Heimgartner in position for BJR best

A comeback drive to fifth in the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 for Andre Heimgartner and Dale Wood now has the Kiwi in position to rewrite Brad Jones Racing record books.

Heimgartner and Wood stormed to fifth in the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro after starting 10th following a poor qualifying.

With Ford rivals Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters suffering Sandown shockers, Heimgartner moved from seventh to fifth in the championship standings.

Heading to the Repco Bathurst 1000, Heimgartner is 20 points ahead of Mostert and 130 ahead of Waters.

Should Heimgartner hold fifth or improve, it would deliver BJR’s best ever championship result, which has stood for 10 years.

Back in 2013, the first season of the Car of the Future era, Fabian Coulthard finished sixth overall. Nick Percat came close in 2020 and 2021, finishing seventh before moving to Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Heimgartner has been a model of consistency this season, scoring 14 top 10s, six podiums and a first pole for BJR at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“Interesting race, I was pleasantly surprised with our pace and we were able to chip away and the team did some great pit stops which was awesome as well,” Heimgartner said after Sandown.

It sets Heimgartner and Wood up for redemption at Mount Panorama, with their 2022 race lasting just five laps after Porsche Carrera Cup racer Wood was wiped out in an incident at The Chase.

Wood was at the wheel of the #8 Commodore when he was clipped into the wall during a clash that ended the hopes of Zane Goddard and Matt Campbell.

The 2013 Dunlop Series champion is still hunting his first Bathurst podium, with next month’s event his 16th Bathurst start.

"For me, it was one of the most different races I've ever done, in the way you have to drive the car and preserve the tyres,” Wood said.

"I felt like we had a really good car. To finish the day up in fifth and behind those two teams was a pretty bloody good result."