Reynolds, Shirvington set for unique race in Sydney

David Reynolds will contest a sprint race of a different in the lead-up to the Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round, taking on sprinter turned Sunrise host Matt Shirvington.

Reynolds and Shirvington will go head-to-head over 30 metres on Friday morning, ahead of the first race of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship.

It marks a rare sprinting return for Shirvington, who held the Australian 100-metre national sprint title from 1998 to 2002, and is the third fastest Australian sprinter of all time.

Now a popular TV personality, currently co-hosting Seven’s morning breakfast show Sunrise, Shirvington will return to the track — albeit, a different one.

On Sunrise, Shirvington asked Reynolds: "When someone came to you and said, 'I need you to race Shirvo in a car when he's on foot over 30 metres’, is that the most random thing you've ever been asked?"

Reynolds replied: “Pretty much."

Shirvington believes the 2017 Bathurst winner will be up against it, given how difficult it is to start a Supercar.

"This is my theory, so I've broken it down. It's man versus machine, right? Because you've got a car, and I'm a man,” Shirvington said.

"But, at the very beginning, it's man versus man. Because at the end of the day, you’ve got to put this thing in gear. You've got to accelerate it.

"So we're both reacting at the same time, but you've got to get the car moving from a standing start."

Reynolds added: “The first 30 metres is probably the hardest thing... in starting a Supercar.

"Because it's heavy, it's got 600 horsepower, skinny tyres… the first 50, 100 metres, I'd have you know, no problem. It's just the first 30 metres.”

“Normally we sit at the start line. We wait for the red light to come on and then that disappears. We go."

Reynolds will commence his 2025 campaign at the Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round on February 21-23. Tickets for the Sydney 500 - Opening Round are available now.