A flying phalanx of Ford Mustangs are destined for the Semi Final round of the 2026 Supercars Championship at Sandown in two weeks’ time after Ford runners locked down five of the seven spots available for the next leg of the series.
While persistently torrid weather made it a challenging weekend of racing through the concrete canyons of the Gold Coast for the first of three Finals rounds, it was Broc Feeney who led the Blue Oval runners with a pair of pole positions and a win on Sunday at his home race, with Matt Payne and Brodie Kostecki also grabbing one of the unique trophies – custom surfboards – for their podium placings.
The Gold Coast weekend was raced in two distinct halves, with fully-wet conditions for 85 laps on Saturday and a dry track for the repeat event on Sunday, when the Mustangs showed better pace to take six of the Top 10 spots.
“Win and you’re in,” said Feeney, summing his approach to his home race.
“We needed that momentum to get into The Finals. I’m chuffed. Bring on Sandown.”
The Mustang semi-finalists are led by championship leader Matt Payne, followed by Feeney, Kostecki, Will Brown and Cam Waters. The knock-out format for The Finals means another three contenders will be eliminated at Sandown to set the Final Four ahead of the title decider in Adelaide.
The Supercars Championship continues with the second-last round of the series in Melbourne from November 6-8.
FORD RACE RESULTS
TOP 10 SHOOTOUT - RACE 1
1st – Broc Feeney
5th – Matt Payne
6th – Thomas Randle
7th – Will Brown
8th – Cam Waters
RACE 1
3rd – Matt Payne
6th – Will Brown
7th – Brodie Kostecki
8th – Cam Waters
9th – Broc Feeney
TOP 10 SHOOTOUT - Race 2
1st – Broc Feeney
2nd – Will Brown
3rd – Aaron Cameron
4th – Brodie Kostecki
7th – Cam Waters
RACE 2
1st – Broc Feeney
2nd – Brodie Kostecki
6th – Matt Payne
7th – Cam Waters
8th – James Golding
FORD DRIVER CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st – Matt Payne, 4150 points*
2nd – Broc Feeney, 4120*
3rd – Brodie Kostecki, 14096*
5th – Will Brown, 4066*
6th – Cam Waters, 4057*
9th – Kai Allen, 3143
12th – James Golding, 1532
13th – Thomas Randle, 1499
19th – Rylan Gray, 1055
20th – Aaron Cameron, 964
22nd – Jackson Walls, 789
* = Finalist
FORD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st – Grove Racing, 4864
2nd – Triple Eight Race Engineering, 4762 points
3rd – Tickford Racing, 3750
5th – Dick Johnson Racing, 3598
9th – Blanchard Racing Team, 2436
13th – Objective Racing, 789
TEAM OWNER/TEAM PRINCIPAL QUOTES
MARK DUTTON, Triple Eight Race Engineering
- ”It was a tough weekend and we had to work super-hard. We had two pole positions, which was amazing, but we didn’t convert on Saturday and that just hurts.
- “We had moments of brilliance with both cars, but not all the time and not as consistently through the weekend as we would have liked.
- “We’re super-proud of everyone’s efforts but there is work to be done. But understanding is the name of the game and that’s what we will try to do in the short time before Sandown.”
STEPHEN GROVE, Grove Racing
- “Not a great weekend with losing Kai Allen from The Finals. You always want to have two cars still in contention, but we still have Matt Payne and we leave the Gold Coast leading the championship.
- “Kai did a great job to come from 21st back to 13th on Sunday, but we just weren’t good enough this time in the changing conditions.
- “We haven’t lost any car speed, so we need to re-group for Sandown and then the Grand Final in Adelaide.”
MARK FENNING, Dick Johnson Racing
- “It was a weekend of risk management on the Gold Coast.
- “The wet conditions on Saturday created challenges for the whole field and Brodie Kostecki managed the race intelligently to come away with solid points.
- “Sunday was very strong with Brodie pushing Broc Feeney hard to finish second – the pace was clearly there.
- “We leave the Gold Coast sitting third in the Finals’ series and the team is in great shape heading to Sandown.”
ROD NASH, Tickford Racing
- “Sandown, here we come. We live to fight another day in The Finals with Cam Waters.
- “Saturday didn’t do us any favours so it was good to have a dry track on Sunday, and Tom did well to move through the field to 10th after starting right at the back.
- “We still haven’t found the speed we’ve been missing, but around Surfers it’s not a big drama and we just have to work on it. We need to keep improving.
- “We know our cars have been quick at Sandown in the past, but we've still got to find the little gain that’s been penalising us through the whole season. It’s also important that your 'wing man' is working well, and Tom’s he is doing a good job on that front.”
ANDREW JONES, Objective Racing
- “We got a solid result with a reasonable run in the rain on Saturday, but the satisfying thing was the way Jackson Walls battled with Ryan Wood. He again showed his potential, and we keep getting positive snapshots from his rookie year, including finishing on top of Wood on the Gold Coast.
- “On Sunday our dry-weather pace was not good enough and we’ve going to dig into the reasons for that. We’ve got a lot to go through before we get to Sandown.
- “Triple Eight has historically gone well there, and provided we help Jackson to prepare with riding the kerbs and things, we should have the information and tools for a solid race. But it’s not just about the driver, as the whole team needs to maximise the capability available to us.”
TIM BLANCHARD, Blanchard Racing Team
- “It’s disappointing to be out of the finals, even if it makes for an easier run through to the end of the year. We kicked an own goal at Tailem Bend and we know without that we would have made the cut.
- “The Gold Coast weekend was alright, with plenty of good speed, but we don’t have much to show for it. Aaron Cameron got into the Shootout and Jimmy Golding drove well to recover to eighth on Sunday.
- “So we’ve got to keep on working, tidying up the things that have been holding us back. We had good speed at Sandown last year so we want to continue building our momentum this year at one of our home races.
- “The best strategy is always to have fast cars.”
