The grids for the 2023 Supercars Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 have been finalised following Blanchard Racing Team’s announcement on Tuesday confirming Tim Blanchard will partner Todd Hazelwood and Aaron Love will join Jake Kostecki.
A total of six New Zealanders will compete in both races, including the all-Kiwi Triple Eight Race Engineering entry of Shane van Gisbergen and co-driver Richie Stanaway. Their sister Red Bull Ampol Racing car will be driven by Broc Feeney and four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jamie Whincup.
Full-time driver Matt Payne will partner either Kevin Estre or Garth Tander. Estre is a World Endurance Championship Hypercar driver for Porsche Penske Motorsport but is yet to cut laps in the new Gen3 Mustang. Penrite Racing have confirmed Estre will race, however, they are waiting to see how he handles the car before finalising who he will compete alongside, whether it be Payne or teammate David Reynolds.
Andre Heimgartner rejoins forces with Dale Wood, who starts his 16th Bathurst 1000.
Fabian Coulthard will compete as co-driver for Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Nick Percat, and Jaxon Evans joins Jack Smith at Brad Jones Racing for the second consecutive year.
Championship leader Brodie Kostecki links with David Russell for their third consecutive Bathurst 1000 partnership. The duo have featured on the podium in 2021 and finished fourth in 2022. His Erebus Racing teammate Will Brown will once again compete with Jack Perkins.
The 25 full-time entries are joined by two wildcards at Sandown, with Zane Goddard and Craig Lowndes driving the #888 Triple Eight Camaro, and Love and Kostecki sharing a Blanchard Racing Team Mustang.
The grid will expand one further for the Bathurst 1000, being the Dick Johnson Racing wildcard of Simona de Silverstro and Kai Allen.
The 2023 Sandown 500 takes place on September 15-17, with the Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.
2023 Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 grid
| # | Primary Driver | Co-driver |
| 2 | Nick Percat | Fabian Coulthard |
| 25 | Chaz Mostert | Lee Holdsworth |
| 3 | Todd Hazelwood | Tim Blanchard |
| TBD | Aaron Love | Jake Kostecki |
| 4 | Jack Smith | Jaxon Evans |
| 8 | Andre Heimgartner | Dale Wood |
| 14 | Bryce Fullwood | Dean Fiore |
| 96 | Macauley Jones | Jordan Boys |
| 5 | James Courtney | Zak Best |
| 6 | Cam Waters | James Moffat |
| 55 | Thomas Randle | Garry Jacobsen |
| 56 | Declan Fraser | Tyler Everingham |
| 9 | Will Brown | Jack Perkins |
| 99 | Brodie Kostecki | David Russell |
| 11 | Anton De Pasquale | Tony D’Alberto |
| 17 | Will Davison | Alex Davison |
| 98 | Simona de Silvestro | Kai Allen |
| 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Michael Caruso |
| 20 | Scott Pye | Warren Luff |
| 19 | Matt Payne | Kevin Estre or Garth Tander |
| 26 | David Reynolds | Kevin Estre or Garth Tander |
| 23 | Tim Slade | Jonathon Webb |
| 31 | James Golding | Dylan O’Keefe |
| 34 | Jack Le Brocq | Jayden Ojeda |
| 35 | Cameron Hill | Jaylyn Robotham |
| 88 | Broc Feeney | Jamie Whincup |
| 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Richie Stanaway |
| 888 | Zane Goddard | Craig Lowndes |
Header Image: Supercars
