Winterbottom wins Sandown 500, podium for SVG in 3rd

Autosport

Mark Winterbottom strengthened his V8 Supercars lead by winning the Sandown 500 alongside Steve Owen, heading Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters in another one-two for Prodrive Racing Australia’s Fords.

The first leg of the championship’s enduro triple-header had looked like it might be the scene of Jamie Whincup’s title bid resurgence.

The six-time champion had ended a five-month win drought with a victory at Sydney Motorsports Park last time out and then he and Triple Eight Holden co-driver Paul Dumbrell earned Sandown pole by winning their respective heats on Saturday.

But though they led much of the main event, a puncture dropped Whincup down the order and he could only recover to 15th.

That leaves him eighth in the standings, 629 points behind Winterbottom, heading into the Bathurst 1000 next month.

Winterbottom’s margin of victory was just seven tenths of a second, with Mostert keeping the pressure on him all the way to the final corner once they had taken charge of the race.

Shane van Gisbergen and Tekno team-mate Jonathon Webb battled Dumbrell and Whincup for the lead at first, but could not resist the Prodrive cars and had to settle for fending off a charging Garth Tander for the final podium spot.

The second Triple Eight Holden of title contender Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards started near the back having earned a penalty in the qualifying race when Lowndes tangled with Jack Perkins. They finished only 13th.

RESULTS – 161 LAPS:

PosDriverTeamCarGap
1M.Winterbottom, S.OwenProdriveFord3h19m48.9226s
2C.Mostert, C.WatersProdriveFord0.6596s
3S.Gisbergen, J.WebbTeknoHolden9.6575s
4G.Tander, W.LuffHRTHolden9.9271s
5D.Reynolds, D.CantoRod Nash/PRAFord11.1177s
6T.Slade, T.D’AlbertoSchwerkolt/HRTHolden13.1835s
7L.Holdsworth, S.BourdaisWalkinshaw/HRTHolden17.0116s
8T.Blanchard, K.ReindlerDumbrellHolden19.8766s
9J.Perkins, R.IngallHRTHolden20.7583s
10R.Kelly, D.RussellNissan MotorsportNissan21.9383s
11M.Caruso, D.FioreNissan MotorsportNissan25.4647s
12S.Pye, M.AmbroseDJR PenskeFord25.8817s
13C.Lowndes, S.RichardsTriple EightHolden26.3967s
14S.McLaughlin, A.PrematGRMVolvo26.9840s
15J.Whincup, P.DumbrellTriple EightHolden27.7882s
16F.Coulthard, L.YouldenBrad JonesHolden27.7977s
17A.Heimgartner, A.PedersenSuper Black/PRAFord28.5718s
18J.Moffat, T.DouglasNissan MotorsportNissan31.7533s
19A.Walsh, J.Le BrocqErebusMercedes36.7258s
20D.Wood, M.JonesBritek/BJRHolden40.0439s
21D.Wall, C.PitherGRMVolvo1 Lap
22J.Bright, A.JonesBrad JonesHolden1 Lap
23W.Davison, A.DavisonErebusMercedes7 Laps
24T.Kelly, A.BuncombeNissan MotorsportNissan14 Laps
N.Percat, O.GavinDumbrellHoldenRetirement

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

PosDriverPoints
1Mark Winterbottom2215
2Chaz Mostert2017
3David Reynolds1855
4Craig Lowndes1792
5Fabian Coulthard1694
6Garth Tander1634
7Shane van Gisbergen1620
8Jamie Whincup1586
9James Courtney1373
10Rick Kelly1301

Winterbottom wins Sandown 500, podium for SVG in 3rd

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