team managed only 380 laps, almost half of the next worst team, Force India. Furthermore, Fernando Alonso, who had signed back to the team after his controversial 2007 season, crashed during the second testing session in Barcelona and missed the first race of the season. Force India struggled to get their new car, the VJM08, on track. After missing the first test in Jerez, they started testing with their 2014 car in Barcelona before introducing their new model late.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Driver changes
The 2015 Australian Grand Prix saw the debut of several young drivers new to Formula One and a late replacement for McLaren's Fernando Alonso. Two weeks prior to the Grand Prix, McLaren announced that Alonso would miss the inaugural 2015 race due to a concussion suffered in a crash during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Doctors advised Alonso not to race, avoiding further medical complications and his place was therefore taken by McLaren reserve driver, Kevin Magnussen, who finished second on his debut at the same event in 2014.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Driver changes
The new drivers to Formula One included the Toro Rosso duo of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen, Manor Marussia's Will Stevens – on a full-time basis, after one start in 2014 – and Roberto Merhi, and the oldest of this group, 24-year-old Felipe Nasr racing for Sauber. Most notably, Verstappen became the youngest driver in the history of Formula One, debuting at the age of 17 years, 166 days.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Manor Marussia
Following a tumultuous pre-season in which they went through a period of administration and were saved by late investment, Manor Marussia arrived in Melbourne with a car that had passed its mandatory crash tests, but had completed no testing. Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi were announced as their drivers, with Merhi signed on a one-race deal. However, the team did not participate in any practice sessions and subsequently failed to set a qualifying time, thus failing to qualify and leaving the field at eighteen cars for the race.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Legal action against Sauber
A week before the start of the Grand Prix weekend, Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde launched legal action against Sauber before the Supreme Court of Victoria, to enforce a contract he entered into in June 2014 to drive for the team during the 2015 season. This action was based on an award that van der Garde obtained on 2 March 2015 through international arbitration in Switzerland, which he initiated after the team announced in November 2014 that their 2015 drivers would instead be Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Legal action against Sauber
On Wednesday, 11 March 2015, van der Garde succeeded by obtaining court orders compelling Sauber to permit him to drive in Melbourne. On the same day, Sauber appealed the orders made against them and also publicly announced that they would not compromise the safety of the team or other drivers by putting van der Garde in the car, since the C34 chassis had only been tailored to fit Ericsson and Nasr.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Legal action against Sauber
The appeal was heard and dismissed the following day, Thursday, 12 March 2015. As part of its legal argument, aside from raising safety concerns, Sauber also submitted that van der Garde's contract had been terminated by the team in February with the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)'s Contract Recognition Board in any event, and that van der Garde violated confidentiality clauses of the contract by discussing it with the media.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Legal action against Sauber
Lawyers representing Ericsson and Nasr further argued that van der Garde had not followed due process by failing to give their clients prior notice of his legal action. The court upheld the previous orders to permit van der Garde to participate in the race and adjourned the hearing to the following day, Friday, 13 March 2015, to hear arguments on contempt of court proceedings launched by van der Garde's legal team against Sauber's team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Legal action against Sauber
Some two hours after the court made its initial judgment in favour of van der Garde, the FIA published an entry list for the Australian Grand Prix that included both Nasr and Ericsson for Sauber following pre-event scrutineering. Despite this, neither driver took to the circuit during the first practice session on the Friday due to Sauber running the risk of having team assets seized for not complying with court orders. Nevertheless, based on media speculation about Bernie Ecclestone's intervention to avoid further negative publicity on the sport, Ericsson and Nasr did participate in that afternoon's second practice session.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Legal action against Sauber
On Saturday, 14 March 2015, the dispute reached a temporary resolution thanks to van der Garde announcing that he would forego racing in Melbourne, with a view to finding a more permanent solution in the future. The Sauber team and its new drivers for 2015 were thus able to complete Saturday's qualifying session and a point-scoring race on the Sunday.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Background, Tyres
Pirelli announced they would be supplying teams with the white-banded medium compound tyre as the prime selection and the yellow-banded soft compound as the option selection for the event.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Practice
Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice sessions were held, two 1.5-hour sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. Mercedes confirmed their good form from pre-season testing and topped the time sheets by a considerable margin in the first two practice sessions on Friday, with Nico Rosberg fastest in both outings. Valtteri Bottas in the Williams was third fastest on Friday morning, some 1.2 seconds down on Rosberg's time. Ferrari's new signing Sebastian Vettel was third on Friday afternoon, seven-tenths of a second down on Rosberg.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Practice
Toro Rosso showed promising times, outperforming their sister team Red Bull in the first session. Only 16 cars participated on Friday morning. Sauber kept to the garage due to their legal troubles while Manor Marussia was unable to get their cars running all weekend. The Saubers did go out for the second session, while local favourite Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa missed the session due to problems with their cars. McLaren's problems continued as both cars were limited to very few laps. The first session also saw another evaluation run of the new Virtual Safety Car system.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Practice
Lewis Hamilton got the better of his teammate during the third practice session on Saturday morning, as Rosberg only managed third behind Vettel, almost a second down on Hamilton. Both Williams and Ferrari had another good session, while Lotus got both their drivers in the top ten, raising hopes for a points finish on Sunday. Red Bull continued to struggle, with Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat down in 15th and 18th and Ricciardo's car stopping at the end of pit lane due to engine problems. Between them were the once more struggling McLaren drivers.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with five drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. Since the cars of Manor Marussia failed to start, only three drivers were eliminated during the first session of qualifying (Q1), all of which was run in dry conditions. The McLaren cars of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen struggled as expected, following their lack of pre-season testing and failed to make it into Q2, just as Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson. Mercedes and Williams' Valtteri Bottas were the only ones not having to use the softer tyres to proceed into the next part of qualifying.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Qualifying
The second session saw the Mercedes drivers doing only one timed run, which proved sufficient to proceed, while the Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars were split up, with Daniil Kvyat and rookie Max Verstappen failing to make it through. Also eliminated were both Force India drivers and the second Sauber of Felipe Nasr, though in a respectable eleventh place on the grid.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Qualifying
In Q3, Nico Rosberg ran wide at turn 15 on his first flying lap and lost the chance to seek areas of improvement for his second run. Lewis Hamilton, who was fastest in all three sessions, capitalized on his teammate's problem and took pole position by over half a second. It was his 39th pole position and his 4th at Albert Park. The rest of the field was more than a second behind Hamilton's time, with Felipe Massa in the Williams best of the rest in third position. The two Ferrari cars of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen proved their regained competitiveness by taking fourth and fifth on the grid respectively.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race
Since the Manor Marussia cars were unable to make their race debut, there were 18 qualified cars left. Before the race began, Valtteri Bottas was sidelined due to a back injury sustained in qualifying. Both Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull and Kevin Magnussen's McLaren failed to make it to the grid as their cars broke down on the out-lap; Kvyat suffering transmission problems and Magnussen with an engine failure. This left the grid with 15 starters – the lowest number for a season-opening race since 1963 and the lowest overall since the infamous 2005 United States Grand Prix.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race
At the start, Hamilton assumed the lead while a three-car wide tussle at turn one, involving Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Nasr and Pastor Maldonado, resulted in Maldonado crashing out at turn two and race officials deploying the safety car. The next lap, Romain Grosjean's car failed thus taking both Lotus cars out of the race. Normal racing resumed on lap four, with Carlos Sainz Jr. falling back from fifth to his starting position in seventh place after being passed by Nasr and Daniel Ricciardo. Nasr also lost track position after being ordered by his team to relinquish a position for overtaking while still under safety car conditions.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton maintained in the lead until lap 25, when he made a pit stop for tyres. He resumed the lead from Rosberg after he too had to pit for new tyres. During this series of pitstops, Sebastian Vettel gained a position by passing Felipe Massa for third place. On lap 34, Max Verstappen retired while in a points-scoring position after his Toro Rosso was engulfed by smoke. On lap 42, Räikkönen also retired at turn four after a botched pitstop caused his left rear tyre to come loose. This put Jenson Button briefly into the tenth and final points position but for Sergio Pérez quickly passing the McLaren-Honda driver after a race long battle that begun at the start, for last position.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race
From there, the order remained relatively constant with Hamilton going on to take his 34th Grand Prix win. He was followed by Rosberg, Vettel, Massa and Nasr. Completing the point-scorers were Ricciardo, Nico Hülkenberg, Ericsson, Sainz and Pérez. In all, only eleven cars finished the race with Button's McLaren being the only car to finish outside the points and everyone from sixth position down lapped.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race
Ericsson, Nasr and Sainz all scored their first Formula One points, with Nasr and Sainz doing so on debut. In addition, Nasr achieved the highest placing for a Brazilian driver making their Grand Prix début.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
There was satisfaction at Mercedes, with second-placed Nico Rosberg calling it "an awesome start to the season for us as a team". Rosberg praised Lewis Hamilton's performance in particular, saying: "He drove like a world champion all weekend, so couldn't quite beat him but for sure I was trying every single lap, all the way to the maximum, and I will do all year."


