Toyota and Ford share spoils in Tassie thriller

The Tasmania Super 440 delivered another dramatic chapter in the 2026 Supercars Championship at Symmons Plains Raceway, with Toyota and Ford sharing the trophies across a frantic weekend of racing.

Saturday belonged largely to Toyota, with Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner both delivering landmark victories for the Japanese manufacturer’s new Supercars program. Mostert claimed his maiden Toyota win in Race 14 before Heimgartner backed it up later in the day with Brad Jones Racing’s first Supercars victory as a Toyota team.

“Awesome to get the race win. It’s just a big relief and good payback for everyone,” Heimgartner said.

Mostert’s win came after a dominant display in mixed conditions, with the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver securing pole position before controlling the race from the front. Heimgartner then followed with an impressive pole-to-flag performance in Race 15, holding off championship leader Broc Feeney to secure Toyota’s second top podium step of the day.

“It was awesome to get my first win with Toyota,” Mostert said after Saturday’s breakthrough success.

While Toyota celebrated on Saturday, Sunday belonged emphatically to Ford Mustang teams.

Triple Eight star Broc Feeney bounced back strongly to win the feature race and continue his impressive run of consistency at the top of the standings. Feeney’s victory headed a complete Ford Mustang podium clean sweep, with Grove Racing teammates Matt Payne and Kai Allen finishing second and third respectively after an aggressive strategy helped the latter charge through the field.

Feeney said the result was especially satisfying after Ford teams had struggled to contain Toyota’s pace on Saturday.

“Toyota smoked us yesterday,” Feeney admitted after Sunday’s race.

“So from a Ford standpoint, obviously 1-2-3 is fantastic.”

The championship leader also highlighted just how quickly fortunes can swing in the tightly contested 2026 season.

“You can be dominating and up the front, and then you’re half a tenth off in qualifying and things go wrong in your race,” Feeney said.

The biggest casualty of the weekend was Dick Johnson Racing’s Brodie Kostecki, who endured a frustrating trip to Tasmania in his Mustang and slipped to third in the championship standings after several difficult races and incidents across the weekend. Feeney noted that Kostecki had suffered “a couple of unlucky instances” during the round.

Team 18 also enjoyed one of its strongest weekends of the season, with David Reynolds returning to the podium in Saturday’s opening race after finishing second for Snowy River Racing. Anton De Pasquale added consistent top-five pace throughout the round, including fourth in Sunday’s finale.

The fierce battle between manufacturers, combined with wildly varying results from race to race, reinforced the unpredictable nature of this year’s championship.

Despite Toyota’s rapid progress and the growing challenge from Ford rivals, Feeney leaves Tasmania still leading the championship as the series heads north to the Darwin Triple Crown, one of the Triple Eight driver’s most successful circuits.