The 2026 Rubber Craft Australian Championship came to a close at The Bend Motorsport Park on 21–23 August, and by Sunday evening the SuperMini Challenge had two new champions. Brock Gilchrist takes the Cooper Class title, and Andrew Mills the Unlimited Class. Neither of them got there by dominating the final round.
Gilchrist finishes on 178 points, twelve clear of Josh Mills on 166, a Cooper Class title that came down to a last-lap pass in the final race of the season. In the Unlimited Class, Andrew Mills closes on 180 from Brayden Larkin on 107 and Gregg Chesterfield on 106.
Cooper: settled on the last lap
Josh Mills arrived in South Australia twenty points adrift and set about erasing it. He won the first three Cooper races of the weekend and took the class fastest lap in every one of them, and by the time the cars rolled out for the final race the gap was down to eight points.
That last race is the one they'll be talking about. Mills led, Gilchrist shadowed him, and on the final lap Gilchrist went down the inside into turn five and took the lead. Mills fought all the way to the flag and couldn't find a way back through. Gilchrist won it by 0.363 seconds, and took the fastest lap with it.
It was the only race all weekend Gilchrist finished ahead of Mills. The margins in the other three had been seven and a half seconds, seven and a half again, and eight tenths. This one came down to a single corner.
On the arithmetic Gilchrist needed only a third place to be certain of the title, but nobody races for third on the last lap of a season. Mills closed the deficit from twenty points to twelve and finishes the year runner-up on 166, with Trent Spencer third on 134.
Unlimited: the title won without a win
Andrew Mills did not win a race at The Bend. Second, third, third and third was the shape of his weekend, and it was more than enough, because the work had already been done across Morgan Park and Sydney Motorsport Park.
The outright pace belonged to others. Craig Lindsell won three of the four Open races and lifted himself from 22 points to 100 across a single weekend, finishing the championship fifth. James Campbell set the fastest lap of the weekend at 2:06.0769, claimed fastest lap in three of the four races, and won the finale, ending the year fourth on 104.
An interstate weekend
The round ran as part of an eighteen-car combined Mini field, with eight SuperMini Challenge entries racing alongside South Australian and Victorian competitors. It is a reminder of how far the category now reaches beyond its Queensland home.
Queensland is still live
The Australian Championship is done, but the season is not. Two rounds of the Rubber Craft Queensland State Championship remain: Queensland Raceway on 19–20 September, then Morgan Park on 6–8 November.
Gilchrist leads the Queensland Cooper Class on 293 from Josh Mills on 240. The Unlimited Class is tighter still. Gregg Chesterfield heads the table on 265, with Anthony Elliott and Brayden Larkin locked together on 190 and everything to sort out between them.
Congratulations to both champions, and to everyone who made the trip to The Bend.