Team orders. Rarely do two words invoke such passionate debate among the Supercars community.
With the introduction of Finals for 2025, team orders came back into the public conscience, though the reality is they never really disappeared in the first place.
Across the last 20 years in Supercars, there have been several instances of teams giving their drivers orders to manipulate the result of a race, as they are entitled to do by Supercars regulations.
More often than not, this has been done with championships in mind at the back end of the season, however some team orders have come far earlier in a season.
Supercars.com takes a look at some of the most notable team order scenarios in Supercars.
Phillip Island 2006
At the height of the Ford vs Holden rivalry, Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly entered the title decider as combatants. The HSV Dealer Team's Kelly didn't just have teammate Garth Tander in his corner, but also Holden Racing Team pilots Mark Skaife and brother Todd Kelly, also in the Walkinshaw stable. All three made life miserable for Lowndes across the weekend, with Skaife a roadblock in the first race, and Tander penalised for blocking in the second. Kelly won the title in a controversial final race, after tagging Lowndes. Manufacturer orders have since been banned in Supercars.
Newcastle 2017
Not a team order per se, but a clever strategy play that saw Craig Lowndes play the decisive role in the 2017 title finale in Newcastle. Whilst Triple Eight stablemate Jamie Whincup secured a final day victory, handed to him by Shane van Gisbergen on late restart, Lowndes blazed through the field on fresh tyres. In the dying laps he got to McLaughlin's rear bar, and when the Kiwi made a mistake, Lowndes looked destined to go by before McLaughlin crowed him into the wall. Lowndes was out, McLaughlin penalised, and Whincup an unlikely champion.
Bathurst 2019
Team orders once again came under the microscope at Bathurst in 2019, when DJR Team Penske were found to have ordered Fabian Coulthard to slow down under Safety Car. That in turn held up Shane van Gisbergen, who looked set to jump Scott McLaughlin on fuel strategy. McLaughlin and Alex Premat ultimately won the race, however DJRTP were slapped with the largest fine in Supercars history ($250,000), and a 300-point penalty in the teams' championship, equivalent to McLaughlin's race win.
Townsville 2023
After qualifying last, Shane van Gisbergen had carved his way through the field, and past teammate Broc Feeney, and was hunting down Andre Heimgartner for an unlikely podium. However, the call was made for positions to be swapped back, despite the Kiwi's pace advantage and clear protests over the radio. Approaching the finish line, van Gisbergen abided by the team orders, handing Feeney the round win. Triple Eight would defend their call post-race, whilst van Gisbergen departed for NASCAR at the end of the season.
Sandown 2025
Walkinshaw TWG Racing nailed the Finals team game last year, with Ryan Wood's defence of Will Brown in the opening Sandown affair paving the way for Chaz Mostert to lock in his Finals berth with a win. Such was Wood's dogged defence, that Brown's gap to Mostert had ballooned from 1.2s to 4.6s in just three laps. Mostert repaid the favour on the Gold Coast to try and lift Wood through, but it was in vain as Anton De Pasquale scraped into the last transfer spot.
Darwin 2026
An instance where team orders have gone wrong, through no one's fault. On a rare off weekend, Feeney made way for Will Brown to chase down Cam Waters in fourth in the final laps, on the proviso the positions would be swapped back if Brown couldn't pass the Tickford Ford. However, when Mostert's engine let go, the Safety Car was called before the positions could be swapped back, leaving Feeney livid.
