Dramatic Bathurst blew apart teams' championship
Tickford Racing jumped Walkinshaw TWG Racing in order
Dick Johnson Racing surges into fight for third after win
The 2026 Thrifty Teams' Championship took several twists at the Repco Bathurst 1000, with all of those twists having a major bearing on Finals Drivers' pit position at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
While the top end of town has remained unchanged with fierce rivals Penrite Racing and Red Bull Ampol Racing, the battle for third has tightened considerably courtesy of a nightmare 1000km for Walkinshaw TWG Racing.
A meagre 44-point haul from their two cars was compounded a post-Bathurst rebuild for the #2 Toyota of Ryan Wood, and a chassis swap for the #1 Toyota of Chaz Mostert after big accidents.
That has allowed Tickford to jump into third, despite having struggles of their own, while Dick Johnson Racing have surged into the fight for third after Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood's stunning win.
Tickford jumping ahead of Walkinshaw could bode well for Cam Waters, who won't have to worry about being stuck behind any potential double stacking Walkinshaw Toyotas.
However, that will place them behind Red Bull Ampol Racing, who will also likely have two closely matched cars, and could find themselves at risk of double stacking should there be a Safety Car.
Another big winner was Matt Stone Racing, promoting their Finals hope Jack Le Brocq up the pit lane order. THe #4 Sherrin Rentals Camaro will be slap bang in the middle of pit lane in Garage 14.
One of the quirks of the Gold Coast pit lane is the big gap to allow for the podium area, which for this years sits in between Walkinshaw TWG and Dick Johnson Racing, with DJR (and Brodie Kostecki) getting a clear run out of their pit bay.
Having entered Bathurst 319 points behind Penrite Racing, Triple Eight closed to 190 points off the teams' championship lead thanks to Will Brown and Scott Pye's second place at Bathurst.
Penrite's Matt Payne enters the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 as the top seed, with racing to be held from October 23-25.
2026 Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, Live Pit Lane order
Garage | Driver | Number | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kai Allen (F) | 26 | Penrite Racing |
2 | Matt Payne (F) | 19 | Penrite Racing |
3 | Will Brown (F) | 888 | Red Bull Ampol Racing |
4 | Broc Feeney (F) | 88 | Red Bull Ampol Racing |
5 | Cam Waters (F) | 6 | Tickford Racing |
6 | Thomas Randle | 55 | Tickford Racing |
7 | Chaz Mostert (F) | 1 | Walkinshaw TWG Racing |
8 | Ryan Wood (F) | 2 | Walkinshaw TWG Racing |
9 | Brodie Kostecki (F) | 17 | Shell V-Power Racing Team |
10 | Rylan Gray | 38 | Shell V-Power Racing Team |
11 | Anton De Pasquale (F) | 18 | Team 18 |
12 | David Reynolds | 48 | Team 18 |
13 | Jack Le Brocq (F) | 4 | Matt Stone Racing |
14 | Zach Bates | 10 | Matt Stone Racing |
15 | Andre Heimgartner | 8 | Brad Jones Racing |
16 | Cameron Hill | 14 | Brad Jones Racing |
17 | Macauley Jones | 96 | Brad Jones Racing |
18 | Jackson Walls | 11 | Objective Racing |
19 | Aaron Cameron | 3 | Blanchard Racing Team |
20 | James Golding | 7 | Blanchard Racing Team |
21 | Jayden Ojeda | 31 | PremiAir Racing |
22 | Cooper Murray | 36 | PremiAir Racing |
23 | Jarrod Hughes | 99 | Erebus Motorsport |
24 | Jobe Stewart | 9 | Erebus Motorsport |
F = denotes Finals Driver
