Driver logjam creating tense points fight

Shane van Gisbergen has skipped away to a big points lead, but it's all to play for behind him.

There are five rounds remaining, but just two of them are sprint rounds.

After Sandown and Pukekohe, drivers will shift to enduro mode with the 300-point Repco Bathurst 1000.

From there, drivers will race four times at Surfers Paradise and Adelaide, each each worth 150 points to the winner.

Cam Waters and Anton De Pasquale are two points apart, with Will Davison 66 points behind Waters.

Chaz Mostert is 197 points behind Davison, but just 77 points in front of Broc Feeney, who in turn is 83 points ahead of David Reynolds.

That's where it gets really tense, with Brodie Kostecki in eighth less than a round's worth of points ahead of 16th-placed Todd Hazelwood.

Driver ranked eight to 16 are covered by 283 points with a maximum 1530 points on offer this season.

Some drivers in the grouping will be desperate to finish higher as they look to secure seats in 2023.

Kostecki has already done so, with Erebus Motorsport retaining both incumbents for next season.

Kostecki jumped into eighth at the expense of Andre Heimgartner, who scored no points on the Sunday at The Bend.

Heimgartner crashed out of Race 22 and was hospitalised, forcing him out of Race 23.

Kostecki heads a tight grouping

His car has since been written off, with Heimgartner shifting into a spare car for Sandown.

Kostecki, meanwhile, put in an impressive drive to the podium after starting outside the top 10.

Heimgartner is just 17 points ahead of Tim Slade, with James Courtney riding high after a surprise Bend podium.

Slade is hanging onto 10th by his fingernails, with Courtney just two points behind in 11th.

Courtney is then just 62 points ahead of Mark Winterbottom, who is 45 points ahead of Lee Holdsworth.

Slade and Winterbottom are the only drivers in the top 13 without a podium to their name in 2022.

Slade is clinging onto the top 10

Holdsworth scored a shock podium from 15th on the grid at Albert Park in April.

The likes of Will Brown (14th) and Nick Percat (15th) have been hampered by inconsistency this season.

However, both drivers have turned a corner of late, Brown impressing with dual top 10s at The Bend last month.

Percat, meanwhile, is still battling with one-lap pace but scored a memorable top 10 just hours after he was taken out in the Race 22 crash.

Brown and Percat are 127 and 169 points from 10th-placed Slade respectively.

Can a new driver force his way into the top 10 at the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint?

The 2022 season will resume at Sandown on August 19-21. Purchase your tickets now.

The battle for a top 10 championship spot*

*Correct to 2022 OTR SuperSprint