Garth Tander and Warren Luff were victorious in a dramatic edition of the Sandown 500.
Final standings
1. Garth Tander/Warren Luff (143 laps)
2. Shane Van Gisbergen/Alexander Premat + 0:3485
3. Will Davidson/Jonathon Webb + 14.7574
4. Scott McLaughlin/David Wall +15.9156
5. Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen + 16.3113
6. Fabian Coulthard/Luke Youlden + 22.6739
7. Todd Kelly/Matt Campbell + 25.8458
8. Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards + 33.3303
9. Nick Percat/Cameron McConville + 36.1446
10. Rick Kelly/Russell Ingall + 37.5299
11. James Courtney/Jack Perkins + 38.3595
12. Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler + 43.0615
13. Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell + 43.0685
14. Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore + 48.7903
15. Scott Pye/Tony D’Alberto + 1 lap
16. Tim Slade/Ash Walsh + 1 lap
17. Chris Pither/Richie Stanaway + 1 lap
18. Dale Wood/David Russell + 1 lap
19. Andre Heimgartner/Aaren Russell + 1 lap
20. David Reynolds/Craig Baird + 2 laps
21. Tim Blanchard/Macauley Jones + 2 laps
22. Jason Bright/Andrew Jones + 2 laps
23. Shae Davies/Chris Van Der Drift + 2 laps
24. Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto + 5 laps
25. Cameron Waters/Jack Le Brocq – DNF
26. James Moffat/James Golding – DNF
The V8 Supercars have reached the endurance season and it all gets underway at the Sandown 500 as Jamie Whincup looks to extend his championship lead, with the weather expected to turn ugly. Join The Roar for live coverage of the race from 1:15pm (AEST).
Whincup, who has had a fantastic season to date leads the championship by 137 points over Red Bull teammate Shane Van Gisbergen with Craig Lowndes in third sitting 198 points back.
It has been a triple eight racing dominated season and last year’s champion Mark Winterbottom has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to trouble the leaders come the end, but there is no better time to start than here in the endurance races.
With Bathurst just around the corner, Sandown gets nowhere near the same amount of attention but it’s worth exactly the same amount of championship points and there is no questioning the importance of it.
After being strong all weekend, Jamie Whincup along with his partner Paul Dumbrell won the ‘race for the grid’ yesterday and will start from pole position for the first endurance race of the season, with Garth Tander and Warren Luff also coming off the front row.
Chaz Mostert is just one of the drivers who will incredibly disappointed with yesterday’s proceedings as he bogged down off the start line and dropped back to fifth, while Craig Lowndes will also start outside the top ten with his partner Steve Johnson.
Mark Winterbottom has dropped all the way down to 22nd position, while Cameron Waters came out the other side of a shocking start to the race and ended up in the mud, finishing a distant last where he will start the race today.
In saying that, don’t count any of the mentioned drivers out just yet.
With heavy rain expected, and a distance of 500 kilometres to cover, you can never be quite sure of how the race will play out. Winterbottom, Waters and Lowndes all have the speed and skills to cut their way through the field.
Prediction
It’s incredibly hard to go past Whincup and Dumbrell here. The Tander/Luff combination also look strong, and while you can never fully count out Craig Lowndes particularly if it rains he might be a little far down the grid. Also watch for Tim Slade and Ash Walsh coming from eighth as a dark horse option.
