Forget the main driver silly season, the co-driver market is beginning to ramp up as the final seats for the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship are being decided.
The first big signing of the co-driver silly season is Jaxon Evans, who replaces PremiAir Racing bound Jayden Ojeda in partnering fellow New Zealander Ryan Wood at Walkinshaw Andretti United.
“I’m really excited to be joining Walkinshaw Andretti United for next year, alongside Ryan in the #2 Toyota GR Supra,” said Evans.
“It’s going to be an exciting year that’s for sure.
“The priority for me in 2026 was to put myself in a position to win races, and the opportunity to partner with Woody and the team for The Bend and Bathurst was the perfect fit… it was a no-brainer, really.
“It’s a bit of a full circle moment as well, my first drive of a Supercar was with the team in 2018, there’s still a lot of familiar faces from that day that I know well, there are a lot of synergies with the team as well, so I won’t be walking in somewhere completely foreign which is nice.
“I’ve got two rounds to go this year, which I really want to finish strongly, but it’s awesome that a big piece of the puzzle is locked away for next year and beyond.”
Walkinshaw Andretti United has its co-drivers locked away in 2026 as Fabian Coulthard was also confirmed to continue with Chaz Mostert.
“We are thrilled to have Jaxon joining the Team alongside Ryan for the 2026 endurance season,” said WAU CEO Bruce Stewart.
“Pairing Jaxon and Woody brings together two talented young Kiwis who we know will be a really exciting combination both on and off the track.
“Jaxon’s success across multiple categories speaks for itself, he’s a talented driver who’s shown he can jump into anything and be competitive.
“We’ve followed his career closely, we’ve seen his ability up close, so we jumped at the opportunity to bring him into our family from next year… they will be a formidable combination.
“It means Jaxon joins Fabian to complete our enduro line-up. Fabian has done a fantastic job for us to date, and we have no doubts he and Chaz will be back with a vengeance next year, they’ve got unfinished business.”
In other co-driver news, Dale Wood and Penrite Racing have parted ways, while Tony D’Alberto is expected to be retained at Shell V-Power Racing Team to partner new recruit Rylan Gray.