Fastrack to Full-Time: James Lodge’s Road to Supercars

Two years ago, we introduced you to James Lodge: a kid from Albert Park who turned a Facebook ad into a Fastrack Audition win, and a Fastrack Audition win into a career behind the wheel. Back then, he was pretty amped about his first season in the 86 GR Cup with Ashley Seward Motorsport, with eyes on a national championship.

Today, James is a Porsche Sprint Challenge graduate and the newest member of Tickford Racing’s driver development program, one of the most respected pathways in Australian Supercars. We caught up with James again for a chat to learn about the road from Audition to where he is now.

The turning point

“Winning the audition for the Fastrack shootout was a huge turning point in my career,” explains James. It landed right as his first GR Cup season began, and gave him something most young drivers can only dream of: seat time (and lots of it). “It provided me with the opportunity to further develop my skills on and off track throughout the year conducting hot laps.”

This is something the Fastack team is keenly aware of when it comes to hot laps driving. More than a side gig that sits apart from a racing career, it’s part of the training. Every lap is practice in the precision of nailing the same braking point and optimal apex over and over; it builds something James says has proven essential at every level since: consistency.

Building the ladder, one rung at a time

James is refreshingly clear-eyed about how his career has been built as a stack of deliberate steps. “Each step in my career so far has taught me valuable lessons and skills, and each category played a role in my driver development,” he explains.

The Excel Series taught him the fundamentals of racecraft. The GR Cup put him on a national stage and introduced him to iconic Australian circuits like Bathurst and the Gold Coast. And those fundamentals, he says, are exactly what prepared him for what came next. “The fundamental driving techniques you learn in the early years in a race car carry throughout every category and set the tone for the faster cars.”

It’s a philosophy that echoes what James told us in his original Fastrack interview; speed isn’t the thing to chase first. Consistency, decision-making, and racecraft are. Two years and two categories later, we think those sentiments have aged perfectly.

The big decision: GT or Supercars

Every driver on the pathway eventually hits a fork in the road, and James hit his last year. “We came to a point in our career where we were weighing up the GT or Supercars route,” he says. “Supercars gives us the best opportunity possible to make a professional career, so the decision was quite easy.”

His results in the 86 GR Cup and Porsche Sprint Challenge caught Tickford’s attention, leading to an evaluation day in a Super2 car last December, and ultimately, an invitation to join the team’s driver development program. It’s a genuine shot at the pathway every young Australian driver dreams about, and James knows exactly what it represents. “This ultimately has provided me with the chance to embark on the next step in my career, pursuing my dream of Supercars.”

Learning a new language: The Super2

Stepping into a Super2 car has meant learning an entirely new set of skills, particularly around the spool differential, a different beast to anything he’s driven before. “I’ve learned this year how unique the driving style required is in a car with a spool diff, so learning as much as I can will be pivotal for me this year,” James says.

His goals for the season are refreshingly grounded: show up, learn, and rack up as much experience as possible, with an eye on eventually racing in the Dunlop Series and, one day, the main game.

When we first spoke to James, his advice to aspiring drivers was about the audition process: follow instructions, stay consistent, don’t chase speed too early. Ask him now what he’d tell a young driver hoping to catch a Supercars team’s eye, and the message has matured, but the spirit is the same. “Never give up and don’t take no for an answer,” he says. “Don’t wait for opportunities to present themselves; work hard and become so valuable that passing on you is a mistake. From there the opportunities will come.”

Two categories, a Porsche program, and a Supercars development seat later, has the goal changed? Not really; if anything, it’s sharper than ever. “GR Cup and Porsche were a necessary step in my career, but ultimately my focus is and has been on Supercars and becoming a professional driver. I’m working hard and doing everything I can to achieve that goal.”

James was quick to credit the people behind the scenes too: his parents and family for their support, his manager Craig, and Tickford Racing for the opportunity to join the driver development program.

From a Facebook ad to a Fastrack Audition win, from the Excel Series to the GR Cup, from Porsches to a Tickford Super2 seat, James Lodge’s story is proof that the dream doesn’t stop once you’ve achieved the first version of it. It just gets bigger. We’re extremely proud of James, and we can’t wait to see where the next lap takes him.