THE V8 Sleuth Performance Rankings for races and shootouts outline where each driver needs to improve coming into the business end of the season.

Matt Payne is leading the championship, and there’s a reason for that: he’s the only one in the top five of three key performance metrics – qualifying average, the V8 Sleuth Race Performance Ranking, and the V8 Sleuth Shootout Performance Ranking – after seven rounds of the 2026 championship.

Payne is currently second in qualifying average on 3.9, only narrowly behind Brodie Kostecki’s 3.5 on top of the ladder. He’s also on fourth in the V8 Sleuth Race Performance Rankings, which measures progression through the field during a race based on their grid position on a scale from 0 to 100.

The third metric, Shootout Performance, sees him in fifth position, with that probably the most likely area of improvement, keeping in mind six of the seven race grids in the finals will be decided by a Top 10 Shootout.

V8 Sleuth Shootout Performance Rankings – 2026 after Townsville

V8 Sleuth Shootout Performance Ranking Explained (click here):

The V8 Sleuth Shootout Performance Ranking measures shootout performance taking into consideration the starting position coming into the shootout, rather than just measuring the positions gained or lost. This acknowledges that it is more difficult to gain positions when you are higher qualified coming into the shootout. Performing the best you possibly can in each shootout would give you a ranking of 100, while 0 is the lowest score.

Payne’s main rival at this stage arguably looks like the driver fourth in the championship. Cam Waters leads the V8 Sleuth Race Performance Rankings, and is third in the Shootout Rankings after three poles from the last four shootouts, despite not being the fastest qualifier coming into any shootout this year.

The hole has been qualifying where he has averaged 8.4, but the recent form has swung drastically. In the first 15 races the average qualifying is 10.7, and in the last six sessions through Darwin and Townsville it’s 2.3.

Waters’ 2026 average starting position is 2.4 places lower where the final segment is a Top 10 Shootout, which might be critical coming into the final races.

Supercars Average Qualifying Position – 2026 after Townsville

RankDriverAverage Qualifying1Brodie Kostecki3.52Matt Payne3.93Broc Feeney6.34Ryan Wood7.65Anton De Pasquale8.16Cam Waters8.4

Broc Feeney’s made seven of the eight shootouts this year to date, but his ranking in the shootouts reflect a lower one lap pace in 2026. In his career he’s finished in the top three in 26 of 48 (54%) career shootouts, but this year, it’s only two poles from seven shootouts, and nothing else in the top three (29%).

Cam Waters, Brodie Kostecki and Matt Payne each won a race in Townsville. Pic: Supplied/Mark Horsburgh

Brodie Kostecki’s problem right now is the opposite of one lap pace – he’s at the top of the qualifying averages, on 3.5, but race pace is the bigger issue. He’s ninth in the V8 Sleuth Race Performance Rankings, but like Waters, there are good signs. Townsville was a solid performance, with gradual improvement over the weekend culminating in a dominant Race 3 performance.

Kostecki’s challenges involve optimising the bad days: when starting in the top four, he’s net position gain in the races from his starting position is only minus five, but he’s lost 39 positions in races where he’s started fifth or worse.

V8 Sleuth Race Performance Rankings – 2026 after Townsville

V8 Sleuth Race Performance Ranking Explained (click here):

The V8 Sleuth Race Performance Ranking measures race performance taking into consideration the starting position, rather than just measuring the positions gained or lost. This acknowledges that it is more difficult to gain positions when you are higher on the grid starting the race. Performing the best you possibly can in each race would give you a ranking of 100, while 0 is the lowest score.

What this means is that starting ninth and finishing sixth, starting 16th and finishing 10th, or starting 23rd and finishing 15th are all scored roughly the same value. This is because, based on historical data, all these performances are roughly equally difficult to achieve.

All drivers who made the Grand Final in 2025 finished in the top seven in the V8 Sleuth Race Performance Rankings.

RankDriverV8 Sleuth Race Performance Ranking1Cam Waters72.82Broc Feeney70.53Kai Allen69.24Matt Payne62.75André Heimgartner61.36Will Brown60.97Chaz Mostert60.38Anton De Pasquale59.99Brodie Kostecki59.4