GET TO KNOW THE SUPERCARS ROOKIE CLASS OF 2026

The youngest ever grid featured at the start of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship, with five full-time rookies set to conclude their debut seasons at the bp Adelaide Grand Final.

The average age of the drivers on the grid at the season opener was just 27 years of age, two years younger than the previous record of 29. Their arrivals marked one of the biggest generation changes in Supercars.

At the end of last season, two of the most experienced drivers of all time, James Courtney and Will Davison, stepped out of full-time drivers. With their contemporaries such as Mark Winterbottom, Jamie Whincup, Tim Slade, Nick Percat and more also slotting into endurance co-driver roles in recent years, it paved the way for a new generation to come through.

Enter the full-time rookies of 2026: Jackson Walls, Jayden Ojeda, Jobe Stewart, Rylan Gray and Zach Bates.

Bates is from motorsport family, the son of rally driver Rick Bates and the nephew of multiple Australian champion Neal Bates. Bates made his main-game debut in a wildcard entry with Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2025, finishing in the top 10 at Bathurst alongside Craig Lowndes. That stint saw him signed by Matt Stone Racing for a full-time drive in 2026.

Gray is the reigning Dunlop Super2 Series champion, winning four of the 12 races held in a season dominated by his Tickford Racing team. He also made his main game debut in a wildcard Tickford Racing entry, finishing 13th at Bathurst. Gray stayed within the Blue Oval fold by joining Dick Johnson Racing for his rookie season this year.

Ojeda has had the longest wait from the Supercars debut to his full-time rookie season. Six years after he first raced in Supercars with Garry Rogers Motorsport at Bathurst in 2020, Ojeda was final given his full-time break at PremiAir Racing.

Stewart is flying the flag for the South Australia amongst the rookies. A Super3 champion and Super2 challenger with Image Racing, Stewart made his Supercars debut with Erebus Motorsport in the endurance events alongside Cooper Murray in 2025. Stewart’s pace and poise was rewarded with a full-time graduation in 2026.

Walls path differs from his fellow rookies, as he hadn’t made his Supercars debut before 2026. After racing for Triple Eight Race Engineering in the Dunlop Super2 Series last year, Walls was picked to drive the SCT Motorsport as it switched from Brad Jones Racing to Triple Eight this season.

Watch for the progress of the rookies and the generation change that has now well and truly happened in Supercars across 2026, leading into the bp Adelaide Grand Final.