A year to remember: What we learned in 2024
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship was one to remember, with eight different drivers from seven different teams reaching victory lane.
While other seasons have seen more winners, 2024 was telling in the sense of how many teams made big strides, despite Triple Eight Race Engineering walking away with the biggest prizes.
There are 11 teams on the grid, and 10 claimed trophies. There were also 10 different pole winners in 2024, and 14 different podium-finishers. The competition level is rising, and it will hit new heights in 2025.
The arrival of the new Finals Series will no doubt increase tension and competition for spots. There are 10 available for the Finals, and every race matters. So, how much will 2024 play into 2025, and what were the key takeaways?
Brown is the real deal
Winning races at Erebus Motorsport, there was little doubt Will Brown could match it with the best of Supercars. But, could he win a championship? A failed 2023 campaign led some to believe Brown wasn’t fit for a drive at Triple Eight, but come Adelaide, he walked away with the championship trophy off the back of 19 podiums in 24 starts. Brown's ruthless consistency didn’t give his rivals a look-in, in what was one of the most consistent campaigns ever.
Team errors can cost championships
Chaz Mostert was fantastic in 2024, and was unlucky not to challenge for the title at the Adelaide season finale. In a year Triple Eight made few mistakes, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Tickford Racing, their closest rivals, were caught out. WAU alone made a litany of errors that killed Mostert’s hopes, from losing a wheel in Taupō, failing to unlock the Super Soft in Darwin, fumbling Sandown in a “diabolical” race, and attaching the wrong fuel rig on the Gold Coast. Remove even one of those slip-ups, and Mostert is an even greater factor.
Qualifying will be more important than ever
No driver was immune from qualifying slip-ups in 2024, and that will be amplified in 2025 as they fight for the 10 spots in the Finals. Qualifying drama often leads to tension in races, as championship contenders have to keep an eye on what’s at stake. That tension will rise from next season, given there will likely be more teams in with a shout for wins, ensuring teams and drivers take points off each other.
The best of the rest are getting better
Triple Eight was the clear benchmark, but 2024 was a hugely competitive year. WAU, Tickford, Penrite Racing, Erebus Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing and Matt Stone Racing also won races, in what was only a 24-race campaign. MSR won multiple races for the first time, BJR its first race since 2020, and WAU its first since 2022. Should they be even better in 2025, Triple Eight will have a mighty fight to hang onto its titles.
The future is now
Come 2025, and 15 of the grid’s 24 drivers will be aged 29 or younger. There will be a teenager in Kai Allen, who is one of six drivers aged 23 or younger. Champion Brown is still only 26, with 2023 champion and Bathurst winner Brodie Kostecki turning 27 in November. It seems the grid keep getting younger — the average age is 28.95, a big change from 31.31 in 2017.
