The biggest challenge facing each Supercars team in 2025

We're only six weeks away from seeing Supercars in action in 2025, with the new season commencing at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 21-23.

Many teams have locked in the big decisions that will define their season, but there's still plenty of work to be done behind the scenes before the crucial all-in test day on February 19 in Sydney.

As we enjoyed our holiday breaks, teams will have been hard at work preparing for 2025, some even thinking about the new season after the chequered flag fell at the season finale in Adelaide last November.

Every team wants to start the year in Sydney with a win, but they'll also have an idea of what years they'll want to have. However, no one will know until Friday February 21 in Sydney, when cars roll out in anger for the first time.

In the wake of 2024, there are key challenges facing each team in 2025, which we'll highlight team-by-team in teams' championship order.

Triple Eight Race Engineering

After finishing first and second in the drivers' championship, and claiming a runaway teams' championship, Triple Eight will be determined not to take a backwards step in 2025. Will Brown and Broc Feeney were super fast and consistent last season, combining for 11 wins. However, in the first season of the Finals era, the team will also have to maintain harmony between its drivers once again as they chase championship glory. Brown and Feeney managed to battle each other cleanly and fairly last season; can they do it again, or could Triple Eight have to deal with a civil war at some point this season?

Tickford Racing

Tickford Racing took a big step forward in 2024, the first season as a two-car team for many years, finishing second in the teams' championship and fourth and fifth in the drivers'. While the obvious challenge is repeating and building on the speed that delivered four wins and eight poles last season, the biggest challenge is ensuring they're not playing catch-up again. Cam Waters was a whopping 388 points behind Will Brown after Round 3 last year, and couldn't recover to mount a serious title bid. While the Finals reset could play into Waters and Thomas Randle's hands, Tickford must start the year at the front, or risk playing catch-up again.

Walkinshaw Andretti United

Another team that took a huge step forward in 2024 was Walkinshaw Andretti United, which was carried by a sensational Chaz Mostert. Mostert loomed as a title contender, but costly mistakes killed WAU's championship hopes. WAU is facing three big challenges; repeat and improve the speed of 2024, limit the simple mistakes that dropped them out of contention, and strike a balance with its Toyota homologation workload that will surely pick up in the second half of the season.

Grove Racing

Penrite Racing entered 2024 with high hopes of a title bid, but by season's end, Matt Payne was over 1000 points off the pace. Alongside bedding in incoming rookie Kai Allen, who replaces PremiAir Racing-bound Richie Stanaway, the Grove squad needs to find more consistency in 2025. In the early rounds of 2024, Payne was qualifying at the front, but fell away in the races. At other times, he qualified down the order, but charged through in the races. Penrite Racing has some of the sharpest minds in pit lane, and they'll be determined to make every weekend count.

Dick Johnson Racing

So much will be different at the Shell V-Power Racing Team in 2025, and given how competitive the field has been in the Gen3 era, the team cannot afford another lacklustre season. The arrival of Brodie Kostecki and engineering changes are the biggest changes, as well as acquiring Erebus Motorsport-built chassis. The key for the famous Ford team is ensuring they waste as little time as possible getting up to speed amid the changes, so they can be consistently competitive when it counts. They only have one win in 52 starts in the Gen3 era, so it's imperative the team can prove they've made all the right decisions.

Erebus Motorsport

It's a similar story at Erebus Motorsport, which enters 2025 with a new driver in rookie Cooper Murray, as well as new engineers. George Commins and Tom Moore were key to the team's success across the last four seasons, and the team has often proved it can start strongly with fresh blood. In the last two years, Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown have moved on, so Murray and Jack Le Brocq are now armed with a shot at creating their own legacies with Erebus. Crucially, the team managed to shake out the mechanical issues that hurt in the first half of 2024, turning it around with wins in Bathurst and Surfers Paradise. So, the key is to maintain not only the speed that returned Erebus to the front in the second half of 2024, but also the reliability.

Matt Stone Racing

Matt Stone Racing has created a strong base for 2025, thanks to a breakout year for both Nick Percat and Cameron Hill. Percat won in Melbourne and Tasmania, and Hill wasn't too far off the top 10 in the championship. The obvious challenge is building off last year's peaks, but the other hurdle is minimising the troughs. Last season, Percat qualified 11th or lower 15 times, making it hard for himself in the races. Given the team's huge improvement in pit stop, should MSR get Percat starting towards the pointy end more often, more wins could follow.

PremiAir Racing

It was a moving year in 2024 for James Golding and PremiAir Nulon Racing, which claimed its first pole position and podium finish in Supercars. Golding was within touching distance of fifth in the championship, which would have been a stunning result given he qualified 11th or worse 15 times last season. Golding with have a new engineer for the balance of the season, with Romy Mayer going on maternity leave, so there's little time to waste if the team wants its lead driver to be in the fight. However, a bigger challenge is getting new recruit Richie Stanaway, who largely struggled at Penrite Racing, up to speed. The team will only benefit from having two cars in the top 50 percent of the field, so watch this space.

Team 18

After six seasons with Mark Winterbottom, Team 18 arrives in 2025 looking to get recruit Anton De Pasquale up to speed, and in the fight for podiums. De Pasquale was under immense pressure at Dick Johnson Racing in the post-Scott McLaughlin and Penske era, and managed just eight wins in four seasons, and a best overall finish of fourth. Dr Ryan Story believes De Pasquale can thrive in a new environment, so it's up to Team 18 to get the best out of him. Given Team 18 struggled over one lap and in races last season, it'll be a big challenge. The team will also be keen to unlock more performance for David Reynolds, who qualified in the top 10 just seven times last year, and finished 10th or better nine times.

Brad Jones Racing

Brad Jones Racing reached victory lane in 2024 courtesy of a stunning Andre Heimgartner drive, but overall, qualifying let down all four drivers' seasons. Heimgartner, Bryce Fullwood, Jaxon Evans and Macauley Jones were, on average, 16th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd in qualifying in 2024. The biggest and most obvious challenge will be to improve qualifying performance, and move forward after rolling out. Too often did BJR go backwards as race weekends wore on, the impressive Heimgartner the team's best driver in 10th overall by season's end.

Blanchard Racing Team

The Blanchard Racing Team spent much of 2024 finding its feet as a two-car team, with James Courtney often overachieving in what was a tough season. The team will, at some point, have to begin thinking about what the post-Courtney era looks like, given the 2010 champion is set to retire at the end of the year. Crucially, however, it will also have to help Aaron Love deliver results and prove his signing was the right call. There were flashes of speed for Courtney and Love in 2024, but not often enough.