Milestones and records for Penrite-backed Sandown

Grove Racing’s David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth have helped launch the upcoming Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint.

Sandown will host its 52nd Australian Touring Car Championship/Supercars round, extending its record for most events hosted by a circuit in the history of the championship.

Penrite will be the naming-rights sponsor of the event once again, in what will be a special event for the Penrite-backed Grove Racing.

Grove Racing’s Holdsworth will become just the 11th driver to make 500 championship race starts, the third driver in 2022 to reach the milestone after James Courtney and Will Davison.

“It’s going to be exciting; really cool to have my 500th race at a home event with my family and some friends there, and hopefully we have a bloody good result too,” said Holdsworth.

Championship leader Shane van Gisbergen could also enter the record books at Sandown. Should he claim another sweep at the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint, he will equal the record most wins in a row of eight held by Craig Lowndes from 1996.

The endurance co-drivers who will compete in the Repco Bathurst 1000 will also take to the track at Sandown.

Friday’s second practice session will be dedicated solely to co-drivers, giving the Bathurst entrants some much-needed track time ahead of their endurance duties at the Mount Panorama Circuit in October.

It will be the only co-driver dedicated session at an event before the Repco Bathurst 1000, with the likes of Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander, Fabian Coulthard and more cutting laps.

Holdsworth and Reynolds visited Lane88 Auto Museum for the Sandown event launch.

The Bathurst winners took in Australian motorsport history with team owner Stephen Grove at Lane88 Auto Museum, a small private collection of vehicles owned by John and Margaret Dymond.

The Dymond family has operated Penrite Oil since 1979, with John Dymond accumulating the Lane88 Auto Museum collection over many years, including a 1903 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, 1920 Ford Model T, 1967 Holden HR and 1983 Cheetah MK8.

The Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint takes place on August 19 to 21.