New year, new Supercars era.
In the biggest shake-up to the sport in decades, the championship is promised to go down to the wire as drivers face off for the first time finals series.
There will be no hiding for the 24-man grid from the first lap of the Sydney 500 on Friday to the last at the Adelaide Grand Final.
"The biggest thing this year is that you have to buy a ticket to the end of the year," Tickford driver Cam Waters told AAP.
"There'll be different parts of the year where you have to push or when you have to reserve.
"The aggression and the risk versus reward is going to keep going up."
Tickford teammate Thomas Randle is more plain in his assessment.
"No mistakes," Randle told AAP.
"You need to be completely on your game.
"You need to try to be quick at every round - I guess it sounds pretty obvious, right? But it's not that easy."
In the first major revamp since 2007, the NASCAR-inspired finals series will progressively whittle the grid down to four drivers.
With Supercars' existing TV rights deal with Fox Sports and the Seven Network expiring at the end of 2025, the overhaul is hoped to lead the category out of the wilderness and into a renaissance.
Consistency was key for Will Brown in securing a maiden crown last year.
Despite winning fewer races than his prodigious Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney, the 26-year-old amassed an unassailable points lead with one race to spare, pulling off a 40-year first by securing a podium finish in every round.
Brown will have to stave off Feeney again in his quest to go back-to-back but he won't be able to enjoy another safe buffer this year.
Points will reset between the final three rounds, meaning there will be no dead rubbers.
Waters looms as one of the genuine contenders to the Triple Eight powerhouse, alongside Walkinshaw Andretti United's Chaz Mostert.
The Tickford star will need to work on his race-day execution, finishing fourth in the standings behind Mostert despite claiming a championship-topping seven poles.
Waters has come agonisingly close to a maiden title, finishing second in the standings in 2020 and 2022.
"It is frustrating but I just use that to drive a bit more, the hunger to work harder, work out what we need to do differently," Waters said.
"We're (Tickford Racing) in a really good position for this year."
Randle added: "Hopefully, I'm in an elevator and it just keeps going up."
The first mountain to climb will be eight rounds of sprint races before an endurance series at The Bend in South Australia and the centrepiece Bathurst 1000.
Winners of the Sprint and Enduro Cup will be handed a spot in the finals, part of the ten drivers to qualify for the first elimination race on the Gold Coast.
Seven drivers will progress to Sandown before the final four in Adelaide.
Qualifying for the first of three races at Sydney Motorsport Park gets underway at 4.20pm on Friday, before the season-opening 100km sprint at 7.50pm (AEDT).
2025 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR:
SPRINT CUP
* February 21-23: Sydney 500, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW
* March 13-16: Melbourne Supersprint Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, VIC
* April 11-13: Taupo Super440, Taupo International Motorsport Park, NZ
* May 9-11: Tasmania Super440, Symmons Plains, TAS
* June 6-8: Perth Super440, Wanneroo Raceway, WA
* June 20-22: Darwin Triple Crown, Hidden Valley, NT
* July 11-13: Townsville 500, Reid Park, QLD
* August 8-10: Ipswich Super440, Queensland Raceway, QLD
ENDURO CUP
* September 12-14: The Bend 500, The Bend Motorsport Park, SA
* October 9-12: Bathurst 1000, Mount Panorama, NSW
FINALS
* October 24-26: Gold Coast 500, Surfers Paradise, QLD
* November 14-16: Sandown 500, Melbourne, VIC
* November 27-30: Adelaide Grand Final, Adelaide Street Circuit, SA.
