Lap by Lap: Wilson Security Sandown 500
The first endurance race of the year, the Wilson Security Sandown 500 is about to get underway. Will Davison/Steve Owen in the Pepsi Max FPR #6 Falcon start from pole, with Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell alongside. On the second row is the #888 Commodore and the #5 Falcon – so it will be a a true Ford versus Holden battle.
It looks like it's mostly co-drivers to start.
The #36 Norton Hornet of Caruso/Gaunt in pit lane, suffering from an issue.
Cars are on the warm up lap. Tony D'Alberto the only main series driver to be starting.
PD gets the jump on Steve Owen, as Steve Richards stall the #5 Falcon on the grid. Tumbled from p4 – unlucky bay to start after Tander couldn't get off the line there yesterday.
Richards straight in to pit lane, and McIntyre in #18. Richards rejoins in 27.
At the end of lap three – Dumbrell, Owen, Luff, Canto, Wood, Murphy, Thompson, Russell, Jones and Jack Perkins in the top 10.
L6 Loose bodywork on car 2.
L7 Gaunt in the #36 off the road.
"It's not ideal. We had a plan in place, you stall on the line and go back, you have to think on your feet... there are four compulsory stops, we've got one out of the way... You race at the front, do the same as most, that's how you win the race. We've had to backtrack, it might be kind to us, it might not." -Winterbottom. Richards, in his Falcon, is down in 27th. L8.
L9 Murphy passes Wood and into p5 in the #22 Commodore. Mechanical blag flag for HRT sister car #2. Will have to bring the car to pit lane.
L11 Percat in – they will now be racing Richards, who has also completed a compulsory stop.
L12 Pit lane penalty for Percat after speeding in pit lane. Garth Tander on the early stop: "No it wasn't ideal either. We had body work, D'Alberto crashed into the back of us at turn four, nothing surprising there. We had to pit ... We didn't start where we should've and that was my fault but the start of this one hasn't gone to plan either."
L16 and it's Dumbrell, Owen, Luff, Canto, Murphy, Wood, Thompson, Jones, Perkins, Ritter.
L18 Youlden is looking to take 11th off Russell in the Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan.
L19 Safety Car. Thompson first in pit – was already in pit lane. Car 1 in car 888 stacking.
Around 20 cars to pit. SP Tools car stacking at Erebus.
Safety Car due to Luke Youlden having knocked over a cone which exposes bolts on the outisde of the track?
Updated order on L21, still under Safety Car, Dumbrell, Richards, Owen, Canto, Wood, Murphy, Luff, Jones, Perkins, McIntyre. SC period helpful for #2.
Restart on L22.
L22 Pit lane penalty for Morris, speeding in pit lane.
L23 D'Alberto's car getting pushed into the garage. Looking at whether Percat spun the wheels during the pit stop in pit lane.
L24 Mechanical black flag for #22 as well for loose bodywork. Murphy has just completed the stop.
L25 Jone sdown inside of Luff, Luff way off the road. Luff dropped down to 10th.
Race control investigating incident between the two.
L28 and top five Dumbrell, Richards, Owen, Canto, Wood. Remember, Richards in the #5 Falcon, is on an alternate strategy after the early stop.
Another throttle issue for D'Alberto. Car parked in the garage.
The investigation between #8 and #888 will be carried out post-race.
L34 Three FPR cars battling hard in second, third, and fourth. Dumbrell is out to a 10-second lead.
L35 Safety Car – huge damage to the front of the #17 DJR Falcon. Huge impact into the barrier at turn nine. Teams wheeling out their tyres in pit lane. Dumbrell already in.
Both Pepsi Max cars are in to queue, with Owen having to wait behind Richards. As they had to put so much fuel into car 5, 6 had a long wait. Both now buried in the order.
Revised order is now Luff, Thompson, Baird, Youlden, Pither, Reindler, Dumbrell, Wood, Canto.
L38 We are still under Safety Car. Cross to Will Davison and he is very unhappy about the double stacking issue.
Walsh's car is coming back to pit lane now, not looking good.
L40 Restart. Luff still leads Thompson and Baird.
Dumbrell already up a spot on Reindler, up to sixth.
Pit lane penalty for #3 Reid, who came back out on lap 33. Car was more than two laps down after restar tand did not go into pit lane.
L42 Dumbrell no up the inside of Pither for fifth.
Key Championship players – #1 in fifth, #6 in 21st, #5 in 12th, #888 in first, #14 in fourth. L44.
Perkins pressuring Canto for eighth, but loses a position to Jones. L45.
L48 Johnson now in pit lane.
L50 – top five are Luff, Thompson, Dumbrell, Baird, Youlden. First Nissan in the order Reindler in seventh, first Ford Canto in ninth.
L51 Bad Sportsmanship flag for failing to give racing room, for Murphy car 22.
Main game drivers are suiting up and ready to get in. Co-drivers only to complete one third ofthe race, which is lap 54.
Baird will come in at the minimum – but some co-drivers will stay in the cars.
Both HRT drivers Tander and Courtney ready to get in the car.
L55 Dumbrell right on the back off Luff, in the first two positions. Thompson and Baird in the Mercedes' follow. But both are in.
L56 Youlden, Gaunt also in. Coulthard and Caruso in the car. Call for Luff to pit this lap.
L57 Luff in, Pither following. Brake pad change on the 888 car.
L58 Wood through on Reindler for second, behind Dumbrell.
L59 Reindler is in pits, Rick Kelly jumping in the #15 Nissan. Other main series drivers in the car are Lowndes, Coulthard, Slaed, Holdsworth, Caruso, Wall, Premat, Moffat.
Percat off the road at back straight, rejoins. Apparently something else involved, Percat over the radio.