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The dominant performance by the Mercedes cars sparked controversy in the paddock. Daniel Ricciardo issued apologies to the Australian fans after what he felt was a "boring" race. Red Bull quarreled with their engine manufacturer Renault and lamented the dominance of their rivals, calling for the FIA to step in and apply rule changes to level the field, fearing that the public would lose interest in the sport if nothing happened.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff reacted furiously, telling his rivals to "get your f*****g head down and work to sort it out", but later made it clear that he "didn't mean the f-word in relation to him" regarding the comments by Christian Horner. Nico Rosberg voiced hopes that their rivals would get closer over the course of the season, saying during the post-race press conference: "I hope we can have a good fight. That would be awesome." This statement caused amusement from Sebastian Vettel, who replied: "Be honest. Do you really hope so? Seriously? You finished 30 seconds ahead of us and you hope it's going to be closer? So you hope you slow down? Is that what you're saying?"


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Sauber was delighted by their performance over the weekend, having picked up 14 points in the very first race, compared to none in the entire previous season.


2015 Australian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Because Manor Marussia failed to notify the stewards of their inability to field a car, the team was summoned by the FIA to explain why they did not participate in qualifying. However, the hearing provided sufficient evidence to the FIA's satisfaction that the team would have been unable to field their cars, even if they had violated curfew. Despite this, Ecclestone subsequently announced that Manor Marussia would have to cover their freight charges to and from Australia, costs normally covered by Formula One Management.


2015 Australian Handball Club Championship
The 2015 Australian Handball Club Championship is split into two parts. The first was the Beach Handball competition held in Glenelg, South Australia during February 2015 and the second is the Indoor titles which was held in March, 2015. Both were organised by the Australian Handball Federation and featured teams from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and hosts Western Australia.


2015 Australian Handball Club Championship
The Beach tournament was split into Men's, Women's and Mixed. The men's title was won by the St Kilda from Victoria. The women's event was won by RUOK from Queensland and the mixed event was won by Spinners from New South Wales.


2015 Australian Handball Club Championship
The Indoor tournament was split into two divisions. The Northern Division was won by Sydney University and the Southern Division by St Kilda HC. They won the right to represent Australia in the Oceania Handball Champions Cup.


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship
The 2015 Individual Speedway Australian Championship is a Motorcycle speedway competition organised by Motorcycling Australia (MA) for the Australian Solo Championship.


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship
The four round series were held between 3 January and 10 January. In a change to the series points system, riders will score points from the "A" Finals which will count towards their overall series total. A Final points are: 4 points (1st), 3 points (2nd), 2 points (3rd) and 1 point (4th).


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship
The rounds were held at the Gillman Speedway in Adelaide on 3 January, Olympic Park Speedway in Mildura on 5 January, Undera Park Speedway in Undera on 7 January, with the fourth and final round to be held at the Loxford Park Speedway in Kurri Kurri on 10 January.


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Qualification
Due to a number of injuries, the official qualifying round to be held at Gillman on 2 January (the day before the championship officially began) was cancelled. This led to MA selecting 16 riders to contest the championship rounds.


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Qualification
The reserves were announced as Jordan Stewart (Vic), Cooper Riordan (Vic) and Brady Webb (WA)


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Gillman, Gillman "B" Final
1 - Justin Sedgmen2 - Max Fricke3 - Chris Holder4 - Josh Grajczonek


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Gillman, Gillman "A" Final
1 - Jason Doyle2 - Justin Sedgmen3 - Rohan Tungate4 - Dakota North


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Olympic Park, Olympic Park "B" Final
1 - Tyson Nelson2 - Josh Grajczonek3 - Max Fricke4 - Sam Masters


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Olympic Park, Olympic Park "A" Final
1 - Jason Doyle2 - Chris Holder3 - Justin Sedgmen4 - Tyson Nelson


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Undera Park, Undera Park "B" Final
1 - Dakota North2 - Rohan TungateFx - Tyson NelsonX - Justin Sedgmen


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Undera Park, Undera Park "A" Final
1 - Sam Masters2 - Max Fricke3 - Jason Doyle4 - Dakota North


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Loxford Park, Loxford Park "B" Final
1 - Dakota North2 - Jack Holder3 - Justin Sedgmenx - Max Fricke


2015 Australian Individual Speedway Championship, Loxford Park, Loxford Park "A" Final
1 - Jason Doyle2 - Sam Masters3 - Rohan Tungate4 - Dakota North


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election
An election for the leadership of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party, the party of opposition in the New South Wales, was held on 5 January 2015. The election was triggered following the resignation of Opposition Leader John Robertson on 23 December 2014.


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election
It elected Shadow Environment Minister Luke Foley as the next parliamentary Leader of the New South Wales Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition in the lead-up to the March election, despite Foley not holding a seat in the Legislative Assembly. In the lead-up to the election, Deputy Leader Linda Burney, served as interim Leader of the Opposition and she continued to serve as Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly after the election.


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election, Background
The Liberal–National Coalition won the 2011 election in a landslide victory, reducing the parliamentary Labor party to twenty seats in the Legislative Assembly. In the aftermath, Transport Minister John Robertson was elected as leader of the Labor Party in opposition with Linda Burney appointed as his deputy.


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election, Background
Following revelations that Robertson had sent a letter on behalf of the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis gunman, Man Haron Monis, a constituent in his Blacktown electorate, to the Department of Family and Community Services in support of Monis' request for a supervised visit with his children on Father's Day in 2011, pressure mounted on Robertson to resign as Leader of the Labor Party. Robertson announced his resignation on 23 December 2014 with the 2015 state election three months away.


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election, Background
The first nominee to announce their candidacy for the leadership was Shadow Treasurer Michael Daley, who was followed by Shadow Police Minister Steve Whan on 24 December.


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election, Background
While many within the party favoured Shadow Environment Minister Luke Foley to succeed Robertson, his position in the Legislative Council made it difficult for him to lead the parliamentary party with all Labor preselections for winnable Legislative Assembly seats already decided excepting Auburn, a seat involved in an internal dispute between incumbent MP Barbara Perry and her challenger, Auburn councillor Hicham Zraika, whom Perry accused of branch-stacking. On 29 December, Foley announced that he would contest the leadership and the Auburn pre-selection. Following Foley's announcement, Steve Whan withdrew from the race, citing insufficient support. Daley withdrew for similar reasons the following day.


