{"id":484657,"date":"2026-02-17T00:41:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484657\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T00:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:41:22","slug":"team-18-names-bayley-hall-as-craig-lowndes-bathurst-1000-co-driver-for-2026-supercheap-auto-wildcards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484657\/","title":{"rendered":"Team 18 names Bayley Hall as Craig Lowndes Bathurst 1000 co-driver for 2026, Supercheap Auto wildcards"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT\u2019S official: Bayley Hall will be the latest Supercars rookie to be taken under Craig Lowndes<\/a>\u2019 wing.<\/p>\n

The Porsche Carrera Cup Australia frontrunner has been named as the other half of the 2026 Supercheap Auto wildcard program as it shifts from Triple Eight to Team 18.<\/p>\n

Hall will race the #15 Camaro in a solo capacity at the Ipswich SuperSprint, for what will be his main game debut, before teaming up with Lowndes for The Bend 500 and Bathurst 1000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have watched the Bathurst 1000 for as long as I can remember and every time I watched it, I have dreamt of one day becoming a competitor in this historic race,\u201d said the 22-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can assure you I will be working harder than ever to be at my absolute best. I have to thank Charlie (Schwerkolt), Craig, Supercheap Auto and everyone at Team 18 and Chevrolet for generously giving me this platform to learn, grow and succeed.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have had the pleasure of getting to know Craig across the years he has commentated for Porsche Carrera Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I was six years old driving go-karts, Craig has been my biggest inspiration in how to handle yourself as a professional driver outside of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t have fans in the stands we aren\u2019t able to go racing and I can\u2019t wait to be able to match his energy outside of the car and learn from one of the best behind the wheel of the Supercheap Auto Racing Chevrolet this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be racing in the Supercars Championship is a dream come true, but to be representing both Team 18 and Supercheap Auto Racing is an opportunity like no other that I will be taking with both hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some big shoes to fill with plenty of successful drivers coming through the wildcard program and that is a credit to Supercheap Auto\u2019s amazing initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also eternally grateful for my Mum and Dad teaching me important values and virtues of how to work harder and harder to make dreams become a reality. Additionally, I have developed an amazing network of financial supporters and fans across the years and I have them to thank as well for helping me stay on track to achieve my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Lowndes welcomed Hall\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wildcard program has always been about identifying the right young driver and giving them a proper opportunity, and Bayley absolutely fits that mould,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to sharing a car with him, helping him through those first steps in Supercars, and hopefully putting together a combination that can surprise a few people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a front-row seat to Bayley\u2019s development last year through commentating Porsche Carrera Cup, and he\u2019s genuinely impressed me.<\/p>\n

\u201cRound after round, he\u2019s shown race craft well beyond his years, measured when he needs to be, aggressive when the moment calls for it, and always willing to learn. You can tell he\u2019s a student of the sport, and that\u2019s something I really like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team 18 owner Schwerkolt expressed excitement at what will be the Victorian squad\u2019s first time running three cars.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe program has been a launching pad for some amazing talent over the years, and we\u2019re proud to select Bayley as the next one to come through that pathway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe might be young, but he\u2019s already built a serious CV. What he\u2019s done in Carrera Cup here and overseas shows he\u2019s got the speed, the work ethic and the right attitude to take the next step.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupercheap Auto is such a huge name in Australian motorsport, so to have that program running out of our organisation is a big moment for us. There\u2019s a great energy around the place already.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still putting the finishing touches on the car, but it\u2019s going to look sensational when it rolls out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supercheap Auto head of marketing Emma Halasz meanwhile is making no bones about the bigger picture objective, even for a driver who at this point in time is yet to taste either the main game or Super2.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re extremely proud of the program\u2019s history, with four of the five previous wildcard drivers stepping into the main game the following year, and we\u2019d love to make that five come 2027,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IT\u2019S official: Bayley Hall will be the latest Supercars rookie to be taken under Craig Lowndes\u2019 wing. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-484657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}