'Absolute rubbish': Tickford boss shuts down SCT expansion talk
Tickford expansion rumours denied by Tickford CEO Simon Brookhouse
SCT Motorsport rumoured to be exploring team options away from Brad Jones Racing
BJR committed to running four Toyota Supras in 2026
Tickford Racing CEO Simon Brookhouse has emphatically denied rumours that the team will expand from two cars to three for 2026.
After the SCT Motorsport operation announced the departure of Jaxon Evans on October 1, speculation has bubbled that SCT might be exploring their options for next year.
Having run as a customer Brad Jones Racing entry since joining the category full-time in 2020, speculation had linked the team to a potential switch to Tickford for current Dunlop Super2 Series leader Rylan Gray.
The former Ford factory team signed Cam Waters and Thomas Randle through to 2027 back in June, though Tickford are also known to think of current junior prospect Gray very highly.
Expanding to a third entry would ensure that Gray stays on the books of Tickford, after the 18-year-old reportedly turned away from a deal to join Craig Lowndes in Team 18's new wildcard program next year.
However, Brookhouse moved to douse those rumours this morning at the team representative's press conference in Bathurst, quipping: "Who's SCT?"
"It's absolute rubbish. There's no truth in that whatsoever. Our team's unchanged the next year."
Brad Jones was also at the press conference, and was coy as to what the make-up of his eponymous team will look like in 2026.
Incumbents Andre Heimgartner and Macauley Jones will go around again next year, whilst current Matt Stone Racing driver Cameron Hill will jump into the #14 entry to be vacated by Bryce Fullwood.
Notably, Jones didn't name a number of Toyota GR Supras that the team would run in 2026. He has been an advocate of the four car business model, and has been the only four-car team since Tickford downsized to two for last season.
Jones indicated that there were no updates on their 2026 plans: "Nothing really. Cam's coming to join the team and we're going to run Toyota Supras.
"I think that's probably a fair bit of change going on at the moment... I don't have anything else to give."
If the SCT license were to depart BJR, it's unclear as to whether or not the team would add another license to maintain their four-car Toyota Supra commitment.
Should Tickford and BJR run three cars each next year, it could create an awkward scenario where the SCT entry would likely still share a pit boom with the third BJR entry.
Further complicating matters would be having a pit boom shared by different manufacturers (Toyota and Ford), whilst there would also be a shared Tickford/BJR pit crew.
