Rookie Walls showing no fear, Whincup urges patience

Jackson Walls is determined to jump headfirst into his rookie Supercars season, as Jamie Whincup calls for patience ahead of the rising star’s first year.

Walls, who recently turned 23, is one of five rookies on the 2026 Supercars grid. However, Walls is the only one of the five without a Supercars start to his name, with Rylan Gray, Zach Bates, Jayden Ojeda and Jobe Stewart all starting enduro or wildcard races.

Armed with a single season of Super2 under his belt, Walls jumps into the deep end in 2026, driving a SCT Motorsport-run, Triple Eight Race Engineering-built Ford.

Walls was on track to take out rookie honours in 2025, only for a practice failure in Adelaide to cast a tough footnote on what was an impressive first season in Supercars machinery.

In what is one of the most credentialed rookie line-ups in recent memory, Walls offers an unknown, yet has won his way through a number of categories on the road to Supercars.

Walls, whose new Objective Racing livery was revealed on Friday, insisted he needs to be “brave” and throw himself at the main game come race day in Sydney.

“For me there's excitement in getting the first few rounds under my belt, but most importantly need to be brave and dive into it,” Walls said in the release.

"Excited to cut our first testing laps at what's a home track for Triple Eight and where I had my first pole and race win last year in Super2. Then straight into SMP, my old home track — probably now more a home away from home.

"That'll be a challenging first weekend of the season, all of us on track trying to show the others what we've got, a few rookies and they're the ones like me out to make a strong impression. I know as a rookie we'll all be pushing each other pretty hard.”

The last two Super2 champions, Gray and Bates, are also on the grid in 2026, as is Erebus Motorsport graduate Stewart. Walls beat them all at Queensland Raceway last year.

Triple Eight boss Whincup, who himself faced troubles as a rookie, reiterated that results will come as Walls comes to grips with his new car, team and own expectations.

“We are taking this opportunity very seriously and are committed to maintaining the high standards you expect from us,” Whincup said.

"As I have emphasised from the start, please extend Jackson the patience he deserves as he gets up to speed in the toughest touring car championship in the world.

"However, we are also anticipating some strong performances when everything aligns.”

Walls will shake down his new #11 Objective Ford Mustang at Queensland Raceway on Monday.