TICKFORD Racing’s 2026 Supercars wildcard effort appears set to not include a return to the Repco Bathurst 1000.
The Melbourne-based Ford team is understood to be close to confirming its Supercars wildcard plans for this season, however the Great Race in October appears to not be on its radar this year.
Last year it ran a Mustang wildcard in both The Bend 500 and the October classic at Mount Panorama for now Blanchard Racing Team Super2 and Erebus co-driver Lochie Dalton and now Dick Johnson Racing full-time driver, and 2025 Super2 Series winner, Rylan Gray.
The team has a long history of wildcard entries for the Bathurst 1000 under various banners during its eras as FPR, Prodrive and Tickford Racing.
It ran a Super Black Bathurst wildcard in 2014 for André Heimgartner and Ant Pedersen followed by the Harvey Norman Supergirls program for Simona De Silvestro and Renee Gracie in 2015.
Not running a wildcard at Bathurst this year would be understandable given the team’s existing workload of two entries in the main race and four cars in the Dunlop Super2 Series.
Two of the team’s Super2 pilots – Reuben Goodall and Ben Gomersall – have been linked earlier this year with the Tickford Supercars wildcard program; Goodall linked to making his Supercars Championship debut at the Townsville round in July and Gomersall linked to making his at Queensland Raceway’s round in August.
Goodall is locked in to share the #55 Castrol car with Thomas Randle at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend and Repco Bathurst 1000, with Mark Winterbottom to return and share the Monster car with Cam Waters for the Ryco Enduro Cup events.
Paddock sources at Symmons Plains on the weekend suggested Gomersall and another driver will compete in the Tickford wildcard in the 500-kilometre race at The Bend.
The team’s chassis swap for Symmons Plains – where Cam Waters debuted a new Monster Energy Mustang and Thomas Randle moved into the chassis Waters started the year in – opens up the ex-Randle TR-26 car for wildcard use.
