Craig’s Corner: My championship favourite, Triple Eight's big headache

This is the final exclusive Supercars.com column by Supercars Hall of Famer Craig Lowndes for the 2025 season. Seven-time Bathurst winner Lowndes will preview each round of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship from his own perspective, concluding with this weekend’s bp Adelaide Grand Final.

Four drivers, three races, one champion. It’s an exciting prospect!

No doubt, The Finals has delivered. We go to the last round of the championship with four contenders, and for me, all of them have earned their spot.

Adelaide is the best place to decide a championship, and there’s always drama. Look at 2023, when Shane van Gisbergen crashed out at Turn 4. Who saw that coming?

Like the Gold Coast, Adelaide is a high risk circuit, and there’s no room for error. Then, you have to take into consideration the longevity of the races. Add a Friday sprint, and the drivers will be physically and mentally drained by the end of the weekend.

Broc Feeney has been very fast throughout most of this year. For me, he's the favourite. He's done exceptionally well throughout the season, and importantly, he bounced back after a tough enduro campaign. However, there are no givens with this format.

Broc's clear strength has been qualifying, but say someone crashes in qualifying, there's a red flag and he's buried in the field, it will be difficult for him. Will Brown’s race pace has been the best of the lot.

In some ways, Triple Eight will have to work together, especially with a bit of rain predicted over the course of the weekend. Avoiding the double stack is going to be high on their agenda. Will has had to double stack a couple of times and that has massive potential to hurt his chances.

For Broc and Will, because the points are so close, it's going to come down to who's ahead on the track. I have personal experience with double stacking — you can lose a lot of positions, and it’s then a struggle to get back into a rhythm and regain those positions. That's a major concern for Red Bull Ampol Racing, because you've got to race Chaz Mostert, who’s found some great form at the right time of year. He won’t have to worry about stacking, nor will Kai Allen.

At no stage this year did I write Chaz off, but his season had been a bit up and down before The Finals. He definitely needed those Saturday wins at the Gold Coast and Sandown to secure his spot.

You could see once Chaz got those wins, he was more comfortable, more flamboyant and fun to watch. Let’s not forget, he is a great street circuit fighter. He’ll be tough to beat.

I wouldn't be surprised if Chaz led the points going into Sunday, I think it comes down to Broc and Chaz. The only reason I say that is Will’s qualifying performance hasn’t been good enough, and Kai is still a little green. The battle within Triple Eight will be fascinating, and when it comes to qualifying, Broc has Will covered.

However, Kai has been smart and calculated. He has stayed out of trouble. Many have questioned if he deserves to be there, because Matt Payne was on track to make it before he made his own mistake at Sandown. However, Kai maximised points when he could, and he made it on merit.

Kai’s performance goes to show, that if you stay out of trouble and you are consistent — which is what we all talk about when it comes to winning championships — you’ll be in with a shot at the end. Kai's absolutely done that.

The racing this year has been intense, and drivers have mongrel, whether that’s on track or in the press. Honestly, the way the championship is now with The Finals, you have to be aggressive and assertive. In every way possible, you have to be on the front foot.

May the best driver win!

Supercars Hall of Famer Craig Lowndes is one of the most decorated drivers in Australian motorsport history, winning three drivers' championships, 110 Supercars races and seven Bathurst 1000s.