Pre-Sandown success for star co-drivers

A number of drivers will arrive confident of their hopes at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 after an impressive weekend in Australia and overseas.

Next weekend’s Sandown round is the first enduro of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship, and the first two-driver race of the year.

Each car in the 27-car grid will have two drivers — the primary full-time driver, and a co-driver.

Tickford Racing, Penrite Racing, Shell V-Power Racing Team and Brad Jones Racing will welcome back drivers buoyed by successful weekends of their own.

Veteran co-driver James Moffat and Tony D’Alberto enjoyed strong weekend’s at Sandown, both winning races in their respective SpeedSeries categories.

Moffat, who returns with Cam Waters and Tickford, won all three TransAm races at Sandown in a field that also featured Super2 drivers Lochie Dalton, Nash Morris and Elly Morrow.

D’Alberto, co-driver for Anton De Pasquale in the #11 Shell V-Power Ford, also brought home two days of strong results in the TCR Australia Series.

The 2022 TCR champion, D’Alberto — who finished third in the 2017 Bathurst 1000 — won Saturday's race, and finished third in Sunday’s finale.

There were podiums aboard for two international stars who will be making their first and second Supercars appearances respectively.

Kevin Estre, who has been recruited by Penrite Racing alongside Matt Payne, secured a podium finish for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the Fuji 6 Hour.

The French driver, who only drove a Penrite Supercar for the first time at Winton last week, qualified third for the penultimate race of the 2023 World Endurance Championship.

Racing with Belgian Laurens Vanthoor and German Andre Lotterer, Estre finished third overall, with Toyota Gazoo Racing securing a one-two finish on home soil.

Jason Evans, meanwhile, is competing for Porsche in the Nürburgring Endurance Series at the famous Nordschleife circuit.

Evans, who will race with Jack Smith and BJR for a second season, jetted off to Germany shortly after testing the #4 SCT Logistics Camaro, also at Winton.

The New Zealander finished third in Pro-Am and 11th overall in Saturday’s first six-hour race, sharing the #25 entry with Hans Wehrmann and Joachim Thyssen.

The Evans/Wehrmann/Thyssen entry qualified fourth in Pro-Am and seventh overall for Sunday’s finale.

Supercars will hit the track at Sandown for practice on Friday. Tickets for the event are on sale now on Ticketek.com and Supercars.com.