Whincup and Dumbrell to take out the Sandown 500.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the 2016 Sandown 500 from 1:15pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers Jawad! Can't wait for Bathurst.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Great job Scott! Enjoyed keeping up with the live blog whilst trackside, especially when taking shelter from the sporadic showers!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Scott Pryde
Expert
Full report and a championship standings update to come. Well, it's been an incredible race this afternoon so thanks for joining me for The Roar's live coverage of the 2016 Sandown 500 which was taken out by Garth Tander and Warren Luff. Hopefully you enjoyed the coverage. The Roar will be back in a couple of weeks with full and complete coverage of the Bathurst 1000 so be sure to join us then. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
FULL RESULTS 1. Garth Tander/Warren Luff (143 laps) 2. Shane Van Gisbergen/Alexander Premat + 0:3485 3. Will Davidson/Jonathon Webb + 14.7574 4. Scott McLaughlin/David Wall +15.9156 5. Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen + 16.3113 6. Fabian Coulthard/Luke Youlden + 22.6739 7. Todd Kelly/Matt Campbell + 25.8458 8. Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards + 33.3303 9. Nick Percat/Cameron McConville + 36.1446 10. Rick Kelly/Russell Ingall + 37.5299 11. James Courtney/Jack Perkins + 38.3595 12. Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler + 43.0615 13. Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell + 43.0685 14. Michael Caruso/Dean Fiore + 48.7903 15. Scott Pye/Tony D'Alberto + 1 lap 16. Tim Slade/Ash Walsh + 1 lap 17. Chris Pither/Richie Stanaway + 1 lap 18. Dale Wood/David Russell + 1 lap 19. Andre Heimgartner/Aaren Russell + 1 lap 20. David Reynolds/Craig Baird + 2 laps 21. Tim Blanchard/Macauley Jones + 2 laps 22. Jason Bright/Andrew Jones + 2 laps 23. Shae Davies/Chris Van Der Drift + 2 laps 24. Mark Winterbottom/Dean Canto + 5 laps 25. Cameron Waters/Jack Le Brocq - DNF 26. James Moffat/James Golding - DNF
Scott Pryde
Expert
143 laps in the end. Results to come shortly.
Scott Pryde
Expert
What an incredible race. Will Davidson holds on for third ahead of McLaughlin and then came Mostert in fifth. That race just had everything.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Van Gisbergen is throwing the car around here but still half a second behind Tander. He will have to gain during the back straight but not quite enough to have a crack through eight or nine. Now Van Gisbergen all over Tander and not at 11 or 12 either. Van Gisbergen doesn't quite get the exit out of the final corner and Tander wins! Tander holds on! Garth Tander and Warren Luff win the Sandown 500
Scott Pryde
Expert
FINAL LAP
Scott Pryde
Expert
The gap is under a second now and Davidson's car is not sounding good. McLaughlin now coming back to him for third maybe. .8 of a second.
Scott Pryde
Expert
There will be 2 LAPS to go. This one, and then one more after the clock goes to zero. Van Gisbergen goes past Reynolds and the gap isn't much more than a second.
Scott Pryde
Expert
1 minute to go Reynolds is now getting blue flags to Van Gisbergen as they throw the cars around. Under 2 seconds and this is going to come down to a final lap dash you feel. Davidson pulling away from Mclaughlin for third as well.
Scott Pryde
Expert
2 minutes to go Tander now holding 2 seconds to Van Gisbergen.
Scott Pryde
Expert
3 minutes to go Another second out during that lap, and meanwhile Davidson is still fighting with McLaughlin for third.
Scott Pryde
Expert
3 minutes to go. The gap is under 3 seconds. Tander is hanging on for life here with Reynolds still in between them which could help for the HRT driver.
Scott Pryde
Expert
4 minutes to go Van Gisbergen is just taking chunks of time out of Tander now. Kelly now with a mistake as the sun comes out and Coulthard is through for fifth.
Scott Pryde
Expert
5 minutes to go. Tander is only just holding off David Reynolds right at the moment and Van Gisbergen is flying! The gap is only 4 seconds. At the back end of the circuit, Kelly is only just holding off Reynolds.
Scott Pryde
Expert
6 minutes to go Coulthard with a big move at the end of the lap and then pulls the cross on Tander, but can't get around at 1.
Scott Pryde
Expert
136/161 Lead to under 6 seconds for Tander now. We could end up with a massive race to the line. 7 minutes to go.
Scott Pryde
Expert
135/161 Todd Kelly locked in a massive battle with Coulthard for sixth position at the moment.