The beginner's guide to Supercars drivers and teams
If you’re new to Supercars, you may have a few questions about the world’s best touring car championship. We’ve got you covered in our beginner’s guide!
A total of 24 drivers and 11 teams make up the current Supercars grid. Each squad fields two cars, while there is one four-car team in Brad Jones Racing.
Triple Eight Race Engineering, known as Red Bull Ampol Racing, has more race wins, championships and Bathurst wins than any other team.
In 2024, Triple Eight’s closest rivals were Ford teams Tickford Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Penrite Racing, while Dick Johnson Racing and Erebus Motorsport are also championship winners.
The benchmark
Much like the Red Bull Formula One team, the Australian Red Bull outfit has emerged as a dominant force in Supercars racing in quick time.
Run by Triple Eight Race Engineering, who rose to prominence as General Motors’ factory team in the Super Touring era of the British Touring Car Championship, the team have considerably moved the goalposts in Australian motor racing.
The team has won a remarkable 12 teams’ championships since debuting midway through the 2003 season, and has won 11 drivers crowns, doing the double last year with Will Brown and Broc Feeney in Chevrolet Camaros.
Brown and Feeney are two of the hottest young prospects in Australian motorsport and have proven to be equally effective in open wheelers, GT cars, and in Brown’s case, NASCAR.
The challengers
The biggest challengers to Triple Eight’s dominance over a number of years in Supercars have been Ford teams Tickford and Walkinshaw Andretti United.
Tickford began life as Ford Performance Racing, and were Ford’s factory team from 2003 to 2018, securing championships and Bathurst wins in the mid-2010's.
Downsizing from four cars back to two last year has seen the team rise back to the top, currently leading the teams' championship with drivers Cam Waters and Thomas Randle.
Walkinshaw Andretti United are one of the most storied teams in ATCC history, being a dominant force in the late 1990s’ and early 2000’s as the famous Holden Racing Team.
The team have been rebuilding since losing GM’s factory support at the end of 2016, signing superstar Chaz Mostert in 2020, and moving to Ford in 2023.
With young Kiwi Ryan Wood alongside, and the team making a high-profile switch to a new Toyota Supra program in 2026, WAU are well within reach of returning to their glory days.
On the rise
The next two teams find themselves in similar positions, however they have trodden very different paths to get to where they are today.
Grove Racing are one of the newest teams in Supercars but have made a big splash since joining Supercars in 2022.
This year the team are running the youngest driver line-up seen in Supercars in almost 20 years, with 22-year-old Matt Payne paired with 19-year-old rookie Kai Allen.
Whilst the Grove squad is one of the newest in Supercars, fellow Ford squad Dick Johnson Racing are the oldest team in the championship, having debuted in 1980.
They were the dominant force of the late 2010’s, thanks to the combined might of the legendary Team Penske, and three-time champion Scott McLaughlin.
However, after both parties left after the 2020 season, it has been a gradual decline for DJR, and a line was drawn in the sand after 2024.
Reigning Bathurst 1000 champion and 2023 Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki joined the team in the off-season and has brought several key technical staff from his former team Erebus Motorsport.
There were promising signs that the DJR rebuild was on the right track at the opening round in Sydney, and the project should only continue to improve through this year.
The underdogs
The remaining six teams in the Repco Supercars Championship might not be running at the very front of the pack on a regular basis, but they can all score a strong result on their day.
In a similar way to DJR, Erebus find themselves in a rebuilding phase having won the championship in 2023 and Bathurst in 2024.
Exciting rookie Cooper Murray has stepped in to replace former champion Brodie Kostecki, whilst Jack Le Brocq has also been a race winner in Supercars.
Le Brocq’s last race win came with Matt Stone Racing, who were a surprise packet last year with Nick Percat, who had a career resurgence and won multiple races in a single season for the first time since 2020.
Third-year driver Cameron Hill completes the MSR line-up and was one of the most improved drivers in 2024.
PremiAir Racing are another team on the rise, and like Grove Racing, have made a big splash since joining the category in 2022.
James Golding got a breakthrough pole position and podium last year, whilst former GP2 race winner Richie Stanaway looks to add to his two wins as an enduro co-driver.
The sole four-car operation is Brad Jones Racing, who won a race last year with team leader Andre Heimgartner, who claimed an emotional home win in New Zealand.
Bryce Fullwood and Macauley Jones both starred in the Super2 Series in their junior careers, whilst Jaxon Evans has World Endurance Championship experience and is a Porsche Carrera Cup champion on two continents.
Team 18 have popular veteran David Reynolds on their books, whilst Anton De Pasquale showed promise in his Team 18 debut after moving from DJR, as he aims to lift the team up the pecking order.
Finally, Blanchard Racing Team have experienced the growing pains of expanding to two cars last year, but 2010 champion James Courtney still shines on street circuits, and mentors second-year driver Aaron Love.
Supercars is watched all around the world. If you’re planning on going to a race, see our website for tickets. Aussie fans can watch and stream on Foxtel, Kayo and Seven, while New Zealand fans can watch on Sky Sport. Alongside this, Superview gives international fans live coverage of every session.
