What's back in 2023: Sandown 500

For the first time since 2018, Sandown will precede Bathurst in an endurance season.

For the first time since 2019, Sandown will host a 500km enduro race.

Both points are key to the return of the popular Sandown 500, which will be held on September 15-17.

For years, Sandown was the traditional curtain-raiser for the Bathurst 1000, but is a marquee event in its own right.

What’s happening?

Sandown was set to shift to a sprint round in 2020, with the 500 set to move to Tailem Bend.

The impact of COVID-19 saw Bathurst become the sole enduro in 2020, as it was in 2021 and 2022.

Sandown hosted sprint events in 2021 and 2022, and with the venue’s days seemingly numbered, calls grew louder to bring back the 500.

The Penrote Oil Sandown 500 was duly included in the 2023 calendar, and also returned to its traditional September date.

The benefits

The 2007 start

A September Sandown 500 is a major benefit for co-drivers, who now have a chance to bed themselves in before Bathurst.

The Bathurst 1000 was the sole enduro in 2020, 2021 and 2022, throwing co-drivers into the deep end.

The Great Race was also the first enduro in 2019 when the Pukekohe round was shifted from November to September.

Having a pre-Bathurst enduro — and back at Sandown — will help give co-drivers something of a soft landing.

Opportunities for co-drivers to drive their cars have been limited in recent years, so any track time is crucial.

Sandown will also present more of a form guide for Bathurst, given driver combinations will have had a chance to work together.

The key change

Between 2008 and 2019, the grid for the 500km race — be it at Phillip Island or Sandown — was set by qualifying races.

Points were on the line in the two ARMOR ALL Races for the Grid, with the Sunday feature worth 200 points.

The qualifying races changed over time — combined points would set the 500 grid; later, the second sprint’s finishing order would set the 500 grid.

The races often provided drama before the main event, such as Todd Hazelwood's scary 2017 crash, and the 2019 clash between Shane van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale.

Come 2023, and the quick-fire Saturday races will be replaced by a "more traditional qualifying format”.

The last ‘traditional’ qualifying format for the 500 was knockout qualifying, followed by a Top Ten Shootout, in 2007.

The Bathurst grid is set off a single qualifying session, followed by a Shootout.

The Sandown format — along with other race weekend formats — will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle on March 10-12.

Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.