AFTER waiting 21 years for his first solo Repco Supercars Championship round start, Luke Youlden is set to chalk up his second within a week.
Kelly Grove Racing has confirmed that the 43-year-old will again substitute for David Reynolds in the team’s #26 Penrite Ford Mustang at this weekend’s BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint.
It will mark Youlden’s 50th Supercars Championship event start, having completed 48 as a co-driver between 2000 and 2019.
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Reynolds was sensationally benched following the first of four straight rounds at Sydney Motorsport Park after his vaccination exemption was knocked back by NSW Health.
Ruled out of the remaining Sydney events, the team has expressed hope that Reynolds will be eligible to return for the Repco Bathurst 1000, although is also scouting for a back-up driver in case one is required.
Gold Coast-based Youlden made the most of his unexpected sprint round opportunity last weekend, qualifying 11th in the two wet sessions on Sunday and scoring a best finish of 11th in the wet Sunday night race.
“I’m stoked to be back driving the car again this weekend” said Youlden.
“I’m looking forward to building on the experience from last weekend and taking it into the next round.
“We had some pretty good results in tricky circumstances. I hope to push on and get in the mix of that top 10.”
This weekend’s BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint will feature another trio of 125km races, one Saturday afternoon and two on Sunday.
