Just 90 points separate the top four drivers in this year’s Super2 championship, with the action set to heat up this weekend when the class races in support of the Bathurst 1000 on the famed Mount Panorama circuit.
A total of 26 entries will compete over two 18-lap races this weekend, with exactly half of those, including New Zealand’s Ryan Wood, having never driven the track in Supercar machinery. The grid will consist of 20 Super2 entries and 6 Super3.
Wood has, however, competed on the mountain before, racing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia at the Bathurst International last November. He was the runner-up in the opening race before winning the second and third to claim round honours.
Having taken Super2 round honours at Sandown, he sits only 75 points behind championship leader Zak Best, now third in the standings.
Wood is the top driver not running double duties over the weekend, with Best partnering James Courtney and second-placed Kai Allen joining Simona de Silvestro for the Bathurst 1000.
Jack Perkins, joining Will Brown at Erebus, and Aaron Love, partnering Jake Kostecki for the Blanchard Racing Team wildcard, are the other two Super2 drivers running in both series.
The new machinery in the series will see one of the fastest Dunlop Series rounds to ever take place at Bathurst, with Jack Le Brocq’s 2017 lap record of 2:05.3898 under real threat from cars that threatened to break the 2:04 barrier in last year’s Great Race.
The Dunlop Series take to the track for two practice sessions on Thursday before Race 1 qualifying at 10.55 am (NZ time) on Friday, with the green flag flying at 5.15 pm.
Super2 action for the weekend wraps up on Saturday, with Race 2 qualifying at 10:55 am and Race 2 at 5:55 pm.
Header Image Source: Ryan Wood Motorsport
