A championship format that puts drivers under pressure to survive each round can turn teammates into temporary allies and rivals into targets. As the Supercars Finals Series reaches its decisive stages, the line between legitimate teamwork and interference in another driver’s championship hopes is becoming increasingly important.
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The category has already been forced to examine one controversial incident, and officials are now looking to make the regulations harder to exploit. With teams preparing for another season under the Finals format, the proposed changes are aimed at establishing exactly who can issue instructions and where those instructions cross the line.
“Motorsport Australia Competition Manipulation and Sports Gambling Policy must be complied with at all times,” reads a draft of the proposed 2027 Supercars regulations submitted to teams for feedback, as reported by Speedcafe. The addition would place the category’s team-orders framework more explicitly under the national motorsport integrity policy.
The move follows a warning delivered by Supercars officials in person during a team briefing ahead of the Sandown 500. Teams and drivers were reminded of the category’s existing regulations, the FIA International Sporting Code, and the requirements of Sporting Integrity Australia, the government agency responsible for addressing issues such as competition manipulation and match-fixing.
Supercars motorsport boss Tim Edwards explained to Speedcafe that the briefing was intended to ensure everyone understood the rules already in place, particularly younger drivers who might not have familiarized themselves with the rulebook. He stressed that the restrictions were not limited to Supercars regulations.
The warning came after questions were raised about two Chevrolet-backed entries making unexpected third pit stops during the Gold Coast 500. The stops prompted suggestions that General Motors had directed the teams to help another driver in the Finals battle.
Supercars investigated the matter by checking the fuel remaining in the cars of PremiAir Racing’s Cooper Murray and Erebus Motorsport’s Jarrod Hughes. Officials established that neither car would have made the finish without the additional stop. Both teams attributed the decisions to a miscalculation, and the investigation ended with no case to answer.
That distinction matters because team orders are not prohibited outright in Supercars. The current rule, D25.1.1, defines a team order as an instruction to a driver or team member that may interfere with a race result. The following clause, D25.1.2, prohibits sponsors, suppliers, manufacturers, and other outside entities from imposing or attempting to impose those instructions on teams.
In practical terms, a team can ask one of its drivers to move aside, protect a teammate, or alter a strategy if it believes the decision benefits the squad. A manufacturer or another outside party cannot make that call on the team’s behalf. The proposed changes are intended to make that separation clearer, not remove the ability of teammates to work together.
The distinction has been a source of controversy before. At Phillip Island in 2006, Holden’s factory-backed teams worked together in the title fight involving Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly. The episode helped prompt a stronger distinction between team strategy and outside interference, with manufacturer orders subsequently prohibited.
More recently, Triple Eight’s position swap at Pukekohe in 2018 raised questions after Jamie Whincup slowed to allow Shane van Gisbergen through. Supercars later clarified that instructions between members of the same team were permitted under the regulations. The incident did not establish a breach of the third-party rule.
The 2019 Bathurst 1000 provided a more serious example of how team instructions can cross a regulatory boundary. DJR Team Penske was fined $250,000, with $100,000 suspended, after stewards ruled that an instruction to Scott McLaughlin’s teammate Fabian Coulthard to slow excessively behind the Safety Car breached sporting regulations.
The No. 12 entry was demoted from sixth to 21st, and the team lost 300 championship points. McLaughlin and Alex Premat retained their race victory.
The 2027 draft seeks to give officials a more detailed framework. It defines a team order as a direction from a team to one of its members to deviate from maximizing individual performance. Such instructions would remain permissible when reasonably considered beneficial to the individual, another team member, or the team, provided they do not create a health or safety risk or breach another applicable rule or policy.
It also spells out who qualifies as a team member, covering owners, drivers, employees, contractors, volunteers, directors, and others capable of influencing a team’s sporting or technical performance.
Crucially, manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer representatives would not be classified as team members.
That clarification carries added significance given General Motors’ revised racing structure, which has included program manager Simon McNamara and technical lead Grant McPherson working across its four Supercars squads.
Edwards has also addressed how officials intend to police the boundary. Speaking to Speedcafe at Sandown, the Supercars motorsport boss said the category records team-radio communications and monitors how cars are operated technically. He made clear that suspicion alone would not be enough to establish a breach.
“It’s like every single rule in our rulebook; we’ve always got to be able to prove it,” Edwards told Speedcafe. Referring to the Gold Coast fuel investigation, he added that officials’ job was to remain suspicious and watch for situations that warranted closer examination.
Edwards also underlined the consequences of instructions coming from outside a team. “As soon as you step outside of your own team, the FIA don’t allow it, Supercars don’t allow it, Sporting Integrity Australia don’t allow it,” he told Speedcafe.
The category has not confirmed a fixed penalty for a future breach. Edwards said any sanction would be determined by the stewards, while the recommended penalties table is not shared with teams.
The proposed wording is still subject to feedback, but Supercars is making its position clear before the next season: teamwork remains legal, outside interference does not, and proving the difference will be central to enforcement.