Tickets on sale for return of Penrite Oil Sandown 500
Ticket sales have now opened for the highly anticipated return of the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, the eighth round on the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship calendar and first ever endurance event of the Camaro vs Mustang Gen3 era.
After missing out on an event in 2020 due to COVID-19 and hosting sprint events in 2021 and 2022, the beloved enduro format returns to Sandown this year with a 161-lap, 500-kilometre contest.
This year’s edition will be the 49th enduro held at Sandown, and also sees the event reinstated to its traditional September slot as the precursor to the Repco Bathurst 1000.
Reigning Bathurst Champion Garth Tander, a two-time Sandown 500 winner, will make his Ford co-driving debut at this year’s Sandown 500 for Penrite Racing, after 25 years of competing in a Holden.
Richie Stanaway, a one-time winner at Sandown, will debut in a Red Bull Camaro at Sandown as co-driver for Champion Shane van Gisbergen, who in 2021 famously drove from 17th to victory at the historic circuit with a broken collarbone.
2021 Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert will reunite with Lee Holdsworth for one of Ford’s best hopes in a Walkinshaw Mustang. 2017 Sandown 500 winner Cam Waters and James Moffat, who have three Bathurst 1000 podium finishes from their past three races together will be other Blue Oval hopefuls for Tickford Racing.
First held as a six-hour touring car race in 1964, the event was held over different distances and time limits until the first 500-kilometre race was held in 1984.
After the 1984 event – won by none other than Peter Brock and Larry Perkins in their famous Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore – the 500-kays were here to stay, with the only exceptions coming in 2008-2011 and 2020-2022.
"We're thrilled to announce that tickets for the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 are now on sale," said Mark Pejic, Supercars’ Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer.
"Sandown provides a connection to the history of Australian motorsport like no other venue and bringing back the Sandown 500 has been extremely well-received among our fans, drivers, and teams.
"This year’s race will be one of the most exciting events of the year as the first enduro in the new Gen3 Supercars, and we can't wait to welcome fans back to Sandown Raceway for another unforgettable weekend of racing."
Penrite Oil has dramatically increased its involvement in Supercars over the last decade, including major partnerships with Erebus Motorsport and a Bathurst 1000 win in 2017, before shifting the Penrite Racing moniker to Grove Racing from 2021.
Headquartered in nearby Dandenong, Penrite became the naming rights partner of the most recent Sandown 500 in 2019 and will continue its association with the event from 2023.
“The Sandown 500 is an iconic part of Australian motorsport history, and Penrite is delighted to continue our relationship as naming rights partner of the event,” said Penrite Oil’s CEO, Toby Dymond.
“Like Penrite in the lubricants industry, Sandown is a historically significant part of Australian motorsport, and having such a storied and loved event in our home of southeast Melbourne, it makes for the perfect event for us to support and activate with.”
Tickets for the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 are now on sale and can be purchased via Ticketek.
The event takes place September 15-17 as the first endurance event of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship season.
The Supercars headliner will see support racing from the Dunlop Super2 and Dunlop Super3 Series, Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series, and Haltech V8 SuperUtes, ensuring a full slate of on-track action across the weekend at the famed Sandown Raceway.
