Thrifty Western Sydney Motorsport’s Cody Brewczynski has opened his 2026 Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series campaign in commanding fashion, converting pole position into victory in Race 1’s twilight race at Sydney Motorsport Park on Friday.
After securing the first Uniden Pole Position Award of the season, Brewczynski led all 11 laps aboard the #18 Mazda BT-50, finishing 3.7085sec clear of WeatherTech’s David Sieders (#1 Mazda BT-50), who also finished where he started the race.
In qualifying earlier in the day, Sieders was the quickest at first before Brewczynski unseated the reigning Series champion by 0.1479s to lock out the Race 1 front row.
Sieders stuttered at the race start, allowing Brewczynski to take control of the race through Turn 1. Sieders was forced to defend second from EFS Racing’s Cameron Crick (#7 EFS 4×4 Accessories Isuzu D-MAX), as the pair fought for position for much of the 20-minute session.
Rossi Johnson (#333 Shorebarge / Apogee Motorsport Holden Colorado) bided his time, with patience ultimately paying off when he finished fourth at a track that had given him trouble in the past. By Lap 2, Brewczynski had already extended his margin, using clean air to establish what would become a decisive buffer.
Team Motion Racing’s Adam Marjoram (#15) completed the top five, however, a 5-second post-race penalty for contact with Adrian Cottrell (#41 Team Forty One Holden Colorado) bumped the former Series champion back to sixth. Cottrell, meanwhile, was sent down the order from the contact. The resulting 5-second penalty to the #15 was enough to elevate Ruben Dan (#111 Brown Commercial Build Mazda BT-50), who impressed on debut, to fifth.
Dan led a six-strong field of rookies across the line in Race 1 after qualifying seventh, behind fellow rookie Jack Westbury (#29 Jack Westbury Racing Mitsubishi Triton), who qualified to start the race in third before what became an unfortunate turn of events.
Westbury excelled in both of the earlier practice and qualifying sessions until a blown head gasket after qualifying P3 ruled him out of Race 1. Westbury had previously led the full rookie cohort across the line in both of the day’s prior sessions.
Another Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series rookie and accomplished racer in his own right, Justin Ruggier (#88 Thrifty Western Sydney Motorsport Toyota HiLux), led the Toyota runners home in seventh. Aaron Borg (#4 Team Motion Racing Isuzu D-MAX) made up a number of positions on the road after starting 10th and swapping positions with Dan mid-race to finish eighth. Michael Sherwell (#55 Send It Energy Mitsubishi Triton) likewise climbed three places during the race to finish ninth.
Craig Woods (#64 Thrifty Western Sydney Motorsport Toyota HiLux) endured a high-speed sideways moment through Turn 1 following contact but managed to gather it up and continue, eventually recovering to finish 10th.
The race’s only retirement came on Lap 5 when Chris Formosa suffered a blown tyre on the main straight, sending the #49 Uniden Ford Ranger off into the grass, doing all he could to successfully avoid triggering a Safety Car.
Jordan Freestone (#21 Greyhound Finance Ford Ranger) was later handed a five-second penalty for track limits infringements and classified 14th.
Of the remaining rookies running in what was their first Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series race, Hudson James finished just outside the Top 10 in 11th in the EFS 4×4 Accessories Mazda BT-50 in what is an expanded effort for the EFS Racing team this year. Sean Evans (#33 Airbag Man Mitsubishi Triton) finished 13th, along with Apogee Motorsport’s Jonathon Hanbury (#16 Holden Colorado).p
Round 1 of the 2026 Tyrepower V8 SuperUte Series season continues on Saturday with Race 2 at 12.05pm and Race 3 at 2.30pm. Watch both races live on Fox Sports and Kayo.