Sydney Motorsport Park has been the playground of the Repco Supercars Championship for the last three weeks, but this weekend it will mark the long-awaited return of Mount Gambier’s speedy teenage racers.

Young motorsport talents Jobe Stewart and Kai Allen will relaunch their Toyota 86 Series campaigns at the fast, sweeping circuit across three action packed races.

Allen has spent more than 100 days away from his Toyota and enters the round with a new team, but the same mindset.

However, Stewart has been forced to endure an even longer time on the sidelines.

The Erebus Academy driver has not raced since the Repco Bathurst 500 all the way back in February and is itching to unleash his frustrations onto the 3.93km circuit also known as Eastern Creek.

“It will be great to get back racing,” Stewart said.

“It has nine months since February, so it is just great to be back, no matter where it is.”

Despite the crazy amount of time spent away from the car due to race cancellations and border restrictions, Stewart has been able to keep his driving skills sharp in various other ways.

Recently he represented Erebus Motorsport in the Cash Convertors Supercars Eseries, while in the real world he has completed tests at Winton and The Bend Motorsport Park at Tailem Bend.

Stewart said these stints meant he still felt at one with the vehicle despite the long time away from the driver’s seat.

“I have not done too much driving, but just enough to keep my eye in,” he said.

“Every time I get into the car it feels natural which is good.”

Due to the current environment, Stewart had to sacrifice a lot simply to revive his racing career.

Himself and his father Marcus have already completed their 1300km journey to the New South Wales capital, while the youngster also had to reshape the busiest period of the school year.

“Today (last Friday) was my last day and I think there are still a few more weeks of school to go,” Stewart said.

“To race I had to push my final few tests and exams forward and finish my last assignments early which was tough, but you have got to do what you have got to do.”

This weekend Stewart is going where very few South Australian have gone recently and travelling into New South Wales to complete the round at Sydney Motorsport Park.

He and Marcus will stay up in a hotel before heading to Canberra to utilise Neal Bates’ workshop to prepare the car ahead of the big round.

The highlight of the big trip is the final round of the season at Mount Panorama, Bathurst – where the Toyota 86 series is part of a massive support card over the six-day motorsport event.

Keeping his mind on this weekend’s round at Sydney, Stewart is taking a step into the unknown having never raced at the venue and with hopes to replicate or better his 14th place finish in his most recent race.

“The only place I have ever raced at is Bathurst, so it will be interesting to go somewhere different,” he said.

“It has been pretty chaotic watching the V8 races at SMP on television and I have done a few laps in the simulator.

“You need to be careful in turn one because it is pretty fast and hairy, while you have to keep up your momentum and speed through the fast, sweeping corners.

“If I can stay in the top 10 all weekend that will be good.”

Although Allen was lucky enough to make a dream debut in the most recent round at Townsville, a lot as also happened in the lead up to this weekend.

In his first ever round in a racing car, where he also had to contend with a bout of food poisoning, the 16-year-old drove his way onto the podium.

However, just weeks before the return to racing at Sydney Motorsport Park, Allen found himself without a drive after TekworkX Motorsport asked for his commitment when matters were still up in the air.

Despite the scare, Allen has landed himself a drive thanks to the support of 2014 Bathurst 1000 winner Paul Morris and the team at Norwell Motorplex.

Allen said he was extremely grateful for their support and was eager to pick up where he left off.

“Now we have switched teams after some things happened and running a car with Paul and Norwell Motorplex,” he said.

“If it was not for them I would have been stuck, so a big thanks to Paul and the team at Norwell.

“Because of all the borders being shut I was not able to go down (to TechworkX and they) wanted to know if I could race and I said ‘I may not even get home for Christmas, so let’s wait and see’.

“But they needed to know by a date and I said ‘sorry I cannot’ so we went down our own path and only just got sorted two weeks ago.

“Being on our own will take a while to get used to, but I am really looking forward to the challenge because I will learn so much more.”

In addition to Morris, Allen will have some more impressive individuals alongside side him led by mechanic Kurt Kostecki, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Matt Stone Racing Supercars driver.

He is also backed by Boost Mobile thanks to the hard work of his manager Nathan Cayzer.

Like Stewart, Allen has never raced at Eastern Creek and will soak in as much as he can in the opening practice session being in a new car.

“I am really looking forward to racing again because it has been a long time since Townsville,” Allen said.

“I feel like my driving is a little bit better now and things went pretty well at Townsville, so the goal is always improve.”