TekworkX Motorsport’s five drivers in Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup and the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series take on Sandown Raceway this weekend.

The team enjoyed a pair of test days last week in preparation for the round, which marks the start of the second half of the season for the Carrera Cup drivers and the penultimate round of the Toyota 86 season.

Max Vidau enters the round third in the Carrera Cup points standings after taking three wins across the season so far, once at the Australian Grand Prix and two in Townsville. In 2022, Vidau qualified third and finished on the podium in the opening race of the weekend at Sandown.

“The car speed has been there at every round so far, but realistically we’ve had a couple of average rounds and we’re a bit further back than we’d like,” said Vidau.

“There’s some catching up to do but we’ll go out and fight for as many race wins as we can, and then see where it pans out in four rounds time. We had awesome pace around Sandown last year, and it looks like that speed is still there based on the test we did. I’ve always been strong at Sandown as well, so I’m hoping to put on a bit of a show.

“If you’ve got a car that is strong leading on to the two straights, you can make the difference as a driver by ragging or over the kerbs for the rest of the lap. It drives a bit like a street circuit held together by a couple of drag strips. It looks like we’ve got a nice forecast for the weekend, but I’m sure it’ll start randomly raining at some point! We’re prepared for anything,” concluded Vidau.

Thomas Maxwell featured on the podium at his home round in Darwin earlier this year and returns this weekend to the venue where he spectacularly took pole position in Super2 as a rookie in 2022 – just the fourth driver in 16 years to do so. The Territorian also sports a new livery, with increased support from Spitwater.

“We’re all pumped and ready to go, I’ve got great history with Spitwater cars at Sandown and I’m stoked to have them on board,” said Maxwell.

“Sandown is definitely one of the more exciting tracks going around, it’s a fun track with how you need to attack it. The track rewards drivers who are strong on the brakes and it’s quite bumpy as well so it really throws you around. You need to be at ten tenths around there, but it can throw you off pretty easily as well, it’s exciting for sure.

“We need to remember we’re still only halfway through the season, and things can turn very quickly in this Championship. Qualifying is the real race on these weekends, if you miss it by just a whisker it hurts you pretty badly. We need to ensure we’re capitalising on the speed we’ve got. I’m keen to get some good momentum going on a run of tracks I’ve enjoyed and had success at in the past,” concluded Maxwell.

Carrera Cup Pro-Am Danny Stutterd returns to the venue where he made his debut with TekworkX Motorsport. In his first outing for the team, in 2022 in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, Stutterd overcame heavy rain to take victory in the first race of the weekend.

In Toyota 86, Zoe Woods will be boosted by experience gained around Sandown in the 2022 Australian Production Cars where she picked up a second-place finish in class at the Victorian Venue.

“I am really looking forward to Sandown, I have been lucky enough to race there last year and we got some good running in the test day as well,” said Woods.

“The test was a great confidence boost within myself for the track, knowing what the car can do. I’m excited as we should be up to speed from practice one and not be having to build up throughout the weekend. There’s definitely room for improvement but I’m up for it.

“Sandown is one of my favourite tracks, and it makes for some great racing,” concluded Woods.

Ryan Hadden competed at Sandown last year in the Toyota 86 Series, and comes off the back of a round at The Bend where he fought back strongly across the weekend.

“I gained some good consistency at the test day, being able to get across the kerbs the same way each time is a big part of the lap,” said Hadden.

“You need to make sure you’re hitting those kerbs properly otherwise you can do some damage over them. There’s plenty of room for overtakes at Sandown, you can get it done at most of the corners in these cars actually. We need to be targeting a good qualifying and trying to progress from there.

“We didn’t nail that at The Bend, but we did plenty of overtaking that round. I’m keen to get the weekend going and to see what we can do,” concluded Hadden.

The team hit the track at Sandown from September 15-17 as part of the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.