2015 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election, Aftermath
Foley was elected unopposed and declared his candidacy for Labor pre-selection in the district of Auburn, then occupied by incumbent MLA Barbara Perry. Perry announced her intention to withdraw her pre-selection candidacy to make way for Foley.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship
The 2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was an Australian motor racing series for modified production touring cars. It comprised three CAMS sanctioned national championship titles:


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship
Australian Manufacturers Championship Pty Ltd was appointed by CAMS as the Category Manager for the championship.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship
The Australian Manufacturers' Championship was awarded to BMW Australia Pty Ltd, the  Australian Production Car Championship was won by Grant Sherrin driving a BMW 135i and the Australian Endurance Championship was also won by Grant Sherrin.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Calendar
The results for each round of the Championship were determined by the number of points scored by each driver at that round.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
In rounds with one scheduled race, points were awarded on a 120–90–72–60–54–48–42–36–30–24–18–12–6 basis for the first thirteen places in each class with 3 points for other finishers.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
In rounds with two scheduled races, points were awarded on a 60–45–36–30–27–24–21–18–15–12–9–6–3 basis for the first thirteen places in each class in each race with 2 points for other finishers.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
Each manufacturer was able to score points towards the Australian Manufacturers' Championship title from the two highest placed automobiles of its make, in any class, excluding Class I. The title was awarded to the manufacturer scoring the highest total number of class points over all rounds of the championship.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
Points towards the Australian Production Car Championship outright title were awarded to drivers based on outright finishing positions attained in each race. In addition two points were awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying lap in each class at each round.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
Points towards the Australian Production Car Championship class titles were awarded to drivers based on class finishing positions attained in each race. In addition two points were awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying lap in each class at each round.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
Points towards the Australian Endurance Championship outright title were awarded to drivers based on outright finishing positions attained in Rounds 1, 2 and 5. In addition two points were awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying lap in each class at each of these rounds.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Points system
Points towards the Australian Endurance Championship class titles were awarded to drivers based on class finishing positions attained in Rounds 1, 2 and 5. In addition two points were awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying lap in each class at each of these rounds.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Results, Australian Manufacturers' Championship
The Australian Manufacturers' Championship was awarded to BMW Australia Pty Ltd.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Results, Australian Endurance Championship
The Australian Endurance Championship was contested at Rounds 1, 2 & 5.


2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, Teams Trophy
The Teams Trophy was awarded to the driver pairing that scored the highest total number of class points over all rounds. It was won by Grant Sherrin and Iain Sherrin.


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships
The 2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships was held from October 1 to 4, 2015 at the Naseby Curling Club in Naseby, New Zealand. The winners of this championship were represent Australia at the 2016 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships
At the same time 2015 Junior, Mixed Doubles, and Senior Australian National Championships were held at the Naseby Curling Club.


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, Event format
Four teams fought it out in a double round robin best of five games format with wins and losses counting from the round robin.


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, Event format
The stylish wonder team made up of juniors Dean Hewitt and Kristen Tsourlenes were on fire in their first couple of games scoring wins from more experienced teams demonstrating the future talent of Australia.


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, Event format
At the end of the double round robin, teams were ranked from 1 to 4. Ian Palangio and Laurie Weeden ranked first with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss qualifying them for the Sunday morning gold medal game. Teams Hugh Millikin/Kim Forge and Dean Hewitt/Kristen Tsourlenes tied for second and were forced into a tie breaker game late on Saturday night to determine the final ranking for second and third place.


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, Event format
This competition marked the first opportunity for three new rules to be implemented at a Mixed Doubles nationals for Australia. The new rules included:


2015 Australian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, Event format
General comments from players indicate they like the new rules as it makes the game more interesting to play, more scenarios, and greater mix of shots during the game.


2015 Australian National Handball Championship season
The 2015 Australian National Handball Championship is split into three stages. Stage one was held in Brisbane early August for Under 21 & Under 18 titles. Stage two in Canberra mid August for the Youth Championships. Stage three will be in Perth during October for the Open titles.


2015 Australian National Handball Championship season
The Under 18 Boy's was won by Queensland as no other teams turned up. They ended up playing in the Under 21 men's competition which was won byQueensland Under 21 over New South Wales with the Queensland Under 18's third. The Under 18's women saw Queensland beat the Australian Capital Territory on goal difference after they were locked at one win each and two draw's.


2015 Australian National Handball Championship season
The Under 16 Boy's was won easily by Queensland three legs to zero over New South Wales. In the Under 16 Girl's, New South Wales won a tense final against Australian Capital Territory A. Queensland came third with Australian Capital Territory B fourth.


2015 Australian National Handball Championship season
The senior nationals took place in Perth, Western Australia. Victoria defeated hosts Western Australia in the men's Gold Medal match with New South Wales taking the bronze. Current champions Queensland did not compete. In the women's, Victoria defeated a combined Queensland and South Australian team in the gold medal match. In the bronze medal match, hosts Western Australia defeated New South Wales.


2015 Australian Open
The 2015 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park from 19 January to 1 February 2015. It was the 103rd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.


2015 Australian Open
Stan Wawrinka was the defending champion in men's singles but lost to four-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. Reigning women's champion Li Na did not defend her title, as she retired from professional tennis in September, 2014. Novak Djokovic won an Open Era record fifth men's singles crown by defeating Andy Murray in the final, and this was the third time they met each other in the final. Serena Williams won an Open Era record six women's singles championships by defeating Maria Sharapova in the final, and this was the second time they met each other in the final.


2015 Australian Open
Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini teamed up to win the men's doubles title for the first time over the team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová teamed up to win the women's doubles crown for the first time over the team of Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie. Martina Hingis and Leander Paes teamed up to win the mixed doubles title, it was the second for Hingis and third for Paes, over the defending champions Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor.


2015 Australian Open, Tournament
The 2015 Australian Open was the 103rd edition of the tournament and was held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.


2015 Australian Open, Tournament
The tournament was run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and was part of the 2015 ATP World Tour and the 2015 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event. There were singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which was part of the Grade A category of tournaments, and also singles, doubles and quad events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category.


2015 Australian Open, Tournament
The tournament was played on hard courts and took place over a series of 16 courts with Plexicushion surface, including the three main showcourts – Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and Margaret Court Arena. The latter was unveiled with a capacity increase from 6,000 to 7,500 and also as the third Melbourne Park venue with fully operational retractable roof to make the Australian Open the first Grand Slam tournament with three such tennis stadiums. Partly due to the new roof, the 2015 event set an all-time attendance record of 703,899 fans. The cooler than normal temperatures may also have played a role.


2015 Australian Open, Broadcast
The tournament was broadcast in more than 200 countries around the world. In Australia, all matches were broadcast live by the Seven Network on the network's primary channel under the banner Seven Sport. In the Asia/Pacific region, the tournament was covered by CCTV, iQiyi, SMG (China), Fiji One (Fiji), Sony SIX (India), WOWOW, NHK (Japan), Sky TV (New Zealand) and Fox Sports Asia, in Europe by Eurosport, NOS (Netherlands), SRG SSR (Switzerland) and BBC (United Kingdom), in the Middle East by beIN Sports, in Africa by SuperSport, while in the Americas coverage was provided by ESPN.


2015 Australian Open, Broadcast
In 2015, live coverage emanated from all sixteen courts. Qualifying tournaments, draw ceremony and Kids' Day were shown on official tournament website, AusOpen.com.


2015 Australian Open, Controversy
Following a second round victory in Women's singles Canadian Eugenie Bouchard was approached by an interviewer, Ian Cohen, who cited tweets made by Bouchard the previous evening which complimented fellow competitor Serena Williams's on court attire. The interviewer, explaining that Williams "was kind enough to give us a twirl," asked Bouchard to offer her own twirl. Though Bouchard obliged, the request was met with criticism, with many accusing the interviewer of being sexist. The controversy was referred to by some media outlets as "twirlgate." Billie Jean King responded to the interview by saying "This is truly sexist.


2015 Australian Open, Controversy
If you ask the women, you have to ask the guys to twirl as well." For her part, Bouchard said the request would not be sexist if men were asked to "flex their muscles and stuff." At least one media outlet pointed out that as part of a pre-tournament interview Rafael Nadal was asked to take off his shirt for the enjoyment of female fans.


2015 Australian Open, Point and prize money distribution, Point distribution
Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.


