» Supercars: Whincup and Lowndes triumph at Sandown

Jamie Whincup and co-driver Craig Lowndes have won the Sandown 500 after the sister Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore of Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander tragically suffer a suspension failure whilst leading the race.

Van Gisbergen was on the cusp of victory when the failure forced him to surrender a certain win with twelve laps to go.

The start of the race was delayed while trackside barriers were repaired following a huge crash in an earlier Toyota 86 support race, and when the field formed the grid the majority of the co-drivers were set to start the 161-lap race.

By dint of his and Whincup’s respective victories in the Saturday sprint races, Lowndes had pole position from the Kelly Racing Nissan Altima of Bryce Fullwood. The three-time champion led on the run to the first corner, with Fullwood and Luke Youlden (Erebus Motorsport Holden) tucking in behind. A fast-starting Jake Kostecki rocketed his wildcard entry to fourth from eighth on the grid.

Missing from the pointy end of the grid was the #17 DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang off Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Prémat (who was driving the first stint). The entry was sent to the back of the grid as punishment for running a non-compliant engine during practice and qualifying for last month’s Bathurst 1000 – the offending engine was changed after qualifying and so there was no penalty to the winners’ race result.

Prémat made up early ground and climbed to 19th on the opening lap, while fellow back-row starter Garth Tander climbed to 16th.

The third lap saw Kostecki attempt a lunge pass on Youlden at Turn 9; the pair made contact and Youlden dropped down to tenth place as a result.

First to make one of their compulsory pit stops was Jack Perkins, with second-placed Fullwood – the latter dropped down to 18th place, however he was subsequently handed a 15-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Lap 25 saw Lowndes pit from the lead along with Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing), which handed the lead to Kostecki. Perkins’ early stop gave him the undercut, helping him leapfrog Randle’s Ford Mustang and slot in behind effective race-leader Lowndes.

Kostecki continued to be in the thick of the action, with the youngster again making contact with Youlden which pushed the Holden driver wide at Turn 3. Things didn’t improve for the youngster, who made contact with Chris Pither (GRM Holden) as he exited his pit bay.

Also in the wars was Youlden, who tipped and then T-boned Dale Wood along the back straight as the Kelly Racing Nissan driver was trying to overtake Richard Muscat’s GRM Holden. The #15 Wood / Kelly entry sustained heavy damage but would later rejoin the race following an extended repair stint in the pits.

After the Safety Car restart, Kostecki managed to pass Michael Caruso at Turn 4 but failed to give the Tickford Ford co-driver sufficient room at the exit of the corner. The pair touched wheels, with Caruso sent into the cement wall; the Monster Energy-sponsored car sustained considerable steering damage but was able to get back to the pits.

Incredibly Kostecki avoided any sanctions from the stewards for his role in these incidents, but he and cousin Brodie Kostecki would eventually fall down the field and finish sixteenth after an eventful race.

Meanwhile, Tander was putting in a great drive from the back of the field and had climbed to second place. He cut the gap to race-leader Lowndes to less than two seconds before inheriting the lead when the seven-time Bathurst winner pitted on Lap 56 to hand over to Whincup.

Tander stayed out for another 16 laps before pitting and swapping with van Gisbergen, leaving the New Zealander to claw his way back up to second place during his first stint in the car.

Teammates Whincup and van Gisbergen continued to run in close company and before their final pit stops they were nose-to-tail. Whincup pitted for the final time on Lap 134; van Gisbergen put the hammer down and when he made his pit stop three laps later he rejoined with an 8-second advantage.

The race was to be denied a fairytale story. The race was van Gisbergen’s for the taking until disaster struck when his right-rear damper failed. With the car’s bodywork threatening to shred his tyre, van Gisbergen was forced into the pits.

That handed the lead back to Whincup, who cruised to victory and wrapped up the Pirtek Enduro Cup title for he and co-driver Lowndes.

Chaz Mostert and co-driver James Moffat atoned for a difficult weekend by finishing their Tickford Racing Ford in second place, with the sister car of Lee Holdsworth and Thomas Randle rounding out the podium to claim the #5 Bottle-O sponsored car’s first top-three position of the season.

Finishing in ninth after a pit lane penalty was the McLaughlin / Prémat entry. Coming into the race with a 500-point lead over van Gisbergen, McLaughlin simply needed to be a classified finisher in order to wrap up back-to-back Drivers’ Championship titles.

2019 Australian Supercars Championship Penrite Oil Sandown 500 – Race 30 Final Classification (161 laps)
Pos	Driver / Co-Driver	Team	Result
1.	Jamie Whincup / Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Holden Racing	3:13:09.997
2.	Chaz Mostert / James Moffat	Supercheap Auto Racing	+ 20.631
3.	Lee Holdsworth / Thomas Randle	The Bottle-O Racing	+ 24.255
4.	Fabian Coulthard / Tony D’Alberto	Shell V-Power Racing Team	+ 28.935
5.	Scott Pye / Warren Luff	Mobil 1 Racing	+ 40.091
6.	Will Davison / Alex Davison	Milwaukee Racing	+ 41.341
7.	James Courtney / Jack Perkins	Mobil 1 Racing	+ 42.735
8.	Andre Heimgartner / Bryce Fullwood	Plus Fitness Racing	+ 45.141
9.	Scott McLaughlin / Alexandre Prémat	Shell V-Power Racing Team	+ 46.896
10.	Anton de Pasquale / Will Brown	Penrite Racing	+ 52.911
11.	Nick Percat / Tim Blanchard	7-Eleven Mobil Racing	1 lap behind
12.	Mark Winterbottom / Steven Richards	Irwin Racing	1 lap behind
13.	Tim Slade / Ashley Walsh	Freightliner Alliance Racing	1 lap behind
14.	Richie Stanaway / Chris Pither	Boost Mobile Racing	1 lap behind
15.	Simona de Silvestro / Alex Rullo	Team Harvey Norman	1 lap behind
16.	Brodie Kostecki / Jake Kostecki	Team Arcoweld Racing	1 lap behind
17.	Shane van Gisbergen / Garth Tander	Red Bull Holden Racing	2 laps behind
18.	Macauley Jones / Dean Canto	Team CoolDrive	2 laps behind
19.	Jack Le Brocq / Jonathon Webb	Truck Assist TEKNO Racing	2 laps behind
20.	Todd Hazelwood / Jack Smith	Bigmate Racing	13 laps behind
21.	Cameron Waters / Michael Caruso	Monster Energy Racing	16 laps behind
22.	Rick Kelly / Dale Wood	Castrol Racing	33 laps behind
	Not Classified	Team	Reason
DNF.	James Golding / Richard Muscat	Boost Mobile Racing	Transmission
DNF.	Garry Jacobson / Dean Fiore	RABBLE.club Racing	Brakes
DNF.	David Reynolds / Luke Youlden	Penrite Racing	Collision