The damning stat that reveals just how tough Supercars is in 2026

If you were thinking the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship has been a bruising ride, you'd be on the money.

Through two rounds and seven races, several drivers have already struck trouble, leading to four different championship leaders.

While bad luck and mechanical issues plagued a number of drivers in Sydney, the action kicked off in Melbourne, where as many as eight drivers dropped laps across the weekend.

Broc Feeney recorded his first DNF since the 2022 Gold Coast 500, while Cooper Murray couldn't catch a trick, dropping laps in three of the four races.

Even Matt Payne hit trouble, retiring from the third Melbourne race after a clash with James Golding. It was Payne's first DNF since crashing out of the 2024 Bathurst 1000.

All told, the stats don't lie: 2026 has been tougher to handle than the last two seasons.

Per Supercars data analyst Scott Sinclair, 10 drivers who’ve completed every lap so far this year compared to the same point last year, where there were still 17 drivers who’d done every lap. 17 of 24 drivers had also completed every lap through two rounds in 2024.

The first Gen3 season takes the cake, though — only seven of 25 drivers had perfect lap record through two rounds, with 17 drivers dropping laps or dropping out of races altogether.

It's no surprise, though, that the top two drivers in the standings — Brodie Kostecki and Cam Waters — have finished every racing lap so far. Waters has been Mr Consistent, finishing every race in the top 10 — the only driver to do so.

Anton De Pasquale, Jack Le Brocq, reigning champion Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds, Will Brown, Cameron Hill, Declan Fraser and Rylan Gray have also completed every lap, but it hasn't been without incident.

Notably, Brown was penalised over clashes in Sydney and Melbourne, Hill was also penalised in Melbourne, while Fraser narrowly avoided the Turn 1 crash in the Grand Prix finale.

The stat will be put to the test at Taupō, which has seen the Safety Car intervene in two of the venue's five races since joining Supercars in 2024.

Track action in Taupō commences on Friday.

Drivers to drop laps in 2026

Correct to 2026 Melbourne SuperSprint

Race 1: Cooper Murray (steering, DNF)

Race 2: Jayden Ojeda (wheel), Macauley Jones (damage), Andre Heimgartner (engine, DNF)

Race 3: Jobe Stewart (wheel), Kai Allen (steering), James Golding (wheel)

Race 4: Jackson Walls (damage)

Race 5: Aaron Cameron (contact), Cooper Murray (contact)

Race 6: Cooper Murray (contact), Thomas Randle (crash, DNF), Matt Payne (punctures, DNF)

Race 7: Ryan Wood (puncture), Broc Feeney (crash, DNF), Cooper Murray (crash, DNF), Zach Bates (crash, DNF)