2015 Australian Open, Point and prize money distribution, Prize money
The Australian Open total prize money for 2015 was increased to A$40,000,000, with men's and women's singles champions to receive a tournament-record 3.1 million Australian dollars reward. Out of total prize money, A$28,796,000 was paid for players competing in singles main draw, further A$1,344,000 for players, who lost in qualifying, A$5,165,200 – for doubles players, A$480,000 for mixed doubles players and A$605,330 for competitors in other events, while A$3,609,470 was used to cover other fees, including players' per diem and trophies.


2015 Australian Open, Point and prize money distribution, Prize money
1Qualifiers prize money is also the Round of 128 prize money. *per team


2015 Australian Open, Events, Seniors, Men's Singles
This was the third time these two players met in the final. The other two times were in 2011 and 2013, when Djokovic won. This time would prove no different with Djokovic winning his fifth title, an Open Era record, to go along with his titles in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013. This victory was Djokovic's eighth grand slam title, tying him in the Open Era with Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi. This was Murray's fourth loss in the final of the Australian Open, three of them to Djokovic and one to Roger Federer in 2010. This marks the first time since Björn Borg at the US Open that someone has lost all four of his final appearances at a particular grand slam event.


2015 Australian Open, Events, Seniors, Women's Singles
This marked the second time these two players met in the final. The other time was in 2007, which Williams won. This time would be exactly the same, with Williams winning her sixth title (an Open Era record), to go along with wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010. This was her nineteenth career grand slam singles title, behind only Steffi Graf's twenty-two titles in the Open Era of tennis. This was Sharapova's third loss in the final; the other two losses were in 2012 to Victoria Azarenka and to Williams in 2007. Sharapova won the title in 2008.


2015 Australian Open, Events, Seniors, Men's Doubles
This was the first men's doubles title for the team of Bolelli and Fognini at the event and in their respective careers.


2015 Australian Open, Events, Seniors, Women's Doubles
This was the first women's doubles title for the team of Mattek-Sands and Šafářová at the event and in their respective careers. One of their finalist opponents, Zheng Jie won the title in 2006 with Yan Zi.


2015 Australian Open, Events, Seniors, Mixed Doubles
This was a match of past mixed doubles champions at the event, which Hingis won with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2006, while her partner Paes won titles in 2003 with Martina Navratilova and in 2010 with Cara Black. Their finalist opponents' won the event last year, but Nestor won titles in 2007 with Elena Likhovtseva and 2011 with Katarina Srebotnik. This was Hingis' second mixed doubles title for her career, and for Paes' it is his seventh mixed doubles grand slam crown for his career.


2015 Australian Open, Singles seeds
Seedings are based on rankings as of 12 January 2015. Rankings and points before are as of 19 January 2015. Points defending includes results from both the 2014 Australian Open and tournaments from the week of 27 January 2014 (Davis Cup for the men, and Paris and Pattaya for the women).


2015 Australian Open, Singles seeds, Men's Singles
The following players would have been seeded, but they withdrew from the event.


2015 Australian Open, Singles seeds, Men's Singles
†The player did not qualify for the tournament in 2014. Accordingly, this was the 18th best result deducted instead.


2015 Australian Open, Main draw wildcard entries
As part of an agreement between Tennis Australia, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the French Tennis Federation (FFT), one male and one female player from the United States and France received a wild card into the Australian Open singles event. USTA gave it to Denis Kudla and Irina Falconi, thanks to their positions in 2014 USTA Pro Circuit's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge standing, while Lucas Pouille and Océane Dodin were chosen by internal FFT selection.


2015 Australian Open, Main draw wildcard entries
Further four wildcards were awarded at Asia-Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Playoff into the men's and women's singles and doubles main draw events, while Tennis Australia organized its own playoff competitions, where Jordan Thompson, Daria Gavrilova and Sam Thompson & Masa Jovanovic mixed doubles team received entries to Australian Open.


2015 Australian Open, Main draw qualifier entries
The qualifying competition took place in Melbourne Park on 14 – 17 January 2015.


2015 Australian Open, Protected ranking
The following players were accepted directly into the main draw using a protected ranking:


2015 Australian Open, Withdrawals
The following players were accepted directly into the main tournament but withdrew.


2015 Australian Open – Boys' Doubles
Lucas Miedler and Bradley Mousley were the defending champions but were no longer eligible to compete in juniors in 2015.


2015 Australian Open – Boys' Doubles
Jake Delaney and Marc Polmans won the title, defeating Hubert Hurkacz and Alex Molčan in the final, 0–6, 6–2, [10–8].


2015 Australian Open – Boys' Singles
Alexander Zverev was the defending champion, but chose not to participate. Roman Safiullin won the title, defeating Hong Seong-chan in the final, 7–5, 7–6(7–2).


2015 Australian Open – Girls' Doubles
Anhelina Kalinina and Elizaveta Kulichkova were the defending champions, but both players chose not to compete in 2015.


2015 Australian Open – Girls' Doubles
Miriam Kolodziejová and Markéta Vondroušová won the title, defeating Katharina Hobgarski and Greet Minnen in the final, 7–5, 6–4.


2015 Australian Open – Girls' Singles
Elizaveta Kulichkova was the defending champion, but she quit playing junior tournaments after winning the 2014 Australian Open. Tereza Mihalíková won the title, defeating Katie Swan in the final, 6–1, 6–4.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries
The 2015 Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs and Entries are a group of events and internal selections to choose the eight men and eight women singles wildcard entries for the 2015 Australian Open, as well as seven male and seven female doubles teams plus eight mixed doubles teams.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries
One wildcard each was given to the winners of the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff, a tournament between Australian players who did not receive direct entry into the draw.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries
In an agreement with the United States Tennis Association and the French Tennis Federation, Tennis Australia gives one man and one woman from the United States and France each a wildcard into the Australian Open. The French players were chosen by internal selection, while 2014 USTA Pro Circuit's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge determined the two American players receiving wildcards.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries
Since the Australian Open is promoted as the "Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific", one male and one female player from this geographical area were awarded a wildcard. This was decided through the Asia-Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Playoff. At the same event, one male and one female doubles team won wildcards, and one wildcard each was contested in boys and girls singles.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries, Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff
The Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff events took place in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China from Monday, November 24 to Sunday, November 30, 2014. A total of 21 male and 32 female players from Asia/Pacific zone took part in singles events (including qualifying competitions), with Zhang Ze from China and Chang Kai-chen from Chinese Taipei gaining the Australian Open entry. Both doubles events consisted of 12 teams each, with Lee Hsin-han & Zhang Ze and Yang Zhaoxuan & Ye Qiuyu winning the wild cards. Junior playoff events were also held, and Chinese players Wu Yibing and Gao Xinyu won the wild card entries into the Boys' and Girls' main events, respectively.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries, Australian Wildcard Playoff
The Australian Wildcard Playoff events took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from Monday, December 15 to Sunday, December 21, 2014. A total of 16 male and 16 female Australian players took part in singles events, with Jordan Thompson and Daria Gavrilova gaining the Australian Open entry. Mixed Doubles event was played in a Round Robin format, where 11 teams competed in two groups. The top four mixed doubles teams then played in a knock-out tournament, where Sam Thompson and Masa Jovanovic won the wild card.


