The class of 2024: Meet the latest Supercars rookies

The Repco Supercars Championship rookie class of 2024 is a superb group of young drivers, and all have achieved highly en route to the main game.

Ryan Wood, Aaron Love and Jaxon Evans will all make their full-time Supercars debuts in 2024.

Wood has replaced Matt Stone Racing-bound Nick Percat at Walkinshaw Andretti United, with Love joining the expanded Blanchard Racing Team. Evans, meanwhile, replaces Jack Smith in the SCT Logistics Camaro at Brad Jones Racing.

For the third time in five seasons, there will be at least three rookies on the grid, with 2023 seeing the debuts of Matt Payne, Cameron Hill and Declan Fraser.

In 2020, Bryce Fullwood, Jack Smith, Kostecki and Zane Goddard made their solo debuts. Two years earlier, five drivers debuted — Jack Le Brocq, Anton De Pasquale, James Golding, Todd Hazelwood and Richie Stanaway.

Payne was the star of the 2023 trio, ending the season with a stunning victory at the VAILO Adelaide 500. The Kiwi’s win helped Supercars to its third straight season with a rookie victory.

The pedigree

Don’t be fooled by the ‘rookie’ tag — Wood, Love and Evans are all supreme drivers, and will play a key role on track in 2024.

Kiwi youngster Wood was a sensation in last year's Dunlop Series, winning more races and rounds, and taking more poles, than any other driver. A former Porsche junior, Wood was extremely aggressive, and often used it to his advantage.

Love, Wood’s rival in 2023, has raw speed and was often unlucky in last year’s Dunlop Series. However, the Perth-born driver — also a former Porsche star — won in Bathurst, and was a fixture of the front all season.

The wildcard of the three is Evans, the 2018 Carrera Cup Australia champion, who is incredibly accomplished despite turning 27 last year. The Kiwi became a Porsche junior in 2019, moved to Europe, and enjoyed success in the likes of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland and Porsche Carrera Cup France.

How will they fare?

Evans and Love have raced a Gen3 Supercar, Evans pairing with Smith in the 2023 enduros, while Love shared a BRT wildcard with Jake Kostecki.

Critically, as was the case with the 2023 trio, their results will come down to their teams, and how they fit in with their engineers.

However, where the entire field was competing in brand new Gen3 machinery in 2023, this year's rookies will grapple with rivals who are more established and have a year under their belts in the new cars.

They will all have experienced teammates in their corner — Wood has been mentored by new teammate Chaz Mostert, Love is joined at BRT by James Courtney, and Evans has countryman Andre Heimgartner to lean on.

WAU will be desperate to score its first win for Ford, and BJR is determined to prove third place in last year’s teams’ championship was no fluke. Then, there’s BRT, which will embark on its first campaign as a two-car team.

There's plenty of promise in each driver — but given the unknowns about 2024, and where their teams are placed in the pecking order, it’s anyone’s guess which one will end 2024 best of the rookie class.

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Bathurst on February 23-25. Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.