REYNOLDS EYES TOWNSVILLE TROPHY

David Reynolds is hoping to turn strong recent pace into silverware when the Repco Supercars Championship heads to North Queensland for this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500. 

The #20 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro driver heads to the Reid Park Street Circuit determined to build on the speed shown in Darwin, where Reynolds charged from 16th to 10th in Sunday’s final race. 

With the opening half of the 2026 season coming to a close in Townsville, Reynolds believes qualifying will again prove crucial as Team 18 looks to put the Snowy River Racing Camaro towards the pointy end of the field. 

“At Darwin we had a fast car, we just started too far back,” said Reynolds. 

“So, hopefully we can find that speed again and put ourselves up the pointy end of the grid. 

“I believe if we’d qualified further up in Darwin, we would’ve been able to stay there. The race car was good, so qualifying is going to be really important for us this weekend.” 

The 2026 Townsville event will feature three races across the weekend, replacing the traditional two-race Townsville 500 format with a Friday sprint followed by 200km races on Saturday and Sunday. 

“There used to be the Townsville 500 with two 250-kilometre races, but now we do it over three races,” explained Reynolds. 

“We’ve got one race on Friday, then a 200-kilometre race on Saturday and another 200-kilometre race on Sunday. 

“It’s Soft tyres all weekend, we’ve got qualifying on Friday and then two Top Ten Shootouts, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. 

“It’s going to make qualifying really important and hopefully we can put ourselves in both Shootouts.” 

Reynolds is no stranger to success in Townsville, having claimed pole position at the Reid Park Street Circuit in 2025. 

The Team 18 driver topped last year’s Saturday Top Ten Shootout to claim his first Supercars pole since Newcastle in 2023, and is determined to go one better in 2026. 

“We got pole in Townsville last year but couldn’t back it up in the race,” said Reynolds. 

“So hopefully we can go one step further this weekend and bring home a trophy. 

“I love coming to Townsville. It’s one of the best tracks we go to and I’ve had a lot of success there in the past. 

“It’s half street circuit, half parklands, so overall you get the best of both worlds. 

“It’s very fast and rough and the tyres tend to rip themselves to shreds. It’s a really tough track and it’s really hard on tyre degradation, so managing the tyres is really tricky. 

“It’s a track where you can gain a lot of positions, or lose a lot of positions, so you’ve got to be smart throughout the race.” 

After claiming his first podium of the season in Tasmania and showing improved race pace in Darwin, Reynolds is focused on converting the #20 Snowy River Racing Camaro’s speed into a strong result in Townsville. 

“The speed is there and we’ve shown that over the last couple of rounds,” Reynolds added. 

“We just need to put the whole weekend together. Hopefully we can qualify up the front, race well and come away with a trophy.” 

The 2026 NTI Townsville 500 gets underway on Friday, with a 100km sprint race before two 200km races across Saturday and Sunday.