The Red Bull, Holden Triple Eight V8 Supercar pairing of Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell overcame a drive through penalty to win the Sandown 500 last Sunday, extending Whincup’s championship lead in the series.
Whincup came back from running as low as 25th in the 28 car field after Dumbrell was penalised for an accidental spinning of the wheels after the car was jacked up at a change of driver pit-stop, passing Red Bull Racing team-mate Craig Lowndes with 10 laps remaining in the 500-kilometre event to take victory.
Lowndes and co-driver Warren Luff finished second, with Ford’s Will Davison and Steve Owen third.
Betty K’s team Erebus Motorsport did very well with their AMG Mercedes, recording the best finish since joining the series at the start of the season, with Lee Holdsworth and Craig Baird fourth in their AMG finishing less than a second behind third place.
The most spectacular crash came on lap 34, when Ford driver Ash Walsh ploughed his car flush into the fence at more than 200km/h at the end of the back straight as he locked up a rear tyre. His Wilson Security Racing Falcon was destroyed, but Walsh walked away unhurt.
Whincup now leads Lowndes by 96 points in the V8 championship, with Davison third, a point behind Lowndes. The Sandown 500 is the lead up event to next month’s Bathurst 1000 scheduled between the 10th and 13th of October.