L62 Premat and Todd Kelly coming together.
L63 more loose bodywork hanging off #22 and Canto way off the road, dropping several spots. Mechanical black flag for Murphy.
Dumbrell now leads by 15.5 secs.
L64 Murphy out, Courtney in, team ripping out the body work on the back of the car. A lap down.
L65 it's Dumbrell, Richards, Wood, Perkins, Jones, Canto, Bleekemolen, Briscoe, Owen, Halliday.
L66 Safety Car, debis on the circuit. Dumbrell already in pit lane. No driver change, just fuel. Nope – it is a driver change, seems some some confusion.
L67 Penalty expected for car 1 after spinning wheels in pit lane.
Briscoe leads the race in the Supercheap Auto car.
Incident under investigation, car 1 spinning wheels. Chatoic pit stop for Red Bull.
Restart L69 and Briscoe leads Owen, and McIntyre. Lowndes and Coulthard follow.
L70 Black flag drive through penalty for car 1.
L70 Owen passed Briscoe for the lead. Winterbottom/Richards car wil lbe in a good position when it pans out.
L72 McLaughlin locked up into turn nine, was lucky to get through.
L73 and order is Briscoe, Owen, Lowndes, Coulthard, Slade, Holdsworth, Winterbotttom, Johnson, McLaughlin, Mostert.
Whincup in 25. Broken front left suspension on Moffat's car and battery problem for car 2.
L76 Car 6 in and Will Davison getting in the car.
L78 Ingall in the Supercheap Auto car, Lowndes is now in the lead.
L80 Car 1 in again.
L81 Lowndes leads Coulthard, Slade, Holdsworth, Johnson. That's three Mercs in the top five.
L83 Pit lane Penalty, speeding in pit lane. Reynolds pitting and McLaughlin has been in .
L84 Coulthard pitting, leaves Slade in the lead, followed by Holdsworth and Tander.
L87 Pit stop for car 9, Engel in. Pad change for that car.
The two Mercs lead van Gisbergen, Premat, Rick Kelly, Wall, Tander, Todd Kelly, Webb, Caruso.
L90 Tander and Wall tangled. Brakes don't seem to be working and is in pit lane.
L92 Slade in pit lane waiting for fuel. 30 second process.
Car 2 in the garage.
L94 Holdsworth in the pits. Van Gisbergen to inherit the lead.
L96 Tander back out. van Gisbergen, Premat and Webb out the front, but Winterbottom in fourth is effecftively leading Lowndes and Reynolds for position in fourth.
Tim Blanchard spoke to v8supercars.com.au after co-driver Walsh's big accident earlier in the race:
“Obviously I’m pretty disappointed because on the long tyre stints we’ve been pretty quick all weekend. I was really looking forward to today because I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a really good solid result.
“It’s his first time in the enduros (for Walsh) so he is probably feeling the pressure a little bit. You know he’s very quick and he’s been one of the quickest out there every time he gets in the car.
“We just need to work on a few things and come Bathurst I’m sure we’ll be fine.
“I’m sure he’s very disappointed about what happened and I think he just went off line a little bit, it’s pretty dirty off line up there early in the race, so it just kind of caught him out.’
L96 SVG in the pits and rejoins in 16th.
L100 and one stop remaining for key runners. Engel in the garage.
L102 Big off for Reynolds, who was in the hunt in p3.
L103 the order is Winterbottom, Lowndes, McLaughlin, Whincup, Courtney, Coulthard, Will Davison, Reynolds, Bright.
L107 Lowndes gets by Winterbottom for the lead.
L109 Courtney and Davison battling hard for fifth.
L110 Reynolds in for fuel. Down in 23rd now. They will need to stop again.
L131 Bright slow on the back straight, flat rear tyre? Straight off nand into tyre bundles, but he gets out, so no Safety Car.
L114 Lowndes leads, and Whincup has just gotten Winterbottom for p2. McLaughlin fourth, Will Davison fifth.
L115 Bright's car in the garage.
L120 Lowndes into the pits, brake pad changes and green tyres. Will Davison just earlier put on green tyres.
Whincup and Winterbottom also in now.
L122 McLaughlin in for fuel.
L123 Holdsworth and Slade in the Mercs lead Todd Kelly, Lowndes, Caruso and Rick Kelly.
L124 Slade in the pits, also making a pad change.
L125 Rick Kelly in, Todd leading.
L127 Lowndes and Whincup get by Webb to lead this race.
L132 Webb fron third stops, and we'll see the final run home.
Lowndes, Whincup, Will Davison, Holdsworth, Courtney, Coulthard, McLaughlin, Winterbottom, Reynolds.
L135 Car 2 into the garage.
L138 Back out after a battery change.
Lowndes leading Whincup, Wil Davison, Holdsworth and Courtney. Ingall up the inside for 10th.
L141 Scott Pye in the garage.
L147 Lowndes continues to lead Whincup by 4sec. Will Davison, Holdsworth and Courtney.
L150 Lowndes slips wide and Whincup goes through. Ten laps to go.
L152 Frosty gets by Coulthard for sixth.
L154 A lot of oil on the back of Will's car.
L159 Whincup still leads Lowndes, Will Davison and Holdsworth.
FINAL LAP.
Whincup wins his second Sandown 500 ahead of the man he won his first with, Craig Lowndes. Will Davison, earlier pole sitter, on the podium.
Holdsworth in his Mercedes followed, with Courtney, Winterbottom, Coulthard, McLaughlin, Ingall and Alex Premat top 10.
Todd Kelly highest placed Nissan in 11th, Mostert 14th after an off-track excursion at the last corner, Reynolds 17, Tander 22.
Click here for full race results, with pairings.
