You couldn’t script it, what a day at The Bend, Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard win The Bend 500 with Ryan Wood and Jaxon Evans taking home a podium in P3, after incredible co-driver stints for both cars.

It was a momentum building start to our weekend here at The Bend, cars rolled out slightly behind the eight ball but by the final practice session Chaz and Fabian finished top of the time sheets with Ryan and Jaxon in P8.

Saturday afternoon saw qualifying, a tough session for the Team, ultimately both cars didn’t have the pace to success through to the Top 10 Shootout with Chaz and Fabian lining up P11 and Ryan and Jaxon P14 for the 500km race, but, Sunday was pay day, we had worked toward that.

Sunday morning kicked off with a warm-up which the weather Gods threw everything at us, about three minutes into the session the clouds opened up and the track was soaked. With potential rain showers scheduled throughout the race, it gave the Team a good read on how the cars performed in wet weather.

Race 29

Mostert/Coulthard: 1st
Wood/Evans: 3rd

In very challenging conditions, Fabian and Jaxon lined up on the grid to start off the 500km race.

As the lights went out, both drivers had a great start that saw Fabian up to P7 by the end of lap 1 whilst Jaxon got up to P11 in wet conditions. There was chaos everywhere, but we kept out noses clean and moved forward.

On lap 21 Fabian passed Goodall for P3 with Stanaway, the fastest car on track, on his rear bumper, making for exciting racing. The following lap, he capitalised on Hughes mistake ahead, taking P2.

On lap 25 the safety car was called, with Fabian in P3 and Jaxon P7, both cars dove straight into the lane, with the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing No. 2 needing to double stack but only dropping to P9.

As the safety car returned to the lane, both drivers had a clean start, with Fabian, an expert in these wet conditions, took the lead after maximising on a mistake from Slade ahead.

Jaxon, one of the other fastest cars on the track, slowly worked his way forward up to P7, closing the gap to the cars ahead.

A second safety car was called on lap 45, with the minimum codriver laps being 54 which completely put a turn on strategy. We chose to take a bold strategy to bring both cars into the lane to top up on fuel and take some fresh wet tyres. This meant the co-drivers would have to do a third stint, an alternative strategy to the rest of the field.

You wouldn’t script it, but on lap 53 another safety car was called, which brought the Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 1 into the lane for a driver swap, seeing Chaz jump into the car.

A great opening stint for Chaz which saw him up five positions just two laps after joining the race, ultimately ending up taking the lead, being the fastest car on the track.

Meanwhile, Jaxon continued his charge forward as well, taking P2, right behind Chaz on lap 81, making the most of his final laps out on track. To fight with the majority of the field being main drivers, showed how good of a job he was doing.

Coming into the lane on Lap 84, Ryan took over the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing No. 2 on slick tyres, just as the sun came out, drying out the track. The strategy worked incredible which saw Ryan join the field in P10 and worked his way up to P2 once the stops cycled.

Chaz came into the lane for slick tyres after building a strong gap to P2 behind, and rejoined in the lead, right in front of Ryan.

Both Chaz and Ryan were building a strong gap to the cars behind in their penultimate stint, still sitting in P1 and P2.

Ryan came into the lane with 34 laps remaining for his final stop, with the largest amount of refueling required for his car. This meant he was racing Kai Allen for P2, but a short fuel stop for Allen saw him rejoin the track six seconds ahead of Ryan

With over one minute gap to Allen behind, Chaz ran the Mobil 1 Optus Racing No. 1 until the fuel tank was empty, and a short stop to get home meant he was in the box seat.

From there, he never looked back, dominating to win by over 10 seconds, with Woody comfortable in P3 with no threat from behind.

What a day.

Next stop, Bathurst.

Chaz Mostert

“We just won the 2026 500 winners! We actually can’t believe it to be honest.

“Fabs was like a duck out there today, there was so much water and conditions were crazy but he did such an incredible job behind the wheel. I was pretty happy to watch that one from the garage.

“Thank you so much to the team, to our partners, Mobil 1 and Optus, Toyota, everyone for sticking around with us this year, everyone in the team for the hours and hours of work, everyone’s support hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“It was even better to have Woody and Jaxon on the podium with us, I’m really lost for words to be honest, I thought I was never going to get a 500 so I can’t believe it. Car was awesome, strategy was awesome, it’s just been a really cool day and one that will give us a lot of confidence over the next few weeks as we head to the big one”

Fabian Coulthard

“What an epic day, my first 500 as well, so it’s really special to do it alongside Chaz. It was pretty wild out there, it’s probably some of the worst conditions I’ve ever raced a Supercar in, but the car was awesome, we never panicked despite all the strategy question marks, and Chaz did a huge job to drive away from the rest of the field.

“We always say it, but we are nothing without the team behind us, at track, those who don’t travel, thanks for everyones efforts. It’s so awesome to have both cars on the podium as well, we will definitely keep building on this as we head into Bathurst, it gives us a lot of confidence.

“Thank you to all our partners, the Mobil 1 Optus GR Supra was a lot of fun this weekend, bring on The Mountain.”

Ryan Wood

“I’ll tell you what, Jaxon and I just came third and our teammates won the thing! A pretty cool day for the whole team, I am lost for words which is unusual for me.”

“Jaxon did one of the best co-driver stints I have seen for a very long time, he proved why he should be on the Supercars grid full time, he made my job easy today and we were able to execute.

“Today was just such a cool day and to be able to do it alongside one of my best mates is unreal.

Jaxon Evans

“A really special day for the entire team, for us to have two cars on the podium and to celebrate my first Supercars podium is really exciting.

“I couldn’t be prouder of everyone’s effort today, including Rich who called the shots in pit lane, even though at the time I wasn’t a fan of some of them as it meant I had to stay out longer.

“I learnt so much this weekend and I’m just pumped to go to Bathurst and build on this momentum with the Mobil 1 Truck Assist Racing No. 2.”