NEXT year’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Cup will have a famous Supercars surname name among its ranks – albeit not one that earned fame on the track.
Ashton Cattach will graduate to the top Toyota series in a self-run entry after making his debut in the GR Cup Scholarship Series in 2025.
The 20-year-old is the nephew of the late Wayne Cattach, whose decorated two-decade career in the sport saw him inducted to the Supercars Hall of Fame last year.
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His eventual goal is Supercars, with the hope that strong performances in the stepping-stone Toyota series will allow him to progress to Trans Am and the Super2 Series.
“I’ve wanted this for as long as I can remember,” Cattach said. “To take this next step as a privateer is massive.
“My uncle Wayne had a huge impact on me, he inspired the dream early and backed me as I worked my way up.
“I’m proud to carry that legacy forward while building something of my own.”
Along with his famous uncle, his grandfather Paul’s love of the sport also helped foster Cattach’s desire to go racing himself.
He began in karting age 13, although the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic paused things just his racing turned serious, but progressed to running at state level before his age prompted a graduation to cars.
Cattach is a race-winning graduate of Hyundai Excels, and a strong run through last year’s Dunlop Destiny Program races landed him one of four spots at a Norwell Motorplex evaluation day.
This year he competed in the Scholarship Series against several drivers that went on to shine in the GR Cup itself, including eventual champion Oli Wickham.