The 2024 Supercars Championship rolls along, as the powerful V8 machines thunder around various tracks across Australia and New Zealand.
As Australia’s premier racing series, its popularity outweighs the support of F1 in the country. That’s how big of a deal the focus on the season is, as the manufacturers and drivers go head-to-head.
But who may reign supreme at the end of the current Supercars Championship series, and after picking up any bookies bonus, what markets should punters be looking at?
Outright Winner Futures
It’s tough not to pick a Chevrolet driver to claim the title this season, with the manufacturer winning every event across the first three rounds of the 2024 Supercars Championship. It looks as if it could simply be a straight shootout between Triple Eight drivers Will Brown and Broc Feeney for the crown.
Brown is the current 2.40 front-runner for the title, with Feeney out a little longer at 3.00. The only other driver touching base in single figures for the 2024 champions is Ford’s Chaz Mostert at 6.00.
As last season’s Championship top two, Brodie Kostecki and Shane van Gisbergen aren’t in the picture this time around, it opens the door for the aforementioned three. It’s hard to see anyone else creeping into the picture based on early season form.
Pole and Race Winner Double
Given the proven form and speed of Chevrolet so far, drivers like Will Brown and Broc Feeney are going to continuously rise to the head of the Pole Position markets for races. Interestingly, however, in the first eight races of the season, only one was won by the pole position starter.
So don’t necessarily just stick with an obvious option of something like a Brown/Brown Pole/Win Double. The Ford Mustangs of Matthew Payne, Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters are all big threats for Pole Position spots this season but continue to seek overall competitive race speed to push for the title.
Race Winner Markets
Overtaking in V8 Supercars field is far more common than in F1. Track positions change a lot, adding to the excitement, but it ultimately means that pole position far from guarantees a win. Expect only a 50-60% strike rate across the season from Pole Position.
An angle into the Supercars season is to look for track specialists (both team and driver), particularly on longer races like Bathurst, to try and spot pre-race value. With Shane Van Gisbergen, the winner of three of the last four at Mount Panorama having moved to NASCAR, Chaz Mostert, who has won there before, could be right in the frame for 2024.
Fastest Lap
A slightly more wide open field for Supercars betting and again, it’s worth highlighting the pure speed of Ford drivers here. The likes of Mostert, Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood all posted the fastest laps in races in the early part of the season.
Look at times posted on tracks last season by drivers, and at the fastest laps from similar races this season to pick out the Fastest Lap options from the field.
Season Over/Under
How many race victories does it take to win a Supercars title? Last season’s champion Brodie Kostecki nailed it with six, and each of the top three managed to post at least five.
So that is the benchmark for a Season Over/Under option on the tally of wins for the likes of Feeney, Mostert and Brown in the 2024 Championships. The over 5.5 should be on the radar, with a push perhaps up to 6.5 for longer odds.
Early Season Things Could Change
The form can swing throughout the season of course and the above are predictions based on early-season form. The most fascinating aspect of this season of Supercars surrounds the dark horse in the outright winner market – champion Brodie Kostecki.
He sat out the first six races of the season due to wanting a release from Triple Eight. He cut his first laps with Erebus in April at the Taupo Super 400, finishing down the field. But could he inject life into the team and produce what would be a remarkable Top 5 or even Top 3 Finish at the end of the season? Kostecki is at 26.00 option to defend his Supercars title.
