A capacity field totalling 32 cars is set to front the NTI Townsville 500 for Round 3 of the Dunlop Super2 and Super3 Series next week.

The split is the 17 regular Super2 class entries plus a healthy, 15-strong contingent of vehicles from the third tier, matching track density of 32 Supercars.

While 17 Super3 cars were entered for Round 1 of the season in Sydney, the 15 on the list for Townsville would be its largest grid since 2019, should they all turn up.

Back then, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the third tier ran as an independent competition, with the likes of Broc Feeney, Zak Best, and Jayden Ojeda fighting for the title which the former would ultimately win.

The size of the grid for next week’s long-haul trip to Townsville shows sustained interest in the series, after border restrictions put paid to what was shaping as a capacity field in North Queensland last year also.

There has been a change in the Super2 ranks, however, with Eggleston Motorsport’s Matt McLean out for Round 3 due to a budget shortfall, according to Supercars’ official website.

Taking his place in the #54 VF Commodore will be Tim Blanchard, who also contested two rounds with the Melbourne-based squad last year in order to keep himself sharp for his co-driver role alongside Tim Slade in his own CoolDrive Racing entry at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

Eggleston will be running five cars in total, given David Murphy has returned to the Super3 class with his FG Falcon.

He and Blanchard join Cameron Crick in Super2, plus series leader Kai Allen and Steven Page in Super3, with McLean set to be back in the driver’s seat for Round 4 at Sandown in August.

Another addition to the Super3 ranks is Layton Barker, in an ex-Tasman Motorsport VE Commodore which Greg Murphy and Jason Richards drove to second position in the 2008 Bathurst 1000.

Barker debuted in the series at Bathurst in 2020, and was to have returned at Townsville a year ago before he was among those whose plans were upended by border restrictions.

Also of note is the ongoing presence of Shane Beikoff in the field, meaning an AU Falcon will race on the Reid Park Street Circuit for the first time.

Townsville joined the Supercars calendar in 2009, by which time the Development Series, as Super2 was known at the time, was already the domain of BA and BF Falcons, and VZ and VE Commodores.

Grove Racing’s Matt Payne leads the Super2 Series by an 84-point margin over Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Declan Fraser, while Allen’s margin in the Super3 standings is 72 points, with Anderson Motorsport’s Brad Vaughan and Mr HDT’s Blake Fardell tied for second.

Super2/Super3 action commences next Friday with a pair of 40-minute practice sessions, from 08:25 and 12:05 local time/AEST.

Entry list: Round 3, Reid Park Street Circuit