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries, American Wildcard Challenge
The Australian Open Wild Card Challenge for male players consisted of:


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries, American Wildcard Challenge
The Australian Open Wild Card Challenge for female players consisted of:


2015 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries, American Wildcard Challenge
Denis Kudla and Irina Falconi who earned the most ATP World Tour or WTA ranking points at those selected USTA Pro Circuit events received wild cards to compete in the 2015 Australian Open main draw.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Doubles
Łukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt were the defending champions, but chose not to participate together. Kubot teamed up with Jérémy Chardy, but lost in the second round to Alex Bolt and Andrew Whittington. Lindstedt played alongside Marcin Matkowski, but lost in the second round to Jonathan Erlich and Treat Huey.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Doubles
Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini won the title, defeating Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the final, 6–4, 6–4.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Legends' Doubles
Jonas Björkman and Thomas Johansson won the title emerging victorious over their compatriots Thomas Enqvist and Mats Wilander in the final in four sets.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Legends' Doubles, Draw, Group A
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Legends' Doubles, Draw, Group B
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray  7–6(7–5), 6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–0 in the final to win the Men's Singles tennis title at the 2015 Australian Open. It was his fifth Australian Open title and his eighth major title overall. The defeat saw Murray lose the Australian Open final for the fourth time in his career, becoming the first man in the Open Era to achieve four runner-up finishes in Melbourne.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Stan Wawrinka was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Djokovic.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer's streak of eleven consecutive Australian Open semifinals ended when he lost to Andreas Seppi in the third round. The defeat marked Federer's earliest exit from the tournament since 2001.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was attempting to become the first man in the Open Era to achieve a double career Grand Slam, but he lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Nick Kyrgios became the first teenager to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals since Andrei Cherkasov in 1990 and the first Australian to reach the quarterfinals since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005. Kyrgios also became the first teenager to reach a second Grand Slam quarterfinal since Nadal in 2006.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles, Seeds
Click on the seed number of a player to go to their draw section.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw for the Men's singles at the 2015 Australian Open.


2015 Australian Open – Men's Singles Qualifying
The draw was announced on 13 January 2015, with play commencing the next day.


2015 Australian Open – Mixed Doubles
Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor were the defending champions, but lost in the final to Martina Hingis and Leander Paes, 4–6, 3–6.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Men's Doubles
Stéphane Houdet and Shingo Kunieda were the defending champions and successfully defended their title.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Men's Singles
Shingo Kunieda was the two-time defending champion and successfully defended his title.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Quad Doubles
Andrew Lapthorne and David Wagner were the defending champions and successfully defended their title.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Quad Singles
David Wagner was the two-time defending champion but lost in the final to Dylan Alcott.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Quad Singles, Draw, Round Robin
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Women's Doubles
Yui Kamiji and Jordanne Whiley were the defending champions and successfully defended their title.


2015 Australian Open – Wheelchair Women's Singles
Sabine Ellerbrock was the defending champion, but lost to Yui Kamiji in the semifinals. Jiske Griffioen won the title, defeating Kamiji in the final, 6–3, 7–5.


2015 Australian Open – Women's Doubles
Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci were the two-time defending champions, but lost to Julia Görges and Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the third round.


2015 Australian Open – Women's Doubles
First-time pairings Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová won the title, defeating Chan Yung-jan and Zheng Jie in the final, 6–4, 7–6(7–5).


2015 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–5) to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 2015 Australian Open. This was her sixth Australian Open title and her 19th major singles title overall.


2015 Australian Open – Women's Singles
Li Na was the defending champion, but she retired from professional tennis on 19 September 2014.


2015 Australian Open – Women's Singles
All of the top four seeds (Williams, Sharapova, Simona Halep, and Petra Kvitová) were in contention for the world No. 1 ranking at the start of the tournament. Williams retained the top position by reaching the final.


2015 Australian Open – Women's Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw for women's singles at the 2015 Australian Open.


2015 Australian Open – Women's Singles Qualifying
The draw was announced on 14 January 2015, with play commencing the next day.


2015 Australian Rally Championship
The 2015 East Coast Bullbars Australian Rally Championship is the 48th season of the Australian Rally Championship. The season began on the 27th of March at the Quit Forest Rally in Nannup, Western Australia and will end at the Scouts Rally in South Australia. The championship consists of five events including the two international events of Rally Australia and the International Rally of Queensland. The championship is divided into outright (2WD), 4WD Rally Series and Classic Rally Challenge classes. 2014 champion Scott Pedder will not be returning to defend his title after entering into the WRC-2 Championship.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Teams and drivers, Outright ARC Teams
Teams and drivers competing in the outright (2WD) ARC championship


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Rally summaries, Round 1 — Quit Forest Rally
Former champion Eli Evans began the season with a win at Quit Forest Rally after taking second in heat one and first in heat two. Molly Taylor made history becoming the first female driver to win a heat in the Australian Rally Championship taking heat one despite having to crawl through the final two stages with damaged steering. Four time champion Simon Evans marked his return to the championship with a win in the power stage and third overall with a third and second in heat one and two respectively. Former team mates Adrian Coppin and Tony Sullens both rolled out of the lead in their Citroen DS3 R3T's in heat one before the cars were repaired for heat two.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Results and standings, Australian Rally Championship for Drivers
Points are awarded to the top twenty classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the top three in Power stage and winner of the most stages.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Results and standings, Australian Rally Championship for Co-Drivers
Points are awarded to the top twenty classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the top three in Power stage and winner of the most stages.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Results and standings, Australian 4WD Rally Series for Drivers
Points are awarded to the top twenty classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the top three in Power stage and winner of the most stages. The best three events go towards final championship points.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Results and standings, Australian 4WD Rally Series for Co-Drivers
Points are awarded to the top twenty classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the top three in Power stage and winner of the most stages. The best three events go towards final championship points.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Results and standings, Australian Classic Rally Challenge for Drivers
Points are awarded to the top twenty classified finishers. A bonus point is awarded winner of the most stages during an event. The best three events go towards final championship points.


2015 Australian Rally Championship, Results and standings, Australian Classic Rally Challenge for Co-Drivers
Points are awarded to the top twenty classified finishers. A bonus point is awarded winner of the most stages during an event. The best three events go towards final championship points.


2015 Australian Super Series
The 2015 Australian Super Series was the fifth Super Series tournament of the 2015 BWF Super Series in badminton. The tournament was held in Sydney, Australia from 26–31 May 2015 with a total purse of $750,000.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships
The 2015 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 3 to 10 April 2015 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney, New South Wales. They doubled up as the national trials for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, the 2015 Summer Universiade, held in Gwangju, South Korea, the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, held in Glasgow, Scotland and the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, held in Singapore.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Events
A total of 63 events (32 for men and 31 for women) were contested:


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Qualification criteria
Below are the entry qualifying times for each event that had to be achieved after 1 January 2014 in a 50m pool.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Qualification criteria
Below are the FINA A and B qualifying times for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships for each event.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Qualification criteria
Below are the qualifying times set by Swimming Australia for the 2015 World Aquatics Championships for each event.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Qualification criteria
Below are the men's entry multiclass qualifying times for each event.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Qualification criteria
Below are the women's entry multiclass qualifying times for each event.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Qualification criteria
Below are the IPC minimum qualification standard (MQS) and minimum entry times (MET) for the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships for each event.


2015 Australian Swimming Championships, Medal winners, Women's multiclass events
Legend: WR – World record; WJR – World Junior record; CR – Commonwealth record; OR – Oceanian record; AR – Australian record; ACR – Australian All Comers record; Club – Australian Club record


2015 Australian federal budget
The 2015 Australian federal budget was the federal budget to fund government services and operations for the 2015/16 financial year. The 2015 budget was the second and last submitted by the Abbott Government, since the Coalition's victory in the 2013 Australian federal election. Treasurer Joe Hockey presented the budget to the House of Representatives on 12 May 2015.


2015 Australian federal budget
The budget featured a $4.4 billion Families Package to reform child care in Australia and a $5.5 billion Jobs and Small Business Package to assist small business. The budget was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and took effect at the start of the 2015/16 financial year, which began on 1 July 2015.


2015 Australian federal budget, Forecasts, Deficit
The budget is the eighth in a row to contain a deficit. In May 2015, the deficit for FY 2015/16 was forecast to be $35.1 billion (2.1% of GDP). In December 2015, this increased to $37.4 billion.


2015 Australian federal budget, Revenues
The falling price of iron ore cut billions of dollars from forecast budget revenue. New laws were announced which sought to stop multinational corporations from using tax minimisation schemes.


