PODCAST: Dual Bathurst Champion loses drive

In a shock announcement, young gun Rylan Gray will take over the Dick Johnson Racing Mustang in 2026 from veteran and two-time Bathurst 1000 winner, Will Davison, who has parted ways with the Gold Coast-based team.

Gray impressed at Bathurst while sharing a wildcard Tickford-prepared Mustang with Lochie Dalton where the pair finished an impressive 10th.

It’s all covered off in the latest edition of popular podcast Jax Tyres & Auto Race for the Championship.

Dick Johnson Racing Executive Chairman, Ryan Story, said the decision to bring Gray into the fold represents a strategic shift for the team. He emphasised the team’s confidence in the young driver’s abilities, who will join 2023 Supercars Champion and 2024 Bathurst winner Brodie Kostecki in the team next year.

“Rylan has earned this opportunity through results,” Story said.

“We’re investing in the future here. Brodie gives us proven championship-winning pace and pedigree, and Rylan represents our commitment to developing the next generation.”

Davison will complete for the team in the final two rounds of 2025 – with the next round at Sandown marking his 600th Supercars start.

Grove Racing has announced that Team Principal David Gauchi will leave the team at season’s end to take up a new opportunity – believed to be within Supercars’ technical department.

Grove Racing has also declared that Alistair McVean has been promoted to the new role of Head of Performance. This news was released on the same day that the Melbourne-based team confirmed the appointment of ex-Ferrari Formula One engineer Riccardo Corte to engineer Kai Allen’s Mustang.

Corte joins Grove Racing following 11 years at Ferrari, where he most recently served as Lewis Hamilton’s Performance Engineer during the first half of the 2025 Formula One season. Throughout his time in Maranello, Riccardo held senior roles across the simulation department and the vehicle dynamics team, contributing to car development and collaborating with some of the sport’s most accomplished drivers – including Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

SupercarXtra has already reported that PremiAir Racing would part ways with Richie Stanaway and James Golding at the end of the year; however, in a further development the team has decided to pull the pin on Stanaway effective immediately, with last weekend’s Gold Coast 500 marking his last outing with the Chevrolet team.

Next year’s signing Jayden Ojeda will compete for the team at the remaining two events in this year’s championship – at Sandown and Adelaide.

In other news, Supercars has finally officially confirmed its 2026 calendar, with no real surprises. The season will start in late February at Sydney Motorsport Park before moving to Albert Park in March, followed by the New Zealand double-header in Taupo and Ruapuna. It will then head to Symmons Plains in May, followed by Darwin in June and Townsville in July, while Perth and Queensland Raceway will round out the Sprint Cup in August. The Enduro Cup and Finals will pretty much follow the same path as this year, with The Bend 500 at Tailem Bend and the Bathurst 1000 followed by Gold Coast, Sandown and Adelaide.