Formats and tyres explained: 2026 Repco Supercars Championship

The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship will feature the most races in a season in over a decade, as the world's premier touring car category expands.

The 2026 season will take place over 37 races across 14 rounds in Australia and New Zealand. Only the 2014 season, which featured 38 races, has staged more races.

The Gen3 era will also take a new twist in 2026, as the new Toyota Supra tackles the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro.

Supercars.com breaks down what the on-track action will look like in 2026 year, from practice, qualifying, race lengths and tyre allocation.

Season format

The 2026 season will be split into three distinct parts, culminating in a Finals Series to crown the 2026 champion.

The first nine rounds of the season will constitute the Repco Sprint Cup, with a Sprint Cup winner to be crowned at the conclusion of the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440.

The Ryco Enduro Cup will be contested over the AirTouch 500 at The Bend and the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The final three rounds of the season at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, Penrite Oil Sandown 500, and bp Adelaide Grand Final will see the top 10 drivers of the season battle it out for the championship.

More information on how the Finals Series will work can be found here.

Race lengths

The 37 races will see drivers complete 7195km of racing, up 500km from 2025.

There are 18 sprint races (varying between 80km and 120km in length), and 19 refuelling races (11 200km races, six 250km races, and the 500km and 1000km enduros).

Fastest lap points will also be on the line in every race in the Repco Sprint Cup, provided drivers finish in the top 15.

Qualifying

There will be three qualifying formats used to set the grid for the 37 races. There will also be 18 Top Ten Shootouts in 2026, up from 16 in 2025.

Format 1 will see pole decided by a single qualifying session. However, it will only be provisional at the enduros, where a Top Ten Shootout will follow.

Format 2 is two-part knockout qualifying, where the top 10 drivers from Q1 go through to Q2 to decide pole.

Format 3 is three-part knockout qualifying, where six cars are knocked out in Q1, eight cars in Q2, followed by a Top Ten Shootout.

Practice

Practice has been reduced at Super 440 events. There will be two 25-minute sessions, down from dual 30-minute sessions. There is a single 45-minute session in Sydney, Darwin and Townsville, where there are Friday races.

Practice formats return as standard for the enduros and Finals. The enduros will feature longer practice sessions, with some sessions dedicated to co-drivers only.

Tyres

The 2026 season is the 25th for Dunlop as the control tyre supplier of Supercars. There will be two dry compounds of Dunlop's control SP Sport Maxx tyres in use (Soft and Super Soft) and the Wet Weather tyre.

Unchanged from 2025, both compounds of tyres will be used on the Saturday of all Super 440 events, with each race and corresponding qualifying session to be held on different compounds.

Both races on the Gold Coast and at Sandown will also be split between compounds, with Saturday running on the Super Soft, and Sunday on the Soft.

Pit stops

Also unchanged from 2025, at every race outside of the enduros, teams will be mandated to change a minimum of two tyres at each compulsory pit stop.

The shorter 100 or 120km sprint races will feature one compulsory pit stop, whilst the longer 200 or 250km races will feature two mandatory pit stops.

All four sprint races in Melbourne will be flag-to-flag sprint races with no compulsory pit stops, whilst the two enduros have no pit stop requirements, leaving teams free to dictate their own strategies.

2026 Repco Supercars Championship formats*

Key

Format 1: Single qualifying

Format 2: Two-part knockout qualifying

Format 3: Three-part knockout qualifying

TTSO: Top Ten Shootout

WU: Warm Up

^ Means a Session run under lights at dusk/night

* Subject to change, first published December 3, 2025

2026 Repco Supercars Championship tyres and pit stops*

* Subject to change, first published December 3, 2025