The title fight continues this weekend at Sandown Raceway for TekworkX Motorsport in Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup and TGRA GR Cup.

Sandown marks the fifth round of eight for Carrera Cup in 2024, and the beginning a tightly packed second half of the season.

David Russell moved up to third in the Championship following another pair of podiums at Sydney Motorsport Park. The Hire A Hubby Porsche has seen the podium five times so far this season, including two race wins in Taupō.

“Sandown’s the first of two big weekends coming up for me with double duty. I’m quite used to doing it at this point, I know what I’m in for. I enjoy it anyway, more track time is positive as I see it. It’s good to have those miles, even if there are a couple tight sessions time wise,” said Russell.

“The biggest reminder is that you’re sitting on the left in the Porsche and driving on the right in the Supercar, so you have to remember to make that adjustment every time.

“Sandown is made up of two very long straights and it means there’s limited passing opportunities. You’ve got to have plenty of kerb compliance in the car and it’s a bumpy circuit as well, so making sure you can get the power down and have the stability under brakes is equally important.

“Really looking forward to it, it’s our halfway point in the season and we’ve got a busy run to the finish, four rounds in just a couple of months.

“We definitely had some questions on different setup items in the car which we cycled through on a recent test day. It gives us a good direction not just for Sandown but to other tracks with Bathurst next and even how we view our setup for the street circuits.

“Every team and driver have a certain way, it’s a one-make category and there’s only a small number of items you can change. So, it’s all about suiting the car individually to the driver as well as the circuit,” concluded Russell.

In TGRA GR Cup it’s round three of five for 2024, and Bradi Owen leads the way in the points with a 100 percent podium strike rate from the first six races.

“Super excited to jump back in the 86 this weekend at Sandown, I really enjoy this track and it was my best round last year. We have had a bit of a gap in between rounds so I’ve been trying my best to stay focused and sharp,” said Owen.

“We had a pretty successful test day last week at the track where I feel we learnt a fair bit, and I’ve spent a fair bit of time with our engineer Luke back at the shop going through data and different things we can try at the round.

“Getting the kerbs right at Sandown is so crucial, from my side of things making sure I’m getting the most out of my driving and also my feedback to the team on what the car needs will be really important come race day,” concluded Owen.

The field’s youngest driver, Lincoln Taylor, will look to continue his impressive rookie season that saw a top 5 on debut and an impressive charge through the field last time out at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“My main focus at Sandown is to make some progress in our points battle with good consistent results,” said Taylor.

“I think Sandown will be fun for racing, but it will require a good exit to get a pass done. I think everyone will be quite equal so qualifying will be crucial for results.

“To prepare for Sandown I’ve been doing sim training, I’ve been at out at Norwell, and we had a good test day recently to get ready for the event,” concluded Taylor.

Zoe Woods returns to Toyota machinery after a busy period between TGRA rounds competing in GT4 Australia and taking consistent top 10 results in the category.

“Super excited to get back in the Toyota this weekend. Sandown is a very fun track, and it always produces really close racing which is what the series is all about as well,” said Woods.

“We had a great test day recently, and we were able to get a great starting point for our setup this weekend. It’ll be important that we can get across the kerbs well, as there’s a lot of time to be won or lost there.

“Hopefully we can have a clean weekend and really build on our strong rounds in the GT4 since our last Toyota race,” concluded Woods.

The categories will hit the track as part of the Sandown 500 from September 13-15.