Ranked: How first-time champs fared in title defences

History shows Triple Eight Race Engineering star Will Brown will be up against it when he attempts to defend his Repco Supercars Championship title in 2025.

Last year, the Queenslander became the 27th different driver to win an ATCC/Supercars title, and just the fourth new champion in the last 10 seasons.

Of 27 first-time champions in 65 seasons, just five have backed it up in the following season to turn their first title into two.

If Brown can take out the crown in 2025, he will join Bob Jane, Dick Johnson, Marcos Ambrose, Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin as drivers to achieve the rare feat.

With the new season on the horizon, Supercars.com breaks down the best of worst championship defences, starting with the back-to-back stars.

The successful defences

Bob Jane has the rare distinction of turning single-round and multiple-round championships into back-to-back titles. The championship was contested in a single race between 1960 and 1968, with Jane going back-to-back in 1962 and 1963. He then backed up his 1971 triumph with a fourth crown in 1972.

Dick Johnson’s first of five titles came in 1981, and he added a second in 1982. A tough run to sixth overall in 1983 followed, before he wrested back his crown with a third title in 1984, followed by two more in 1988 and 1989.

Johnson remained the last back-to-back Ford champion until Marcos Ambrose, who won two straight titles in 2003 and 2004. Jamie Whincup then repeated the feat in 2008 and 2009, before Scott McLaughlin reeled off three in a row between 2018 and 2020.

McLaughlin is the only driver to win his first three championships consecutively; if Brown is to match him, the Triple Eight driver will need to take out both the 2025 and 2026 titles.

Nearly, but not quite

Three drivers finished second the year after their first championships; 1975 champion Colin Bond, 1993 champion Glenn Seton, and 1995 champion John Bowe.

An additional three drivers finished third; 1973 champion Allan Moffat, 1985 champion Jim Richards, and 2007 champion Garth Tander. Moffat still finished third despite opting out of the final rounds to race in the United States.

Then, there’s 2006 champion Rick Kelly and 2016 champion Shane van Gisbergen, who raced to fourth overall in their championship defence seasons.

In the single-race era, 1961 winner Bill Pitt, 1964 winner Ian Geoghegan and 1965 winner Norm Beechey all finished second the year after their championship victories.

The rollercoaster defences

Winning a championship doesn’t guarantee a big return in the following season, with six drivers finishing fifth or worse in their title defence seasons.

Bob Morris came home fifth in 1980, James Courtney 10th in 2011, Mark Winterbottom sixth in 2016, and Brodie Kostecki 17th in 2024. All four drivers, however, managed to win at least one race during their defences.

Kostecki is perhaps the most curious case of all, given he missed the first two rounds of 2024, before rounding out the season with dominant wins in the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 500.

Peter Brock and Russell Ingall, meanwhile, weren’t as lucky, going winless the year after their first titles. Brock went winless in 1975 en route to seventh overall, while Ingall finished eighth in 2006.

Drivers that didn’t defend at all

David McKay contested the very first ATCC race at Gnoo Blas near Orange in 1960, winning in a Jaguar Mk1. He chose not to compete in 1961, instead focusing on open-wheel and GT racing.

In 1986, Robbie Francevic claimed a shock title for Volvo, but a public falling out with the Volvo Dealer Team saw Francevic without a drive for 1987.

Then, Craig Lowndes followed his dominant 1996 season with a shot at Europe in 1997. Lowndes raced in Formula 3000, only to return to Australia and the V8 category.

As history would have it, Lowndes would win the 1998 and 1999 crowns, winning the first three championships he contested!

How first-time champs fared in title defences

*Championships contested over a single race between 1960 and 1968

^Lowndes won 1998 title after racing overseas in 1997