The Circuit Excel Nationals is the biggest event on our racing calendar, bringing together the best drivers from across Australia to compete for the title of National Champion. For 2026, the event returned to South Australia, with 72 cars entered at The Bend Motorsport Park for an enormous weekend of grassroots motorsport. Unlike our regular state championship rounds, the Nationals features a unique qualifying and heat racing format, with competitors divided into groups before coming together for the all-important finals. With drivers travelling from all over the country, the competition was expected to be incredibly fierce. For Quinn Racing, it was our first opportunity to measure ourselves against Australia's best Circuit Excel competitors, and with the event taking place on our home circuit, we were determined to make the most of it. However, between some unexpected mechanical problems and rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, our opening two days were about to become far more eventful than we'd anticipated.
Friday's practice sessions were our first opportunity to get comfortable with the car, experiment with setup changes and establish a competitive baseline ahead of qualifying. Unfortunately, things didn't get off to the smoothest start. During one of our opening sessions, Cameron experienced the biggest spin of his racing career, flat-spotting all four tyres, bending two wheels on the kerbing and destroying the front-left brake duct after striking a cone. Not exactly the ideal introduction to Nationals! Thankfully, the car escaped without major damage, and we were able to continue testing. After making some adjustments to improve the car's balance, we were finally starting to find some promising pace. However, our progress was interrupted again when the Excel suddenly lost all electrical power while travelling through Turn 13, leaving Cameron stranded and requiring a tow back to the pits. The culprit turned out to be a loose spade connector on the rain light switch, which had shorted against the chassis and blown the ignition fuse. Thankfully, it was a relatively simple repair, and with the problem resolved, the team turned its attention towards preparing the car for the wet weather forecast for Saturday.
Saturday morning brought exactly the weather we'd been expecting: rain, and plenty of it. With 72 competitors entered, the Nationals qualifying format divided the field into two sessions, with the results combined to establish the starting groups for the heat races. Unfortunately, conditions were already proving incredibly challenging. Our session was interrupted almost immediately when fellow competitor Cooper Harris rolled his car during the opening lap, bringing out the red flag. Thankfully, Cooper was okay, but it was a stark reminder of just how treacherous the conditions had become. After the damaged car was recovered, qualifying resumed, although further incidents and deteriorating grip made finding a clean lap difficult. Despite everything, we managed to put together a competitive performance, qualifying 6th in our session. However, because the circuit had become progressively slower as the rain intensified, the earlier qualifying group had enjoyed considerably better conditions. Once both sessions were combined, our result placed us 14th overall, putting us into Heat Group B and giving us an eighth-place starting position for our first race. It wasn't quite the result we'd hoped for, but with several heats still to come, there was plenty of opportunity to improve our position.
By the time we lined up for our first heat race, the weather had deteriorated significantly. Heavy rain had saturated the circuit, leaving standing water across the track and enormous amounts of spray coming from the cars ahead. To make matters even more challenging, Circuit Excel doesn't have a dedicated wet-weather racing tyre. Instead, competitors use the same control Dunlop semi-slick tyres in both wet and dry conditions, making it particularly difficult to manage grip in heavy rain. As the race began, visibility became our biggest concern. The spray from the tightly packed field was rising above roof height, making it almost impossible to see the cars directly ahead. Inside the Excel, the mirrors and side windows had fogged up, leaving Cameron with virtually no visibility of the surrounding traffic. At times, we could hear the other cars more clearly than we could see them. Lily became absolutely critical over the radio, effectively acting as a spotter and providing constant updates about the cars around us. With drivers racing two and three wide through the spray, the priority quickly shifted away from gaining positions and towards simply surviving the race.
Unfortunately, the conditions eventually caught us out. While following the pack through the spray, Cameron hit standing water under braking and began aquaplaning, losing the ability to slow the car effectively. With almost no visibility and nowhere to go, we collided heavily with fellow competitor Aaron Oliver, striking the side of his car. The impact shattered Aaron's side window and caused significant damage to his door, while our Excel also suffered damage. It was our first major racing collision, and an incredibly confronting experience. Thankfully, both drivers were okay and both cars remained driveable, allowing us to continue towards the finish. However, the conditions were only getting worse. With the car now damaged, visibility deteriorating further and standing water making it increasingly difficult to predict the available grip, it became one of the most stressful races we'd experienced. At one point, Cameron was relying almost entirely on Lily's radio calls to understand what was happening around the car. We eventually made it to the chequered flag, but the relief of finishing was overshadowed by the collision and just how dangerous the conditions had become. It was undoubtedly one of the hardest races of our career so far, and one that left us questioning whether the conditions had been suitable for racing.
Our first two days at the 2026 Circuit Excel Nationals were certainly not what we'd expected. From Friday's spin and electrical failure to Saturday's interrupted qualifying and incredibly challenging wet-weather heat, the event had already delivered more drama than many entire race weekends.
Despite the setbacks, there were still some positives. The car had shown encouraging pace during practice, we'd qualified competitively in difficult conditions, and the work put into preparing the Excel was beginning to pay off.
However, the collision with Aaron Oliver was a difficult moment and an important reminder of just how quickly things can go wrong in motorsport, particularly when visibility and grip are severely compromised. We were incredibly fortunate that both drivers were okay.
A huge thank you to Excel Garage for their continued work keeping the car running, to Lily for her invaluable assistance over the radio, and to the marshals and officials who worked tirelessly in some truly miserable conditions to keep the event running.
With the first heat completed, there was still plenty of racing ahead, including the remaining heats and the all-important Nationals Final.
We'd survived the opening two days, but the biggest challenge of the weekend was still to come!
