Saturday, 7 November 2026

Scary fire leaves defending champion Aaron Cameron last, and 2nd overall, at the first race at Sandown

Credit: Supercars.

Aaron Cameron (#3 Liqui Moly/Blahst Ford) finished last for the 9th time. The finish came after a massive fire ended his race after 12 of the race’s 79 laps. The finish came in Cameron’s 68th start, and is the fourth this season. This last-place finish puts Aaron Cameron 2nd in the last-place championship, just behind Jackson Walls and ahead of Chaz Mostert.

The Blanchard Racing Team drafted Aaron Cameron to replace Aaron Love after the first round of the 2025 Supercars season. Winning the 2023 S5000 Australian and Tasman series and taking second in the Super 2 Championship shows his strong racing record. He was Aaron Love’s co-driver in 2024, where they finished 17th at Sandown and 23rd at Bathurst. Several last-place finishes marked his rookie campaign. Cameron finished last in Adelaide, crashing from contention nine laps into the race. This crash secured his last-place championship.

Since then, the Blanchard Racing Team has gained a technical alliance with Red Bull Racing.

The first race of 2026 saw Aaron Cameron finish on the podium.

Unfortunately, incidents have left Aaron Cameron without the results to back up his speed.

This trend has continued throughout the season, although rarer in frequency as the season progressed.

Kai Allen (#26 Penrite Ford) started the race last. A lot start would drop Rylan Grey (#38 Shell V-Power Ford) to last. Not long after, Cameron Hill (#14 Dare Toyota) slid to last.

Cameron Hill retained last until Lap 9 when a concertina at Turn 4 led to Macauley Jones (#96 JWL Toyota) dropping to last, behind his teammate Hill.

Jones would race in last for a few laps. Then, innocent contact between Jack LeBrocq (#4 Sherrin Rentals Chevrolet) and Aaron Cameron (#3 Blahst/Liqui Moly Ford) started a chain.

Aaron Cameron’s car started smoking. He reported a tire rub. It turned out to be far worse.

Jayden Ojeda (#31 Premiair Hire/Nulon Chevrolet) reported to his team that car #3 was on fire. Nulon racing ran to the Blanchard Racing Team’s garage to inform them that their car was on fire.

Not long after, Cameron’s car erupted in flames. Aaron Cameron pulled to the roadside between Turns 3 and 4, triggering the safety car. Cameron would quickly drop to last.

Several drivers would fall into the Bottom Five during the race, but would work their way ahead of 20th. This includes Jayden Ojeda (#31 Premiair Hire/Nulon Chevrolet), whom Cameron Hill spun on Lap 22. Ojeda would recover to 13th.

Ryan Wood (#2 Truck Assist/NTI Toyota), despite a penalty for spinning Jackson Walls (#11 Objective Ford) on Lap 29, finished 17th.

Even Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Ford), who had a left-rear puncture on Lap 32, finished 19th after penalties.

 The Bottom Five would look different.

Lap 39 saw Jackson Walls (#11 Objective Ford) lose control at Turn 7, hit the wall entering Turn 8, and get stuck in the sand. The crash triggered the second safety car of the race. Walls lost 2 laps in retrieval. Then, Walls pulled into the garage shortly after because of the damage from the crash. Walls would lose 7 laps to repairs.

Next was Kai Allen (#26 Penrite Ford). His race went south after Jobe Stewart (#9 PlumTrax Chevrolet) sent him across the grass between Turns 2 and 3. The incident damaged car #26. Allen pitted Lap 51 because of the damage, dropping 1 lap in repairs.

Allen would then pull into the garage on Lap 58 with brake duct damage. Allen lost an additional 3 laps in repairs.

The drivers that filled the final two positions collided on Lap 44. Will Brown (#888 Red Bull/Ampol Ford) and Cameron Hill (#14 Dare Totoyta), after the former served the latter into the fence at Turn 4. Stewards would penalise Will Brown 15 seconds for the hit.

Brown was back there because Lap 36 saw Brodie Kostecki (#17 Shell V-Power Ford) make a move on Will Brown (#888 Red Bull/Ampol Ford) at Turn 1. At turn 4, Brown tried to pass Kostecki back. They made contact, nearly sending Brodie into the fence while spinning Brown. While spinning, Brown nearly collected Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Ford) and Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Ford). Brown would plunge to 22nd.

 

On the other end of the field, James Golding, Aaron Cameron’s teammate, finished an impressive 5th. Cooper Murray finished an impressive 7th. Macauley Jones finished an incredible 9th. Zach Bates finished an awesome 10th. And Jarrod Hughes finished an incredible 12th.

 

Ther Bottom Five

Aaron Cameron

12 Laps

Fire

Jackson Walls

70 Laps

Running

Kai Allen

75 Laps

Running

Cameron Hill

79 Laps

Running

Will Brown

79 Laps

Running

 

Driver’s Championship

Pos

Driver

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Jackson Walls

4

10

16

2

Aaron Cameron

4

7

13

3

Chaz Mostert

4

4

4

4

Jobe Stewart

3

10

16

5

Cooper Murray

3

7

11

6

Ryan Wood

3

5

6

7T

Jack LeBrocq

2

3

4

7T

Brodie Kostecki

2

2

2

9

Macauley Jones

1

11

13

10

Kai Allen

1

4

5

11T

Cameron Hill

1

3

6

11T

David Reynolds

1

3

5

13

Andre Heimgartner

1

3

3

14

Matt Payne

1

2

3

15

James Golding

1

2

3

16

Baylan Hall

1

2

2

17T

Aaron Seton

1

1

3

17T

Zak Best

1

1

1

19

Fabian Coulthard

1

1

1

20

Declan Fraser

0

5

8

21

Rylan Gray

0

4

9

22

Zach Bates

0

3

8

23

Reuben Goodall

0

2

3

24T

Thomas Randle

0

1

3

24T

Ben Gomersal

0

1

2

24T

Broc Feeney

0

1

2

27T

Mark Winterbottom

0

1

1

27T

Richie Stanaway

0

1

1

27T

Nash Morris

0

1

1

27T

Anton De Pasquale

0

1

1

27T

Lee Holdsworth

0

1

1

27T

Jaxon Evans

0

1

1

33T

Jayden Oeda

0

0

3

33T

Will Brown

0

0

3

35T

Nick Percat

0

0

1

35T

James Courtney

0

0

1

35T

Jack Perkins

0

0

1

35T

Tony D'Alberto

0

0

1

 

Team’s Championship

Pos

Driver

#

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Overdrive/RBR Racing

2

4/2

12/2

17/2

2

Walkinshaw Andretti United

4

8/4

11/4

14/4

3

Blanchard Racing Team

4

6/4

10/4

18/4

4

Erebus Motorsports

4

5/4

15/4

24/4

5

Matt Stone Racing

6

3/6

10/6

16/6

6

Brad Jones Racing

6

2/6

11/6

19/6

7

Dick Johnson Racing

4

2/4

6/4

12/4

8

Grove Racing

4

2/4

6/4

6/4

9

Team 18 Racing

6

2/6

6/6

9/6

10

Premair Racing

4

0

7/4

11/4

11

Tickford Racing

7

0

6/7

8/7

12

Red Bull Racing

4

0

1/4

6/4

 

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos

Manufacturer

#

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Toyota

10

9/10

24/10

27/10

2

Chevrolet

20

12/20

38/20

63/20

3

Ford

25

13/25

39/25

53/25