{"id":860345,"date":"2026-08-19T03:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/860345\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T03:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:20:12","slug":"supercars-news-craig-lowndes-protege-bayley-hall-facing-baptism-of-fire-at-ipswich-super440","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/860345\/","title":{"rendered":"Supercars news: Craig Lowndes’ protege Bayley Hall facing \u2018baptism of fire\u2019 at Ipswich Super440"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Latest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBayley Hall with Craig Lowndes. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n

The 23-year-old is the latest in a series of young guns to step into the Supercheap-backed initiative under the mentorship of Craig Lowndes.<\/p>\n

Zach Bates starred in the program last year, raising eyebrows by making the Top 10 Shootout on debut at the Ipswich event.<\/p>\n

But while it looks the same on the outside, the program has had a big change this season with a switch from Triple Eight to Team 18.<\/p>\n

It marks the first time the Charlie Schwerkolt-owned team has run a wildcard alongside its full-time entries for Anton De Pasquale and David Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s single pre-QR test at The Bend was blighted by an electrical problem<\/a>, which leaves the Super2 regular set to face a series of firsts on the race weekend.<\/p>\n

That will make for a \u201cbaptism of fire\u201d, according to the Gold Coast native, whose outing at Queensland Raceway will be followed by an Enduro Cup campaign alongside Lowndes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not ideal but I\u2019d rather go to QR knowing that the car\u2019s 100 percent and ready to roll,\u201d Hall told Speedcafe following the test.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing when we get there is to just take it nice and easy and learn as much as I can on the fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first ever start will be at the end of pit lane in practice one. The first time I ever drive on the super soft tyres will be in qualifying. My first ever pit stop will be in race one.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s going to be a lot of firsts and in a way there\u2019s not that much pressure on me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just there to learn and expand my knowledge, use all the tools in my toolbox that I\u2019ve learnt with the Super2 car and what Craig gives me, and go out there and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bayley<\/p>\n

Bayley Hall on track at The Bend. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n

Down on Gen3 mileage, Hall said he\u2019ll lean on his adaptability honed through racing and testing a variety of machinery in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Hall this year switched from Carrera Cup to Super2 but continues to make GT3 cameos overseas, as well as recently testing an LMP2 prototype.<\/p>\n

Four of the five previous Supercheap Auto wildcard young guns have leapt straight into a full-time Supercars drive the following year.<\/p>\n

Hall hopes his results can open that door, with several seats yet to be locked in for next season \u2013 including one at Team 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m under no illusion that there aren\u2019t many seats available, so you really need to stand out to see if there\u2019s anything possible to make that main game entry full-time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just got to focus on my processes. If a result comes out of it that is strong enough for team owners to give me a call, I\u2019ll certainly answer the phone and make sure we can get onto that full-time grid.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a childhood dream to even be making a wildcard, let alone full-time. It would be amazing to be full-time. That\u2019s what we do all this hard work for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall is one of three wildcards on this weekend\u2019s grid. Ben Gomersall makes his debut with Tickford Racing while Aaron Seton returns to Matt Stone Racing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bayley Hall with Craig Lowndes. Image: Supplied The 23-year-old is the latest in a series of young guns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,245415,13992,806,805,803,804,9910,85,42657],"class_list":["post-860345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bayley-hall","tag-craig-lowndes","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-slot2","tag-sports","tag-team-18"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860345","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=860345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}