2015 Australian federal budget, Expenditure, General government
The budget included funding for the 2016 Australian Census as well as money for the updating of information technology at the Australian Bureau of Statistics.


2015 Australian federal budget, Expenditure, General government
Funding for a 'Digital Transformation Agenda' was included in the budget. $254.7 million is to be spent on a small team who will work "across government to develop and coordinate the delivery of digital services". Money was also allocated in relation to the new data retention scheme to provide technical assistance to the telecommunications industry as well as for the Ombudsman to monitor the scheme.


2015 Australian federal budget, Expenditure, Social security and welfare
Failed attempts to index the age pension to inflation in the previous budget have been scrapped. Instead the asset threshold for eligibility will be decreased to $820,000 for couples and to around $550,000 for single people. More than $327 million of new funding is being used to support child care for disadvantaged children. The budget contained a large savings measure through the pursuit of outstanding debts and the investigation of cases of fraud.


2015 Australian federal budget, Expenditure, Community services and culture
Foreign aid saw further cuts following reductions in last year's budget. Aid to Africa was reduced by 70% and to Indonesia by 40%.


2015 Australian federal budget, Reception
This budget marked a significant change from last year's budget emergency and fiscal crisis towards restoring faith and building confidence with the electorate.


2015 Australian federal budget, Reception
A number of economists described the economic growth forecasts as too optimistic, particularly the long-term rate of 3.5% as an over-estimate. Aid groups condemned cuts to foreign aid. A spokesperson from Oxfam said the cuts would impact security and Australia's international standing.


2015 Australian federal budget, Reception
According to modelling conducted by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling low-income families could be face a 7% loss of their total disposable income by 2018–19 due to changes in this budget. Their research found that it will most likely benefit middle- to high-income families which use childcare.


2015 Australian human powered vehicle season
The 2015 Australian human powered vehicle season began on the 28 February with the first round of the Victorian HPV Series at Casey Fields and concludes with the RACV Energy Breakthrough series at Maryborough, Victoria.


2015 Australian human powered vehicle season
Australia is the world leader in Human powered vehicle (Velomobile) racing.


2015 Australian human powered vehicle season, Season review
After dominating the first two races of the 2015 season Platt Racing amicably disbanded. Some riders are continuing on in other teams whilst others have retired.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the sixteenth round of the 2015 MotoGP season. It was held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island on Sunday 18 October 2015.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
In his 130th start, Marc Márquez achieved his 50th Grand Prix win – becoming the ninth rider to reach that mark, and the youngest to do so, at 22 years, 243 days – with a final-lap pass on Jorge Lorenzo. The final podium position was taken by Andrea Iannone, despite striking a seagull during the early laps. With Valentino Rossi finishing in fourth place, Lorenzo cut the championship lead to eleven points with two races remaining. With Lorenzo's result, Yamaha clinched their first title for constructors championship; their first title since 2010. The race is considered to be one of the best in MotoGP history, many praising the battle between the top four riders as thrilling and unpredictable.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
In the lower classes, Álex Rins took his second Moto2 victory of the season, finishing clear of Sam Lowes and Lorenzo Baldassarri; Baldassarri's result was his first podium finish in Grand Prix racing. In Moto3, Miguel Oliveira's fourth victory of 2015 maintained his mathematical chance of claiming the world championship title. Efrén Vázquez finished in second place ahead of Oliveira's teammate Brad Binder. Championship leader Danny Kent crashed out of the race, which meant that Oliveira reduced the championship lead to 40.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix was announced as the 16th race of the 2015 MotoGP championship by the global motorsporting body FIM in September 2014, with the race being conducted a week after the Japanese Grand Prix and a week before the race in Sepang, Malaysia. It was the 26th season that Grand Prix motorcycle racing has conducted a race in Australia and the 20th race conducted at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
After the race in Japan from the previous week, Valentino Rossi was leading the championship 18 points ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez was 86 points behind Rossi and was mathematically out of championship contention going into Australia, with 75 points on offer in the final three races of the season. Dani Pedrosa was the previous race winner in Japan, with Rossi finishing in second and Lorenzo in third.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
In the teams championship, Movistar Yamaha conserved its lead in Japan to 192 points over Repsol Honda, making it also mathematically impossible for the team to be beaten, while the Ducati Factory Team sat in third place only 34 points away from Repsol Honda and still had an opportunity to take second place by the end of the season. The constructors championship showed Yamaha had a 57 point lead over Honda, although there was still a possibility for Honda to win the title, it was highly unlikely.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
Due to injuries sustained at the Catalan Grand Prix earlier in the season, Karel Abraham announced that he would step aside from the rest of the season beginning with the Japanese Grand Prix, with Anthony West taking his place in Australia, Malaysia and Valencia. Alex de Angelis also announced that he would not compete the rest of the season after sustaining an injury during a free practice session in Japan, with Damian Cudlin replacing him for the Australian and Malaysian races.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Despite warm and sunny conditions on Thursday, the weather on Friday turned to cold and rainy by Friday with an average temperature of 14°C throughout the day.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
In the first practice session, after being cut short due to rain hitting the circuit, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa covered the top four spots, with Jack Miller completing the top five. Most of the session took place in overcast conditions, with belief that the weather would improve throughout the weekend.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
The third practice session began early Saturday morning, a cross wind had developed across pit straight, which compromised riding times. Iannone took the lead within the first 10 minutes of the session, while Rossi became the first to improve on his Friday practice times. With 10 minutes to go, Marquez was the only rider able to pass the time set by Iannone with the track temperature increasing to 22°C and the sun beginning to make an impact, producing more tyre grip than yesterdays practices as riders changed to slick tyres.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Despite nearly riding into the back of Pol Espargaró in turn four, Marquez set the quickest time of the weekend a lap later, with Cal Crutchlow finishing in second place and Lorenzo in third, Scott Redding set his fastest lap of the weekend finishing in fourth while Maverick Viñales completed the top five.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Marquez continued his pace, again finishing first during fourth practice, finishing 0.619 seconds ahead of Lorenzo, with Andrea Iannone in third.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Pol Espargaro began Q1 by recording one of the fastest times of the weekend amongst the non-factory bikes, he set an even quicker lap time on his second attempt which secured his spot in Q2, while the battle for the second spot intensified as three riders including Aleix Espargaro, Danilo Petrucci and Miller exchanged second place in quick succession, with Aleix taking the second spot on his Suzuki despite being held up by the Aprilia riders Stefan Bradl and Álvaro Bautista.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
In what was described as “perfect track conditions”, Marquez won his eighth pole position for the season, leading throughout the entirety of the qualifying session, setting the fastest time of the weekend on his first attempt. Aleix Espargaro came close to equalling Marquez's first qualifying record target, losing time in the final sector staying in second place at the halfway point of the session, while Lorenzo remained in third place after one attempt with Iannone in fourth.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Marquez made a strategic decision to complete three runs within the session and had the entire track to himself in his second run, allowing him to improve his time drastically. During the last three minutes, everyone began improving their sector times, with no one being able to catch Marquez at the top. In an unprecedented and rare moment for the sport, Iannone and Lorenzo tied for second place, with both men setting the exact same top qualifying time, Iannone declared the winner of the tiebreaker from his second fastest qualifying time, while Lorenzo only set one lap.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Despite qualifying in second, Iannone's tactics came underfire as he consistently tagged Lorenzo and followed him around the track lap after lap, a tactic that angered Lorenzo, Yamaha and journalists covering the event. Iannone acknowledged that tagging Lorenzo helped his time, but stopped short of calling it cheating, stating he felt he could still achieve the same time without him, while Lorenzo and journalists disagreed with Iannone's statement. Pedrosa qualified in fourth, despite being in the front row position throughout the session. Crutchlow was crowned the top independent rider for the session, placing fifth and Vinales finishing sixth.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and Qualifying
Championship leader, Rossi performed his worst qualifying session since Indianapolis, finishing in seventh place and on the third row. Aleix and Pol Espargaro qualified eighth and ninth respectively. After sweeping the weekend in practice and qualifying, fans and journalists began predicting how big a margin Marquez would win by and whether any other rider had a chance of victory, not anticipating the incredible race that would unexpectedly unfold the next day.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
The race began at 4pm local time, with Iannone lead the field going into turn one, although the lead didn't last long as Lorenzo took over the lead by turn eight. The beginning of the second lap, Iannone had retaken the lead but was bizarrely hit by a seagull flying on the track causing body damage to his bike, he briefly lapsed in concentration allowing Lorenzo to retake the lead and Marquez to join them the leading battle pack.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
The battle began to heat up between the top three riders with obvious advantages and disadvantages between the Honda, Yamaha and Ducati. Iannone's Ducati had incredible straight line speed which allowed him to pass his competitors on the main straight with ease, while despite having the weakest straight line speed Lorenzo's Yamaha had the best corner speed of the three riders and Marquez's Honda being the most consistent in both the corners and the straight line speed.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
The constant passing between the top three riders allowed Rossi and Crutchlow to catch up to the leading battle pack, although Crutchlow - whose LCR Honda was suffering from wheel spin - was not able to keep the same pace as the top four and began to drop away from the leaders. When Rossi joined the leading battle pack, Lorenzo began to establish a dominant lead leaving Marquez, Iannone and Rossi in a three-way battle for second place.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Lap 25, Lorenzo still had an established lead with Marquez, Rossi and Iannone still chasing when Rossi attempted to pass Marquez, the manoeuvre left open space for Iannone to pass both riders moving him from fourth to second, which was praised as one of the best overtakes of the season. As the final lap began, Lorenzo was running first, Iannone in second, Marquez third and Rossi fourth. Incredibly, Marquez completed his fastest lap of the race, managing to overtake Iannone, as well as Lorenzo halfway through the lap to win. While Lorenzo was devastated, Iannone managed to pass Rossi on the final corner to take third place, shrinking Lorenzo's championship deficit to eleven points to his visible delight.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Tammy Gorali, the MotoGP commentator for Sport 5 Israel, counted 52 passes between the top four riders including 13 lead changes throughout the race with Iannone completing the most of the riders with 18 overtakes.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post Race
The race has been applauded by fans, journalists and riders for its unpredictable nature and thrilling racing between race winner Marquez, eventual world champion Lorenzo, Iannone and Rossi, journalists calling it "the race we had been waiting for" and one of the best since the beginning of the 4-stroke era. Marquez expressed surprise when he passed Lorenzo on the final lap and didn't believe he could catch him as the front tyre of his bike began overheating towards the end of the race, also calling his race win one of the best in his career.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post Race
Lorenzo also admitted he was surprised when Marquez passed him, but praised him for his "unbelievable last lap". He also praised the race calling it "the best this year and probably in the last five or 10 years." Commentator Matt Birt, compared the finish between Marquez and Lorenzo to the finish of Lorenzo and Rossi at the 2009 Catalunya Grand Prix, describing the race as "breathless and fearless". Iannone's incident with the seagull went viral on social media websites hours after the race, with memes and Facebook pages dedicated to the event.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post Race
Iannone saw the humorous side of the situation commenting at the press conference, "The seagull waited for the kiss". Despite the seagull mishap, Iannone's performance is described as the best race of his MotoGP career. The event trended worldwide on social media website Twitter, with celebrities such as Mark Webber, Pau Gasol and Ewan McGregor praising the race as one of the best.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post Race
Rossi did not share the same positive views of the race as his fellow riders accusing Marquez and Lorenzo of conspiring against him to ensure that Lorenzo won this year's world title at his expense, a claim Marquez and Lorenzo both strongly denied. He also accused Marquez of sandbagging the race to ensure that Lorenzo gained an unassailable lead to ensure he has a stronger chance of being able to catch up to Rossi's then eighteen point lead. Marquez took offence to these comments which lead to their famous incident in Malaysia which resulted in Rossi receiving a last place grid penalty for Valencia, losing the world title to Lorenzo as a result. Rossi has since admitted regret in making the comments but has never apologised.


