Home of the Triple Crown

At Hidden Valley Raceway, every race counts.

The Darwin Triple Crown is the trophy awarded to the Supercars driver who performs best across the Darwin race weekend. First introduced in 2006, the Crown has become one of the most elusive prizes in Australian motorsport, with only a handful of drivers managing to claim it.

For years, the challenge was simple to understand but incredibly difficult to achieve: win every leg of the Darwin round. Today, the format rewards the driver who scores the most points across all three races, making consistency, speed, strategy and survival just as important as outright race wins.

In 2026, Cam Waters became the latest driver to claim the Darwin Triple Crown, taking the trophy for Tickford Racing after a race win and podium finishes across the weekend. Waters won the 2026 standings with 272 points, ahead of Matt Payne and Kai Allen, who tied on 254 points.

The quick explanation

To win the Darwin Triple Crown, a driver must score the most points across the three Supercars races at Hidden Valley Raceway.

Points are awarded based on each driver’s finishing position in every race. Drivers can also earn bonus points for setting the fastest lap in a race, provided they finish inside the top 15.

The driver with the highest total after the final race wins the Darwin Triple Crown.

That means a driver does not have to win all three races under the current format. Race wins help, but the Crown is now about the best overall weekend.

How the points work

The current Darwin Triple Crown format uses a points-based system across three races.

A driver can also earn 5 bonus points for setting the fastest lap in each race, provided they finish in the top 15. That means a perfect weekend can include up to 300 race-position points, plus up to 15 fastest-lap bonus points.

What matters most?

The longer Saturday and Sunday races carry more points than Friday’s opener, so a strong finish in the 200km races can make or break a Triple Crown campaign.

A driver can win on Friday and still lose the Crown if they have a poor Saturday or Sunday. Likewise, a driver who stays on the podium all weekend can beat rivals who win one race but drop points elsewhere.

That is exactly why the Darwin Triple Crown is so highly valued: it rewards the complete weekend.

Do you have to win all three races?

No — not under the current format.

From 2025, the Darwin Triple Crown moved into a revised points-based system. The driver with the most points accumulated from the three races wins the trophy, including eligible fastest-lap bonus points.

Winning all three races remains the ultimate statement, and Broc Feeney achieved that in 2025. But the current format allows the trophy to be won through consistent front-running results across the full weekend.

In 2026, Cam Waters won the Crown without winning every race. He finished on the podium in all three races, including victory in the opening race, and sealed the trophy by finishing third in the Sunday finale.

Why is it so hard to win?

The Darwin Triple Crown has a reputation for being one of the hardest trophies to claim in Supercars.

Hidden Valley Raceway is fast, physical and unforgiving. The long main straight creates big passing opportunities into Turn 1, while Darwin’s heat adds pressure on drivers, teams, tyres, brakes and strategy.

To win the Crown, a driver needs to put together a complete weekend:

• qualify well;

• race cleanly;

• protect tyres and car speed;

• avoid penalties and pit lane mistakes;

• finish strongly in all three races;

• and, where possible, grab fastest-lap bonus points.

One bad race can undo the work of an entire weekend.

A trophy with a rare history

Hidden Valley Raceway first joined the Supercars Championship calendar in 1998, but the Darwin Triple Crown was introduced in 2006. Since then, the format has changed multiple times, which is part of what makes the trophy’s history so unique.

For many years, no driver could claim it. Drivers came close, often winning two races across the weekend, but the full Triple Crown remained out of reach.

Scott McLaughlin finally broke through in 2019, winning under the two-race and Sunday pole format. Jamie Whincup followed in 2020, when the trophy was awarded based on weekend points. Broc Feeney became the third winner in 2025 after a dominant three-race sweep. Cam Waters joined the honour roll in 2026, becoming the fourth driver to win the Darwin Triple Crown.

Darwin Triple Crown winners

2026 Triple Crown snapshot

Cam Waters’ 2026 victory showed exactly how the current Triple Crown format works.

Waters did not need to win every race. Instead, he built his weekend around speed and consistency, taking a Friday race win, backing it up with another podium on Saturday, and finishing third in the Sunday finale to secure the trophy.

The final 2026 Triple Crown standings were:

Famous near misses

Part of the Triple Crown legend comes from the drivers who came close but fell short.

Before the trophy was introduced, several drivers won two of the three Darwin races but missed the sweep. Since 2006, that same challenge has continued to stop some of the sport’s biggest names.

Notable near misses include:

Those near misses helped build the Triple Crown’s reputation as one of the toughest honours in Supercars.

Why the Darwin Triple Crown matters

The Darwin Triple Crown is more than a race weekend trophy. It is part of Hidden Valley’s identity.

It sits alongside some of Supercars’ most recognised event trophies, including the Peter Brock Trophy, Jason Richards Trophy and Larry Perkins Trophy.

To win it, a driver has to master the Top End: the heat, the track, the pressure and the points.

That is why every Darwin race matters — and why the final laps on Sunday can decide who leaves Hidden Valley with one of Supercars’ rarest trophies.