Comeback kings: 2021 drivers' lowest winning grid spots

When the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship resumes at Winton in October, there will be 15 race winners on the grid.

The 15 winners combine for 297 race victories, with seven drivers having won races from 14th or lower.

Just six races have been won from 20th or lower in ATCC/Supercars Championship history, and two active drivers are responsible for two of them.

Supercars.com runs the microscope over active winning drivers’ best comebacks en route to victory.

Andre Heimgartner: 1st, Tailem Bend 2021

Heimgartner’s first career win came at The Bend Motorsport Park in May.

That day, at a sodden Tailem Bend, Heimgartner won from pole - but he also won despite copping a time penalty for a pit lane infringement.

Scott Pye: 3rd, Albert Park 2018

Pye’s first - and so far only - career win came from third on the grid.

In a thrilling race at Albert Park, Pye survived an onslaught from Jamie Whincup to emerge victorious in fading light.

Cameron Waters: 3rd, Tailem Bend 2020

Waters claimed his maiden solo win at The Bend last September, having launched from the second row.

The Tickford Racing driver’s victory came on a day he defeated Scott McLaughlin, who clinched the 2020 title in the race.

Tim Slade: 4th, Winton 2016

A day after winning from pole at Winton, Slade did the double.

Slade won the Sunday 200km affair having started from fourth, helping the then Brad Jones Racing driver sweep the weekend.

David Reynolds: 4th, Darwin 2018

Reynolds won the Sunday race in a canter following a day-long battle with McLaughlin.

The then Erebus Motorsport driver had started from fourth.

Fabian Coulthard: 6th, Symmons Plains 2017

Four years ago, Coulthard claimed the first win for the DJR Team Penske combination in Tasmania.

That day, the Kiwi started from sixth, which remains the lowest starting spot of his 13 career wins.

Anton De Pasquale: 6th, Darwin 2020

De Pasquale won from pole in Shell V-Power Racing Team colours in May.

Last year, he claimed victory for Erebus in a thrilling Darwin race from sixth.

Jack Le Brocq: 7th, Sydney Motorsport Park 2020

Earlier in the 2020 season, Le Brocq recorded his maiden Supercars victory in a thrilling Sydney Motorsport Park sprint.

Le Brocq emerged atop an unlikely podium of Heimgartner - who started from pole - and Todd Hazelwood.

Mark Winterbottom: 14th, Homebush 2011

Winterbottom has claimed 38 career wins, and none from as low as his charge from 15th at Sydney Olympic Park.

The then Ford Performance Racing driver also won the 2014 Darwin finale from 10th.

James Courtney: 15th, Adelaide 2014

Courtney’s first Adelaide win came from a scarcely believable 15th on the grid.

His most recent career win to date, in Adelaide in 2016, came from fourth on the grid.

Nick Percat: 15th, Adelaide 2016

A day after Courtney won the second Saturday sprint, Percat won a rain-affected truncated race for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.

The epic drive saw Percat, a South Australian, won on home soil from a lowly 15th.

Will Davison: 17th, Bathurst 2016

The second of Davison’s Bathurst wins saw the veteran, along with Jonathon Webb, start the Great Race from 17th.

Davison and Webb didn’t lead a lap in the race, with Whincup slapped with a time penalty following the redress saga.

Shane van Gisbergen: 17th, Sandown 2021

Series leader van Gisbergen put in the drive of his career to win from 17th at Sandown in March.

After a poor qualifying, van Gisbergen - who was nursing a broken collarbone - took the lead from Waters on the very last lap.

Jamie Whincup: 20th, Winton 2007

Whincup’s brightest day came under eerie skies at Winton in 2007.

The then TeamVodafone youngster won from 20th, which remains one of the lowest grid spots for a winner in a sprint race.

Chaz Mostert: 25th, Bathurst 2014

The man Whincup defeated for the 2014 Bathurst crown started from 25th with Paul Morris.

Mostert and Morris’ Bathurst bid came after the former was excluded from qualifying.

After Morris crashed the car early in the race, Mostert pushed Whincup beyond the point of fuel consumption to claim a famous victory.