Triple Eight retains the pit exit garage for Hidden Valley and actually extended its teams’ championship lead over Grove Racing from 10 points after Christchurch to 68 heading to Darwin.
That was due to Grove Racing initially straying from its Ruapuna dominance at Symmons Plains, although it did recover impressively with a two-three for Matt Payne and Kai Allen in Sunday’s 200-kilometre race.
Walkinshaw TWG Racing retains third after a Tasmania weekend that included a first win in Toyota hardware for reigning champion Chaz Mostert.
Tickford Racing went without headline results at Symmons Plains but scored well enough to hold onto fourth in the order.
There was a change behind them, though, with Team 18 jumping Dick Johnson Racing for fifth place.
The General Motors homologation team put the pre-Symmons Camaro parity changes to good effect, David Reynolds scoring a second place in Saturday’s opener while Anton De Pasquale was inside the top six across all three races.
DJR’s weekend peaked with a third place for Brodie Kostecki in the first race before he finished last in the second after being hit by Reynolds at the hairpin. In Sunday’s race, early speed was kiboshed by a refuelling issue and handling problems, which left him 12th by the end.
Blanchard Racing Team held steady in seventh while BJR’s primary entries (#8 and #14) jumped Matt Stone Racing for eighth, helped immensely by Andre Heimgartner’s impressive victory in Saturday’s second race.
MSR is now ninth, the squad failing to fire at a circuit it traditionally excels at. Its woes included engine issues for Jack Le Brocq in Sunday’s race that left him last, 16 laps down.
PremiAir Racing and Erebus will continue to occupy the last two sets of garages at the Darwin Triple Crown, which takes place on June 19-21.
Supercars teams’ championship standings after Round 5 (Tasmania Super440)
1. Triple Eight – 2046
2. Grove Racing – 1978
3. Walkinshaw TWG Racing – 1609
4. Tickford Racing – 1520
5. Team 18 – 1445 (up one position)
6. Dick Johnson Racing – 1434 (down one)
7. Blanchard Racing Team – 1183
8. Brad Jones Racing (#8 & #14) – 1168 (up one)
9. Matt Stone Racing – 1146 (down one)
10. PremiAir Racing – 970
11. Erebus Motorsport – 648
12. Brad Jones Racing (#96) – 408
13. Objective Racing – 313
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