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The season of endurance is among us and the curtain raising Sandown 500 has been completed, with the familiar faces of Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell winning their fourth as a partnership.
From that devastating performance by the reigning Supercars champion and the rest of his Triple Eight stablemates in the 500km classic, to all the fascinating elements of Retro Round – here are the talking points from the Sandown 500.
Triple Eight domination
There was no doubt that all three of the Triple Eight cars were going to be strong in the Enduro Cup, given that their entire driver lineup boasts some of the biggest talent in Supercars, but it wasn’t expected that they’d finish one-two-three at the Sandown 500.
Celebrating their 15th anniversary in Australian touring cars this weekend, Triple Eight were rewarded with a dominant display at the opening round of the Enduro Cup, with Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell delivering one of their vintage performances.
Dumbrell led away from the start, having bolted from second on the grid to continuously pile on the seconds between himself and DJR.
Team Penske’s Alex Prémat. Having been plagued by bad pit-stops in the past two editions of the 500, the Red Bull side of Triple Eight were flawless – ensuring Whincup would assume control of his #1 Commodore with no concerns.
Steven Richards in the Autobarn Commodore raced his way as high as second, from tenth on the grid before handing the car back to primary pilot Craig Lowndes. The runner’s up position almost looked assured for the veteran combination, until a late charge from Shane van Gisbergen relegated the six-time Bathurst 1000 winner to third.
Van Gisbergen himself had to see his car race up from eleventh on the grid, in the hands of the highly credentialed Earl Bamber – who in his maiden Supercars stint impressed many.
(AAP Image/David Mariuz)
McLaughlin/DJR Team Penske form slump continues
The domination by Triple Eight was further accentuated by how far behind title contender Scott McLaughlin was, during the Sandown 500, as the young Kiwi confesses that he was “hanging on for dear life,” during the race.
Finishing an eventual fourth, despite Prémat running in second during the opening stint of the race, McLaughlin brought the Shell V-Power Falcon home an entire 25-seconds behind Whincup – as well as being up to six-tenths slower on average lap time than the top three.
All weekend, McLaughlin had been vocal about a lack of straight-line speed in comparison to their Holden rivals and despite the work that had gone on inside DJR Team Penske – there was no answer to the Triple Eight juggernaut.
Sandown’s woes add to the forgettable weekend that the team endured at Tailem Bend, which continued to unravel at the current round, with the Supercars stewards having issued a suspended fine of $30,000 for that incorrect drop gear ratio on McLaughlin’s car.
55-points is what separates McLaughlin now from the championship leading van Gisbergen, as Bathurst looms as the pivotal race to put their title hopes back on track.
Melbourne weather
Friday and Sunday were examples of typical Spring weather at Sandown, however Saturday was an example of typical Melbourne weather, which threw a huge spanner into the works for the qualifying races.
Hail hit the first Race for Grid, which threw an almighty challenge towards the co-drivers, who typically treat the race like a start to a Black Friday sale. Though it was those who played the correct strategy cards, that benefitted going into the second race.
The DJR Team Penske cars both rocketed up the order, having decided to stay on slicks despite the horrendous conditions. Aaren Russell in Andre Heimgartner’s #7 Nissan took the top spot, whilst Alex Davison made up the most positions, in the Milwaukee Falcon – up fourteen places into sixth.
Red Bull brought both Dumbrell and Bamber in for wets, which dropped them down the order in the initial qualifying race, though as was seen in the second sprint and then the 500km race – both cars finished one-two.
Jamie Whincup with the Red Bull Holden Racing Team (Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Retro round
Now in its third year, the Retro Round at the Sandown 500 continues to be a success with all parties involved in the event, fully embracing the theme.
From the excellently presented throwback liveries, with the Shell Helix tribute on the DJR Team Penske cars to the Chickadee inspired colours for Erebus Motorsport, as well as merchandise and trackside activations such as broadcasting of old commercials and dress-up contests – Supercars’ Retro Round is more than just a gimmick.
Retro Round in Supercars is a great reminder of the category’s rich past, whether it’s the achievements of legendary drivers, or teams and team owners.
Seeing younger fans, who may not have witnessed the likes of Peter Brock race or see the first Monaro win at Bathurst, embrace the retro spirit – is encouraging to see that the history of the sport is in good hands.
Though with the future of Sandown under doubt beyond its current contract, will there be an event on the calendar that embraces Retro Round and if so, where would that be?
Star of the future?
Whilst it was hard not to get carried away by Bamber’s performance in his maiden Supercars race, the arguable rookie of the weekend was Erebus’ Will Brown, who is partnering a rookie too in Anton de Pasquale.
Despite the rookies in the #99 Erebus Commodore finishing twelfth in the race, Brown’s rise to fame across the Sandown 500 came first during the Friday co-driver’s practice session in which he was fastest overall.
Also, during the co-driver portion of the qualifying races on Saturday, the 20-year old was seen muscling his way around established co-drivers, showing confidence that De Pasquale himself has displayed throughout his freshman year.
Brown is a rising star in the Aussie motorsport ranks, having emphatically claimed both Australian Formula 4 and Toyota 86 Series titles back in 2016 – becoming only the fifth Aussie driver to have won multiple motorsport titles in a calendar year.
Rookie co-drivers usually use the Enduro Cup as a springboard to potentially make the leap from the feeder Super2 category to Supercars and with an impressive maiden outing, Brown is one to look out for in the series in the years to come.
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