Sandown champs do it again

Flawless driving from Championship leader Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell kept charging Holden Racing Team Commodores at bay in the first race of the Pirtek Enduro Cup, the Wilson Security Sandown 500.

While the race hasn't been won from ARMOR ALL Pole Position since 1996, Red Bull's Whincup and Dumbrell pulled it off today, with a 2.65sec lead over James Courtney/Greg Murphy and Garth Tander/Warren Luff.

"Obviously the car was unbelievably good, PD did a faultless performance, I just did the afternoon stint and brought it home," Championship leader Whincup said post-race.

While the year's biggest race, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is next on the calendar, Whincup didn't give it a thought in the closing stages of the 161-lap run around Sandown.

"This is not a warm up, the Sandown 500 is a standalone event. We're rapt, we'll go back and regroup, but the big one's up next so we'll put our best performance in then."

Dumbrell said starting from p1 this afternoon was handy.

"The car's pretty good, Jamie made it pretty easy for me starting from pole ... Great day, obviously really happy for the team. Nearly got Lowndesy on the podium but first and fourth is a great result."

The second Red Bull car was right behind the top three, but Lowndes couldn't shake Tander in the closing laps, allowing 'GT' his first podium finish at the Sandown 500. However, the fourth place finish was enough to get Lowndes up into second in the Championship, surpassing Mark Winterbottom and leading him by just six points.

Most co-drivers began the 161-lap this afternoon, though David Reynolds jumped in to mix things up and aim for track position, running the first stint.

It was drama for Andrew Jones in the Team BOC car, losing a door skin on the first lap, and it didn't get much better for the #8 car.

The first real casualty was the Norton Nissan of James Moffat/ Taz Douglas, when the fuel filler got stuck in the car.

A rolling wheel was caught just in time to save TEKNO from a penalty, and getting stuck in traffic in pit lane made it tough for the Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat Volvo pairing.

However, the most dramatic moment of the race came on lap 132 when Lee Holdsworth endured a high speed shunt, destroying the Erebus Merc shared with Craig Baird.

A safety car intervened and it was a sprint to the chequered flag.

Behind Lowndes/Richards in fourth was Wilson Security DJR young guns Scott Pye/Ash Walsh, Shane van Gisbergen/Jonathon Webb who dropped back from second, Chaz Mostert/Paul Morris, Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat, David Reynolds/Dean Canto and Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen.

Click here for full results.

A change at the pointy end of the Championship, Whincup now leading Lowndes with a 273 point margin.

Click here for full Championship points.

The next event, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, is the year's biggest with the V8 Supercars heading to Mount Panorama from October 9-12.