2015 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round sixteen has concluded.


2015 Austrian Athletics Championships
The 2015 Austrian Athletics Championships (German: Österreichische Staatsmeisterschaften in der Leichtathletik 2015) was the year's national championship in outdoor track and field for Austria. It was held on 8 and 9 August at the Franz Fekete Stadium in Kapfenberg. It served as the selection meeting for Austria at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix
The 2015 Austrian Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Großer Preis von Österreich 2015) was a Formula One motor race held on 21 June 2015 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. The race was the eighth round of the 2015 season, and marked the 29th running of the Austrian Grand Prix and the 28th time it had been held as a round of the Formula One World Championship.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg entered as the defending race winner, while his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, entered with a seventeen-point lead over him in the Drivers' Championship standings. Mercedes were leading rivals Ferrari by 105 points in the Constructors' standings.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix
Hamilton started from pole position, but was overtaken by Rosberg at the first corner. Rosberg held the lead for the remainder of the race, barring brief periods during pit stops, and won by over three seconds. Hamilton remained ahead of Williams driver Felipe Massa to claim the runner-up position. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel had been holding third position for much of the first half of the race, but a delay due to a stuck wheel nut during his pit stop dropped him into fourth place. Former World Champions Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso were eliminated on the first lap, after Räikkönen lost control of his Ferrari at the second turn and collided with Alonso. The two came to rest against the safety barrier, with Alonso's McLaren atop the Ferrari.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Having just nine turns, the fewest on the Formula One calendar, the circuit offers very few low-speed sections and gave teams an opportunity to push their power units to their potential. As in the previous year's event, and for the third straight event overall, the yellow-banded soft compound tyre were the prime dry selection while the red-banded supersoft compound were the option dry selection. Pirelli also supplied two wet weather compounds: the green-banded intermediate compound and the blue-banded full wet compound.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Going into the race, Lewis Hamilton was leading teammate Nico Rosberg by 17 points, having won the previous race in Canada. Mercedes were leading Ferrari by more than 100 points in the Constructors' standings. After introducing an engine update at the previous round in Canada, Ferrari were considered the most likely contenders for favorites Mercedes. Several other teams introduced updates to their cars as well, including Williams and McLaren.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Background, Supporting programme
As part of the Grand Prix programme, a Legends Parade was held before the race, with a group of eight Formula One drivers from the 1980s set to present cars, mostly from Formula One's first turbo era. Participating were local favorite Gerhard Berger (1988 Ferrari F1/87/88C), former McLaren teammates Niki Lauda (1984 McLaren MP4/2) and Alain Prost (1985 McLaren MP4/2B), Nelson Piquet (1983 Brabham BT52), Jean Alesi (1995 Sauber C14), Pierluigi Martini (1986 Minardi M186), Riccardo Patrese (1984 Renault RE50) and Christian Danner (1987 Zakspeed 871).


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice session were held, two one-and-a-half-hour sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. At the first session, both Mercedes drivers were fastest, with Nico Rosberg being three-tenths of a second faster than teammate Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen was the only other car to come inside one second of the Mercedes. The other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel set the slowest lap time, as a gearbox problem prevented him from driving more than four laps.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
The McLaren of Fernando Alonso suffered from gearbox issues as well, but the Spaniard was able to get back on track for the later part of the session. The team had brought a new aerodynamics package to Spielberg, which was tested by Alonso in free practice, who described it as "an improvement to the car".


