The pit lane order for The Bend 500 is now set. Image: InSyde Media
The top four teams remained steady after the weekend’s racing at the Ipswich Super440.
However, a shock DNF for Matt Payne in Sunday’s race, coupled with a return to form for Will Brown, saw Grove Racing’s lead of 258 points over Triple Eight Race Engineering shrink to just 67.
A pair of double podiums helped Triple Eight further extend its margin over Tickford Racing in third, now out to 750 points.
Tickford extended its own gap over Walkinshaw TWG Racing after a tough weekend for Ryan Wood and a Sunday DNF for Chaz Mostert.
A lengthy battle for fifth spot in the teams’ championship continues, with Dick Johnson Racing returning to the top five and demoting Team 18 once more.
Brodie Kostecki led the charge with a podium finish in each race at Queensland Raceway, while rookie Rylan Gray had his strongest weekend to date with a pair of top 10s.
In stark contrast, Team 18’s Anton De Pasquale and David Reynolds struggled for outright speed all weekend, only finishing in the top 10 in two of the three races.
Sunday heroics from James Golding helped Blanchard Racing team leap from ninth to seventh in the standings, holding a narrow 10-point margin over Brad Jones Racing in eighth.
Matt Stone Racing drops to ninth, however Jack Le Brocq remains firmly in the hunt for the last spot in the Finals in a fierce battle with Golding.
PremiAir Racing and Erebus Motorsport retain their 10th and 11th spots in the standings respectively.
Supercars teams’ championship standings after Round 8 (Ipswich Super440)
Grove Racing – 3810
Triple Eight – 3743
Tickford Racing – 2993
Walkinshaw TWG Racing – 2723
Dick Johnson Racing – 2713 (up one)
Team 18 – 2680 (down one)
Blanchard Racing Team – 1959 (up two)
Brad Jones Racing (#8 & #14) – 1949 (down one)
Matt Stone Racing – 1870 (down one)
PremiAir Racing – 1713
Erebus Motorsport – 1209
Brad Jones Racing (#96) – 648
Objective Racing – 596