Craig's Corner: Stewards' big statement, Feeney fired up, what next for BRT

This is the first 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, starting with last weekend's DUNLOP Sydney 500.

Feeney fires up

I'm not surprised that Broc Feeney started the year so well. Triple Eight has form in switching manufacturers and coming out punching, so I'm not surprised that the team itself was fast.

However, despite how last year transpired, Broc has made sure that nothing gets missed. If he keeps this momentum going, I wouldn’t be surprised if he sets new records.

Blanchard brilliance

What a story that was. There's absolutely no doubt that their alliance with Triple Eight is working, but the team also put in the hard yards to become competitive.

They signed James Golding, a new engineer, a new crew chief, and have stripped both cars to be closer to Triple Eight specification. It's fantastic to see a team like that not only put James and Aaron Cameron up the front, but also have speed to fight for trophies all weekend. They absolutely deserve to move up pit lane.

The next thing is, can they keep it going and get into The Finals? Of course they can — but they need to maintain belief and back their ability.

They had to keep pinching themselves that they were so high up the order — now, they have to make sure they’re not happy when they don’t get the results they’re after.

Team 18 on top

It was fantastic to see Team 18 and Anton De Pasquale win on Saturday. Charlie Schwerkolt puts a lot into this sport, and that team is taking the General Motors homologation team responsibility very seriously.

Crucially, it was a big statement to the rest of the field, right from the outset. I was really impressed by how Anton drove that race; it was a controlled victory, despite the pressure that Brodie Kostecki was heaving on at the end.

Kai’s cracking move

Kai Allen was on for a great result. I’m not sure whether he could have won Race 3, given how Feeney was going, but he put on a show. That pass at Turn 1… wow.

He’s a young kid with a lot of ambition. But in those conditions, around the outside, it was sensational. He was clever in how he used a go-kart style line, and around the outside of a lot of corners, it generally grips up.

Still, to pull that move on a driver like a Broc was exceptional.

Toyota rollercoaster

Five Toyotas finishing in the top 10 in the final race wasn’t a shock to me. This championship's all about consistency and putting your best foot forward whenever other teams have some incidents. That happened on Sunday, and Walkinshaw TWG Racing and Brad Jones Racing were there to get results.

It was just great to see the Toyota brand on the grid, after what felt like a long wait. The work they’ve put in across the last 18 months is now under the microscope, but they should be proud of that start, despite the engine issues and Chaz Mostert’s disqualification.

Stewards send big message

There were plenty of incidents and penalties, which proves that stewards have come out cracking the whip.

To exclude Chaz Mostert from Race 2 over a technical infringement indicates that the stewards are going to be policing everything strictly.

Namely, the Will Brown/Anton De Pasquale clash in Race 3 took two big names out of the running. I agree with the penalty given to Brown, being 15 seconds, given Anton went to the back.

The Brodie Kostecki/Aaron Cameron incident was a tricky one, but I also believe the penalty was justified.

The stewards have made a statement. Drivers need to know where the boundary lines are, and I think it's very clear now what that looks like. Going forward, I think the drivers will adapt to that or at least take it onboard, especially when they’re going for a passing opportunity.

Heating up

It was really hot. I think the conditions were probably underestimated. It was almost like Darwin.

I am surprised how many issues there were. It wasn’t just Triple Eight — David Reynolds was in a bad way. The systems that the teams use are generally bulletproof.

Sometimes hear the odd one doesn't work, but to have so many fail over the course of yesterday just really showed how tough the conditions were.