Chaz Mostert welcomes underdog tag ahead of title decider
Toyota star heads to Adelaide seeded fourth, 72 points from lead
Mostert admits he needs luck to become champion again
He may be the reigning champion, but Chaz Mostert is more than comfortable entering the 2026 title decider as the underdog.
The Walkinshaw TWG Racing driver is seeded fourth for the bp Adelaide Grand Final, and starts the three-race weekend 72 points behind leader Matt Payne.
Having climbed his way from eighth pre-Gold Coast to make the Grand Final, Mostert is comfortable with where he sits, claiming: “There’s no pressure on me."
Mostert added: “We’re the fourth seed. We’re a long way off the points lead, and you see these guys, their bad races are either a third or a fourth.”
A two-time Bathurst winner and Supercars championship, Mostert has championed the underdog tag for the balance of his career, famously winning the 2014 Bathurst 1000 from last on the grid.
Mostert has turned Walkinshaw TWG back into a championship-contending powerhouse, and is armed with a shot at joining Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife as multi-time champions for the decorated team.
Surviving lowly grid spots of 10th and 11th at Sandown was yet more proof to Mostert that his team has what it takes to turn around tough situations and deliver, just as they did in Adelaide 12 months ago.
“I’ve been an underdog my whole life and definitely with Walkinshaw TWG over the years, the team has really embraced the underdog story as well,” Mostert said.
“For us, we love when we get in the fight. We could have easily dropped our lip over the weekend… but the team really dug deep and we had a race car that came to us.
“We didn’t have great one-lap pace but the guys and girls at Walkinshaw TWG got me out of it — awesome strategy, awesome work in the pit stops and the car to dial in for an 80-lap race.”
Mostert, though, is pragmatic about his current situation, admitting he needs issues for his rivals to pull off another comeback championship victory. But having experienced that Bathurst race 12 years ago, he knows it's a case of never say never.
“If you asked me if I could win 2014 Bathurst from last, you’d probably stand there and say no,” Mostert said.
“But the track record in Supercars shows anything can happen. I think that’s what makes this sport great.
“I’m obviously going to need a lot of luck. It’s not going to be there just on being able to try and win races and have car pace.
“But I’ll do everything I can, and where we end up Sunday night will be. We’ll be positive, we’ll go and try our best, but it’ll be a tough ask.”
Track action in Adelaide commences on Thursday November 26.
