Reynolds' huge gain in 2022 form turnaround

David Reynolds has banished the nightmares of 2021 to record the biggest championship jump year-on-year.

Reynolds heads to the season-ending VALO Adelaide 500 with a chance at finishing sixth overall.

The Penrite Racing driver closed to 137 points of Red Bull Ampol Racing rookie Broc Feeney, who crashed out of the Gold Coast finale.

Through 12 rounds, Reynolds has seven podiums and two poles - last year, he was 18th, and had one podium to his name.

Key to Reynolds' improvement is he has completed all 12 rounds; last year, he missed two of the four Sydney rounds.

Even then, Reynolds has still made a major gain - before he was sidelined, he was 14th overall.

He also failed to score in Bathurst after co-driver Matt Campbell was wiped out on lap 5.

The 2017 Bathurst winner returned to the podium at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 in the Saturday race.

It came after Reynolds sailed to a shock ARMOR ALL Pole Position, before he was overhauled by Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen is a staggering 452 points up on his 2021 efforts, having won a record 21 races.

Critically, van Gisbergen won this year's Great Race; last year, he benched a swag of points following a late puncture, and finished 18th.

A 150-point race in Sydney was also washed out last November.

The champion-elect is now in with a shout to break Mark Skaife's 2002 record for the biggest title-winning margin.

Moving up

Reynolds (up 11) and Andre Heimgartner (up seven) are by far the biggest movers in 2022.

Both drivers scored a single podium each in 2021, but have combined for 11 podiums this season.

Cam Waters finished fifth last season, and is now odds-on to finish second for the second time in three years.

The Tickford Racing driver has recorded as many wins as his 2021 season, but has scored five more podiums.

Anton De Pasquale, Brodie Kostecki, Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade and Macauley Jones are also set to improve on their 2021 positions.

Waters is set to finish second overall

Moving down

Nick Percat's first season with Walkinshaw Andretti United has yet to bear fruit.

Percat has missed out on the podium in 2022, and is 16th in the points - nine places lower than last season's placing.

The 2011 Bathurst winner is 299 points away from the top 10, and could finish as low as 21st.

Percat recorded finishes of 10th, ninth, seventh and seventh between 2018 and 2021 for Brad Jones Racing.

Todd Hazelwood and Will Brown are five and four spots worse off versus their 2021 campaigns.

Hazelwood's first season back with Matt Stone Racing began in and around the top 10, but its has been slim pickings since.

The 2017 Super2 champion's last top 10 race finish came in the Perth finale in May.

Brown, who impressed to eighth overall in his 2021 rookie season, has been undone by poor reliability and bad luck this season.

The Erebus Motorsport driver has one podium - at Sandown - to his name, and 12 top 10 finishes in 32 starts.

Teammate Brodie Kostecki is eighth, but only has two more top 10s than Brown, who has suffered three DNFs and a DNS.

Championship points standings after Round 12*

*Drivers who completed all 12 rounds