AN ENORMOUS range of experience and youth will take on Albert Park this weekend as a 30-car field lines up for the opening round of the 2026 Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia Championship in Melbourne.

It’s an appropriately strong, diverse and competitive grid to kick off the championship’s 21st season.

The field includes the two current one-make Porsche champions from both Carrera Cup and Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia, the reigning Carrera Cup Pro-Am class champion and the top three from both outright championships last season.

Meanwhile, nine rookies will make their maiden journey into Carrera Cup competition starting this weekend.

Headlining the field will be the ongoing battle between current champion Dylan O’Keeffe and two-time champion, Harri Jones.

O’Keeffe stole the #1 from Jones last year and their appearance together this year means it’s the first time since 2015 that the two most recent champions have been on the grid at the same time.

While O’Keeffe returns with 2025 Teams Champions GWR Australia / RAM Motorsport, Jones returns to McElrea Racing, the team with whom he won his 2022 championship.

The Queenslander will make his 100th Carrera Cup start in Race 1 this weekend, becoming just the 30th driver to do so in the 21 years of Carrera Cup Australia history.

The returning David Russell, who finished third last year and is a twice runner-up in the Carrera Cup Championship, ensures the top three from last year are all back to go into battle again.

Looking to add to the Pro title battle will be Aaron Love, who returns full-time to the championship this season following time in the Repco Supercars Championship. The West Aussie is a former series runner-up (to Jones in 2022) and is a likely contender again this year.

Carrera Cup’s newest race winner, Glen Wood, returns with backing from Famous Insurance this year while Sonic Motor Racing’s duo of Marcos Flack and Angelo Mouzouris also will throw their names into the contenders pool.

Another potential contender is Dean Fiore, who makes a Carrera Cup comeback this season having last raced in the category full-time in 2016. The West Aussie is a five-time race winner in Carrera Cup and finished runner-up to Craig Baird in the 2008 championship, with his return adding more experience to the pointy-end of the pack this weekend.

Marcus Amand’s return as a guest driver this weekend adds international spice to the front of the field, the Franco-Finnish driver a winner in his selected appearances in the 2025 season with TekworkX, while Dale Wood also returns as a guest contender this weekend.

V8 Ute racer Amar Sharma steps up into Carrera Cup this weekend for his debut in one-make Porsche racing.

At the other end of the scale, the top three drivers from the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia all step up to the Porsche ‘main game’ this year – led by champion, Jake Santalucia.

The young Victorian became the second youngest one-make champion in Aussie history last year and, after making his Carrera Cup debut at Adelaide’s season finale last November, will race full-time with Wall Racing in 2026.

Runner-up Ryan Casha comes to Carrera Cup with DNA Autosport, while Tom Bewley will represent Team Porsche New Zealand’s charge this year, having finished third in Sprint Challenge last year.

Other young-guns making their respective debuts this year include bothers Josh and Diesel Thomas, while former Toyota GR Cup Champion Max Geoghegan will make his Porsche debut with EMA Motorsport this season.

The Queenslander, who raced Super 2 last year, said he couldn’t wait to make his Porsche debut this weekend.

“I am really excited to be making this step across to Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, and to be running with EMA Motorsport.

“I have spent some time with the team recently testing, and it’s been great to get to know everyone and to spend time in the car, getting up to speed pretty quickly.

“I cannot wait to be out on track this week in Melbourne. It will be a case of learning with the team over the early races, but I feel like I have a really strong crew behind me, and so much experience with David [Russell] alongside me in the garage.”

The Tech Specialist Pro-Am class has seen an explosion of competition this year and for the first time in history will see two, three-time champions go head-to-head.

Defending class champion Rodney Jane returns for another campaign with his Bob Jane T-Marts Sonic Motor Racing team, having last year sealed his third class title in style in the Adelaide season finale’.

He’ll be up against fellow three-time champion Stephen Grove, while the top four finishers from last season – including runner-up Matt Belford and third-placed Matt Slavin – are all back for more this year.

Brett Boulton also returns aboard his wildly popular Lightning McQueen-livered entry from McElrea, Dean Cook is back and 'Mr 400' Marc Cini returns aboard his Hallmarc entry.

Sprint Challenge regular Andrew Georgiadis will make his debut this weekend, while Richard Macdonald also launches his Carrera Cup Career in style in Melbourne while Jacque Jarjo returns for his second season.

The 2026 Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia Championship launches into action this weekend with practice, qualifying and race one on Thursday, with races each evening on Friday and Saturday to conclude the round.

Qualifying and all three races will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo this weekend – check program guides for full broadcast details.