A 31-car field is set to take in this weekend’s sixth round of Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at Sandown.
The one-make series will once again support the Supercars Championship and enters the weekend boasting five different round winners from the five events thus far in 2022.
Aaron Love claimed honours at The Bend last time out, the Sonic driver fifth in the standings after taking all three wins in South Australia, 183 points down on leader Harri Jones.
Love has chalked up six podiums from 11 races already this season, his campaign having been interrupted by cameo appearances in the Porsche Supercup at Silverstone and Paul Ricard which saw him miss Darwin.
Meanwhile, championship leader Jones has had a torrid run since Hidden Valley, failing to break into the top six in any of the last half-dozen races.
However, he still holds a 46-point advantage over Dylan O’Keeffe in the drivers’ standings, with David Wall only 10 points further back.
Jones is also leading the Michelin Junior Driver competition comfortably from Christian Pancione, who sits second.
The Morris Pro-Am competition is tightly contested, with Sam Shahin holding just an eight point advantage over Dean Cook, with Geoff Emery 16 points off the head of that competition.
Indeed, the top five in class are split by just 53 points, while Stephen Grove, who missed The Bend last time out as he campaigned in the 24 Hours of Spa, sits at 498 points, 105 off Shahin.
With cool conditions forecast in Melbourne this weekend, and the prospect of early rain on Saturday, the Carrera Cup field will be given an additional warm-up lap prior to the start of their three races to generate tyre temperature.
The weekend format otherwise remains unchanged, with two practice sessions opening the event on Friday.
A two-part qualifying session, affording separate sessions to the Pro and Pro-Am drivers, then follows on Saturday morning before Race 1 later in the day.
Sunday brings with it two further races, the second a 31-lapper (40-minute) versus the 18 lap affairs in Race 1 and 3.
Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Sandown Entry List:
# Name Surname Class Sponsor
4 Stephen Grove Pro-Am Grove Racing
5 Ryan Suhle Pro SP Tools / EBM
6 Angelo Mouzouris Pro Sonic / PitBox
7 Tim Miles Pro-Am Miles Advisory Partners / N2C
8 Nick McBride Pro Porsche Centre Melbourne
9 Marc Cini Pro-Am Hallmarc
11 Jackson Walls Pro Objective Racing
12 Harri Jones Pro Hastings Deering / Mackellar Group
13 Sam Shahin Pro-Am The Bend Motorsport Park
14 Matthew Belford Pro-Am ID Land / Porsche Centre Melbourne
17 Callum Hedge Pro Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM
20 Adrian Flack Pro-Am AGAS National
22 Dean Cook Pro-Am Zonzo Racing
25 Michael Almond Pro The PSA Group
27 Liam Talbot Pro-Am Wash It / Paynter Dixon
28 Bayley Hall Pro Hall Finance & Insurance
38 David Wall Pro Monochrome / Paynter Dixon
45 Duvashen Padayachee Pro Rentcorp Hyundai Forklifts
48 Geoff Emery Pro-Am Force Accessories / MJR
53 Luke Youlden Pro TekworkX Motorsport / Hire A Hubby
72 Max Vidau Pro TekworkX Motorsport / Tyrepower
74 David Russell Pro EMA Motorsport
76 Christian Pancione Pro VCM Performance / HP Tuners
77 Rodney Jane Pro-Am Sonic Motor Racing / Bob Jane T Marts
86 Drew Hall Pro-Am Wall Racing
88 Dylan O’Keeffe Pro Dexion / RAM Motorsport
100 Dale Wood Pro Timken Racing
222 Scott Taylor Pro-Am Scott Taylor Motorsport
333 Brad Shiels Pro Royal Purple Racing
777 Simon Fallon Pro Sonic / Bob Jane T Marts / Bremtech
999 Aaron Love Pro Sonic / Bob Jane T Marts