Pirtek Enduro Cup: You've gotta earn it!

After last weekend's events at Sydney Motorsport Park, the attention of the V8 Supercars world has firmly turned to its Championship within a Championship, the PIRTEK Enduro Cup.

The three long distance races - the Wilson Security Sandown 500, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 - all combine to find the best two driver combination to be crowned PIRTEK Enduro Cup Champions.

Entering its second year, the PIRTEK Enduro Cup is expanding its footprint in 2014 with the tagline 'You've Gotta Earn It'. It embodies everything the longest races in V8 Supercars are about - Agility, Endurance and Teamwork - all combining to last the distance.

The replica of the perpetual PIRTEK Enduro Cup that the winning team gets to keep has started construction in the Sunshine Coast workshop of renowned Australian automotive sculptor James Corbett and when complete will have over 400 pieces direct from the PIRTEK product range included in its construction.

In the leadup to the first event at Sandown, PIRTEK has engaged two of its ambassadors - former Rugby League internationals, Nathan Hindmarsh and Gorden Tallis, in a series of videos with 2013 PIRTEK Enduro Cup Champion, Craig Lowndes - under the 'You've Gotta Earn It' tagline, the first of which is being released today.

In this week's video, Craig Lowndes is caught by Hindmarsh affixing his and new co-driver, Steven Richards names to the PIRTEK Enduro Cup for 2014, before being told in no uncertain terms that 'You've Gotta Earn It'.

There's no better way to take in the V8 Supercars action than getting up close and personal with the stars of the show at the track.

All three PIRTEK Enduro Cup events have a range of ticket options. Tickets for the first event, the Wilson Security Sandown 500 start from just $28 - tickets for all events are available now.

The three events that make-up the PIRTEK Enduro Cup are set to play a pivotal role in crowning the overall 2014 V8 Supercars Champion, with defending Sandown 500 winner, Jamie Whincup heading the points after a tumultuous Sydney Motorsport Park 400 event.

Red Bull Racing Australia's five-times V8 Supercars Champion leads the Championship by 135 points after taking advantage of a tough weekend for his closest rival, 2013 Bathurst 1000 Champion, Mark Winterbottom.

Winterbottom retains second in the points standings, however has defending PIRTEK Enduro Cup Champion, Craig Lowndes 78 points behind him.

By virtue of his double victory on Saturday, Shane van Gisbergen has come into Championship calculation, sitting 247 behind Whincup.

The PIRTEK Enduro Cup is treated by many teams and drivers that are out of the hunt for the overall Championship as an opportunity to bring some silverware home for their team's efforts throughout the season and there are many that have their eyes on the trophy.

The pointscores in the PIRTEK Enduro Cup races are weighted differently to a Supersprint or Superstreet event, with Sandown and Bathurst awarding 300 points for the main race victory.

The winner scores 24 points more than the second place-getter with second scoring 18 more than third and the points filtering down from there.

On the Gold Coast, each of the 300 kilometre street fights will carry 150 points for the winner.

No Championship points are apportioned to the qualifying races at Sandown. These frantic 20 lap Saturday races will establish the grid for Qualifying Race 2 and the Sandown 500 respectively based on finishing order.

The PIRTEK Enduro Cup Champion will be crowned following Sunday's race at the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600.