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
After his problems in the first session, Vettel was fastest in the second session on Friday afternoon. Nico Rosberg was second, about a tenth of a second behind, but did not set any timed laps in the last twenty minutes as his car was losing gearbox oil. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile struggled on the super-soft tyres, making several errors that left him fifth. Both Lotus cars made it into the top ten, with Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean in fourth and seventh respectively. Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso was the fastest Renault-powered car in eighth position, while the McLarens once again had to stop their session early.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Vettel was again fastest in third practice on Saturday morning, narrowly ahead of Hamilton's Mercedes. Before all drivers were able to set times on the super-soft tyres, Fernando Alonso coming to a stop on the start/finish straight brought out a red flag, halting the session. When practice resumed, rain had started to fall, preventing the drivers from improving on their times. Only Force India driver Sergio Pérez set a lap on the faster tyre compound, ending up fourth in the session.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with five drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. During the first part of qualifying (Q1), Kimi Räikkönen was eliminated due to a failure in communication, which meant he did not have enough time left for another fast lap at the end of the session. With the track still damp when qualifying began, times improved with every passing lap, with the drivers being able to switch from intermediate to slick tyres at the end of the first session. While the two Manor drivers once again qualified at the end of the grid, Jenson Button was also eliminated in Q1, leaving him with time penalties in the race, not being able to take the full extent of his 25-place grid penalty.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
A dry track during Q2 saw the two Mercedes drivers fastest, Rosberg four-tenths of a second faster than Hamilton. Fernando Alonso failed to make it into Q3, the seventh time that season. He had missed the last part of qualifying seven times over the entire course of his Ferrari stint in the five previous seasons. Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in 14th place, meaning that he - like Button - was unable to take the full extent of his ten-place grid penalty.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
The top ten contested the third part of qualifying. Romain Grosjean was unable to post a lap time after having problem with his brake-by-wire system. At the beginning of the session, both Mercedes drivers set two fast laps. After the first time around, Rosberg was ahead of Hamilton, but the World Champion improved on his second lap, being two-tenths of a second faster than his teammate.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
During their final flying laps at the end of the session, both drivers spun on different parts of the track, Hamilton in turn one and Rosberg in the final corner, meaning the order remained, with Hamilton taking the 45th pole position of his career, drawing level with Sebastian Vettel, who qualified third. Last year's pole sitter Felipe Massa followed in fourth, while Le Mans winner Nico Hülkenberg finished fifth, ahead of the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the start of the race, Rosberg got off the line well and overtook teammate Hamilton for the lead going into turn one. Coming out of the following turn, Kimi Räikkönen was caught out by heavy wheelspin on his harder tyre compound going side by side and swept to the outside of the track, crashing into Fernando Alonso's McLaren, who was lifted on top of the Ferrari. Both drivers were able to walk away unharmed from the incident. The collision brought out the safety car.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the end of the lap, Daniil Kvyat made a pit stop to replace a damaged front wing, while Will Stevens retired from the race with an oil leak. When the safety car came back into the pit lane on the end of lap six, Rosberg was able to defend his lead against Hamilton and quickly built a gap, leading him by 2.3 seconds by lap eleven. Lap twelve saw the second McLaren of Jenson Button retiring with an intake system sensor failure.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
On lap 16, Valtteri Bottas reclaimed sixth position from Max Verstappen, a position he had lost at the start, while Hamilton started to close the gap to Rosberg in front. The German however reacted and extended his lead back to four seconds by lap 27. Meanwhile, Bottas went past Le Mans winner Nico Hülkenberg for fifth place on lap 26, but an earlier pit stop brought the German back out in front of the Williams.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
For speeding in the pit lane, Carlos Sainz Jr. was handed a five-second time penalty, which was not to be applied since the Spaniard retired on lap 34 due to a technical problem. Prior to the pit stops at the front of the field, Lewis Hamilton was able to reduce the gap to 2.2 seconds by lap 32. When Rosberg made a pit stop one lap later, Hamilton led the race. Having thereby led a lap in seventeen consecutive races, Hamilton equalled a 45-year-old record set by Jackie Stewart, who had led at least one lap each between the 1968 United States Grand Prix and the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Hamilton made a pit stop on lap 35, coming out behind his teammate, driving over the white pit exit line in the process. This handed him a five-second time penalty to be added to his finishing time. Sebastian Vettel came in two laps later, being stationary for more than 13 seconds due to a problem with the wheelnut of his rear right tyre and came out behind Felipe Massa in fourth place. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean retired with gearbox issues.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Vettel closed the gap to Massa in the last podium position, but was eventually unable to pass the Brazilian, handing Massa his first podium finish of 2015. Toward the end of the race, Pastor Maldonado was racing Max Verstappen for seventh place. Going past the start/finish straight, Maldonado almost lost the rear of his car coming out of the Toro Rosso's slipstream, while Verstappen locked up going into turn one, handing the position to the Lotus driver. Rosberg, who complained about vibrations in his front tyres during the last laps, crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of teammate Hamilton, taking his third victory of the season and the second consecutive one at Spielberg, reducing his championship gap to ten points.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Lewis Hamilton, speaking about what caused his pit exit penalty.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
At the podium interview, conducted by Gerhard Berger, Rosberg expressed his satisfaction with the victory, saying: "The start made the race. It was a great start and I managed to defend in the first couple of corners and then I really just tried to push flat out this time. I was really happy with the car and happy to see the gap open up to Lewis, so it really worked out perfectly today." Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton conceded that his teammate had done a "fantastic job," stating that "[a]t the end of the day, he was quicker during the race."


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Speaking about his start at the post-race press conference, Hamilton explained that his car suffered from a lot of wheelspin, which made him get off the line slowly. Meanwhile, third placed Felipe Massa told the press that his team had "managed to get the opportunities, which it was a mistake of another team," adding that the changes made to the car were "definitely positive."


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
When asked about the necessity of closed cockpits following the first lap accident between Alonso and Räikkönen, Rosberg and Massa stated that improvements to safety should be made in this area, while Hamilton said he had no opinion on the matter. Alonso stated that he was "scared" after the collision and was visibly concerned for his rival's safety upon checking on the condition of Räikkönen, and relieved that the accident left his former teammate uninjured. The race stewards decided not to take any disciplinary actions concerning the crash.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Following their battle for seventh place towards the end of the race, Pastor Maldonado accused Max Verstappen of "not respecting the rules," though he went on to concede that it was great to be allowed to race on the limits by the stewards. The Dutchman in turn stated: "It's quite funny that Pastor said that. It's the only thing I say about it, it's quite funny." After suffering from multiple problems during and race and being unable to place any of their cars in the points, Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said the team needed to recover from a "really horrifying race."


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
It was the fifth one-two finish for Mercedes that season and Massa's first podium appearance since Abu Dhabi the year before. The victory moved Rosberg closer to his teammate in the Drivers' Championship, now ten points behind. It was his eleventh career victory, putting him level with Jacques Villeneuve, Rubens Barrichello and third placed Felipe Massa, who became only the eighth driver in the history of the sport to achieve more than 1,000 championship points.


2015 Austrian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
In the Constructors' Championship, Williams extended their lead to Red Bull to 74 points, while Force India moved up to fifth after their second double-points finish of the season. In a weekend that the official Formula One website described as "a new low" for McLaren, Fernando Alonso retired from the fourth consecutive race, something that had never happened to him in his career.


2015 Auto Club 400
The 2015 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on March 22, 2015, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 209 laps – extended from 200 laps, due to a green–white–checker finish – on the 2 miles (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the fifth race of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski won the race – his 17th career victory – while Kevin Harvick extended his top two finish streak to eight races with a runner-up finish. Kurt Busch, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.


2015 Auto Club 400
Busch won the pole for the race and led a race high of 65 laps; he lost the lead on the final lap and was passed by Keselowski and Harvick. The race had 19 lead changes among nine different drivers, as well as seven caution flag periods for 31 laps. Recording Team Penske's second NASCAR win at the track, Keselowski moved into fifth place in the points standings, which were led by Harvick; he left Fontana with a 28-point lead over Joey Logano. Chevrolet left with a 16-point lead over Ford in the manufacturers' standings.


2015 Auto Club 400
The Auto Club 400 was carried by Fox Sports on the broadcast Fox network for the American television audience. The radio broadcast of the race was carried by the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.


2015 Auto Club 400, Report, Background
Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is a 2 miles (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It is also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and is the only track owned by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.