This is the 12th exclusive Supercars.com column by Supercars Hall of Famer Craig Lowndes for the 2026 season. Seven-time Bathurst winner Lowndes will unpack each round of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship from his own perspective, continuing with last weekend's Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
Is there a standout favourite? No. It’s as simple as that.
We saw a favourite go into the last round last year and come out with nothing. It’s even closer this year, and there are more variables.
Matt Payne has dominated, but he didn’t win the Sprint Cup due to an engine failure. Broc Feeney has had ups and downs, as has Brodie Kostecki.
What you can guarantee, is that the four that go to Adelaide have equal chance of winning a championship. Once you make that final four, tactics and games will play a massive part in the outcome.
Team orders: yes or no?
It’s a byproduct of the current Finals format, but team orders have always been around.
We saw last year that teams got their head around it a little bit. But 12 months on, the teams are much smarter, wiser, and understand the levers they need to pull.
I'm not surprised about what went on over the weekend. The interesting thing for me right now is that you've got one GM, one Toyota, and you've got multiple Fords in the Semi Final.
You don’t need to be Nostradamus to forecast that the GM teams will help the GM car, and the Toyota teams will help the Toyota. The big problem Ford has is, who's going to help who?
The only non-Finals Ford team remaining is the Blanchard Racing Team. If you're a good negotiator in BRT, you'd be out there trying to do a deal with at least one of the Ford teams to help them out.
If teams were smart enough and if they're looking for support from manufacturers, I have no doubt that at some point, help in securing someone's position, especially in making the final four, would be pretty beneficial.
My experience with team orders
There have always been times through championships when you fall out of contention. Decisions are then made to help your teammate. I'm sure teams will be having conversations about it looks like going forward, not only at Sandown, but Adelaide too.
Like I said, team orders have always been there. It may have flown under the radar in recent years, but every team faces it. But let’s be real, if you want to be the champion, if you want to be the champion team, you should explore and exploit every rule and opportunity.
Team orders have been there for years, and they'll continue to be because of the nature of what Supercars has constructed as a championship. They wanted an exciting finish to a championship, and they've got one.
Back at Newcastle in 2017, my team put me in a situation where I had better tyres. We were chasing Scott McLaughlin down. If we passed Scotty, Jamie Whincup was champion.
But something that’s been overshadowed over the years, is that if I passed Scotty, I also moved up at least two positions in the championship. I’m fighting for positions in the championship as well.
Everyone remembers my role, and many said I helped Jamie, but I was also fighting for my own championship. There was a lot going on in that situation.
But unfortunately, the end result was — as everyone now knows — Scotty and I made contact, Scotty got a penalty and lost the championship.
Is having two cars in Finals a blessing or a curse?
Triple Eight is the only team left with two cars in the Finals. So, at what point and how far through the weekend will they know that one or both go through? Do you sacrifice one? It's a Catch 22.
Somewhat, it's always been a curse to have two fast cars because, at some point, one of those two cars are going to have to play the game.
Even when Jamie and I were teammates, you were fighting hard to be that lead car, so you weren't double stacking. There’s so much to play for.
Between Broc Feeney and Will Brown, they'll be working extremely hard to be that lead car on track. Because at Sandown — and we've seen it in the past — if there is a Safety Car, you do not want to be that second car.
The Mostert question
Can Chaz Mostert be champion with Toyota in its first season?
Well, his team will be putting every effort into being fast at Sandown. There’s a question over straight-line speed, but from what I experienced at Bathurst, I don't think the Toyota was that bad at all.
Having reached Sandown with the Mostert car, they’ll be looking at that, because that track is essentially two drag strips.
Critically, you win and you go through to the next round. Chaz did that on the Gold Coast, and he did it twice last year. There’s massive pressure on teams to get a victory, and Walkinshaw TWG Racing has runs on the board in that department.
Like I said, because GM and Toyota have one car left each, I have no doubt that both sides of that fence will be pushing hard to either secure a win or at least enough points to progress.
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.
