The final year of the Repco Supercars Championship run to the Gen2 regulations is set up to be a blockbuster affair.
Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen is arguably the favourite having dominated last year’s drivers’ championship, and the bookies seem to think so too.
However, there’s a wave of in-form drivers creeping up behind who look likely to give him a run for his money.
In this week’s Pirtek Poll, we want to know who you think will win the 2022 drivers’ championship.
The front-runners
In his 30 races last season, van Gisbergen was only off the podium in seven of them, winning a career-best 14 races and eclipsing his previous best of eight in the 2016 title run.
Perhaps the biggest unknown heading into 2022 is team-mate Broc Feeney.
Publicly, Triple Eight Race Engineering hasn’t heaped pressure on Feeney to perform. There is, without question, an expectation to stay at the top of the pit lane, however.
To put a rookie in the shoes of Jamie Whincup suggests a belief that Feeney will be a contender for race wins in 2022. How often remains to be seen.
Feeney’s arrival comes at a time when there’s real momentum behind the likes of Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert.
De Pasquale hit his stride in Sydney, topping 22 of the 30 sessions across the four-part swing.
Regular comparisons have been drawn between him and his predecessor Scott McLaughlin.
There is an air of expectation that the 26-year-old will be a championship contender. With plenty of momentum behind him, this year looks his best bet for it.
The dark horses
A veteran of 15 seasons, the ultimate scalp has long alluded Will Davison. Might this year be his best chance to take the title?
A bit unlucky at times, the 2021 season was one of elation and frustration. A double pole position starter and regular race win contender, Davison never broke through for one reason or another.
With a year under his belt and now well accustomed to the Dick Johnson Racing way after more than a decade away, Davison has to match his team-mate De Pasquale and capitalise on the absence of Whincup.
He has another threat to worry about, though.
To call Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat dark horses may seem a little harsh to some, though there’s a feeling the team wouldn’t mind flying under the radar.
The team has made no bones about the fact they’d like to be teams’ championship winners this year. To do that, the pair will have to be regular race winners to overcome the aforementioned might of Triple Eight and Dick Johnson Racing.
Ask Mostert if he’s a title contender and he’ll swat the suggestion away and downplay the team’s chances, but deep down that’s the goal.
Team-mate Percat could be the surprise packet in that set-up. He comes to the team in probably the best form of his life.
Second-year surprises
Rookies no longer, Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki have put themselves firmly in the frame for wins this year.
Although Brown only won the single race in 2021, and Kostecki scored just the three podiums, Erebus Motorsport has reason to be optimistic heading into the new season.
After the turmoil of 2020, Erebus Motorsport has found itself in a far happier place, and that’s been reflected in the results of late.
With a year under their belt, a McLaughlin- or Mostert-like second season could be on the cards for the pair.
Without question, both should be pushing for a top five finish in the drivers’ championship.
Tickford’s time
And what of the former factory Ford squad?
Cameron Waters had his most successful season last year as far as wins go, but only wound up fifth behind van Gisbergen, Whincup, Mostert, and Davison.
The Sydney swing was a struggle for Waters, enduring a hanful of finishes outside the top 10 that ultimately hurt the tail end of his season.
Team-mate James Courtney was never really a contender in 2021, and if he wants to stay on the grid in 2023 without a big backer like Boost Mobile he’ll have to step up.
The 2010 Supercars champion was only 11th last year.
Who do you think will win the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship? Cast your vote in the Pirtek Poll below.
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