Chaz Mostert narrowly qualified for 2026 Grand Final
Anton De Pasquale fell 0.7s short of winning his way into Adelaide
Mostert hunting second straight championship, first for Toyota
It was far from an easy road to a Grand Final berth for Chaz Mostert, but you can never count out a champion.
From 11th on the grid, the reigning champion scrapped his way forward to fifth by the chequered flag, and even that momentarily looked as though it wouldn't be enough as Anton De Pasquale closed on a boilover win-and-you're-in scenario late.
However, Mostert earned his opportunity to defend his title, with his Sunday Sandown finish remarkably his worst ever result in a Supercars Finals race.
Mostert's middle stint was sublime, making key moves on James Golding, teammate Ryan Wood, and Andre Heimgartner, before passing Thomas Randle after his final stop.
But that was as far as Mostert could get, with Broc Feeney way up the road in fourth. Mostert was kept abreast of his Finals situation, but it made for a nervous run home.
"I tried my hardest, I didn't really have anything to try and catch Broc, so I was probably being a fan inside my car asking what the story was at the front," Mostert said on broadcast post-race.
"Obviously Anton was super fast today, and he was a chance at that win to knock us out.
"For me, just relieved. Gold Coast was awesome to have the pace we did, didn't quite have the pace this weekend, especially in qualifying trim.
"But we clawed, we chewed, we did everything we could to try and get enough points to get through, so I'm just super relieved."
There were times through the year where it wasn't certain that Mostert would be in the mix, as the brand-new Toyota package had teething issues ironed out early doors, but the two-time Bathurst winner has once again come into his own in Finals.
But, Mostert never backed down, and save for a late crash in a difficult weekend at Bathurst, has been in fine form since the introduction of Toyota's 'B-spec' engine at Ipswich, scoring crushing wins at The Bend and on the Gold Coast.
Whilst Mostert will enter Adelaide with a 72-point deficit to turn around in three races, and whilst he admits he enters as an underdog given the calibre of the final four, he has taken pride in taking the fledgling Toyota program to their first
"When you have the #1 on the door, you kinda want any opportunity to at least go to the final dance and say you did everything you can to try and defend it," Mostert said.
"But the other three guys going are some of the best touring car drivers, I think, that we've seen in our year.
"So we're going to have our work cut out for me, but just relieved that we're going to the big dance, and really honoured to take a Toyota GR Supra in their first year to the Grand Final, which is awesome."
