MOTORSPORT: Feeney and Whincup win Sandown 500

The Red Bull Ampol Racing combination of Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup claimed victory in the traditional Bathurst 1000 curtain-raiser, with a hard-fought win in the return of the Penrite Sandown 500.

The success was set up by a strong opening leg by Whincup, while Feeney had to fend off the advances of Brodie Kostecki following a late safety car restart.

Feeney is now the youngest-ever winner in the event, while Whincup takes his Sandown 500 win tally to five.

For Feeney, the result sees the five-times winner in 2023 gain on Repco Supercars Championship leader Kostecki with only three events remaining.

“It was pretty special to win today, and under the circumstances at the end, it was very tough,” he said.

“My co-driver Jamie did a fantastic job to get us in the position up the front so we could get clean air, but the safety car got rid of that, and it was game on until the end.

“The circumstances at the end of the race with the safety car made it an exciting end to the race … Brodie has been fast all weekend, but to hang on makes it even more special.”

Kostecki and co-driver David Russell were strong throughout, registering their second podium finish as a combination, while third place went to Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway, who had to battle from 19th on the grid and overcome double-stacking in the pits during the race.

The podium place for the second of the Red Bull Ampol Chevys was only sealed late when Will Brown dropped wide through the esses at the end of the back straight.

The Brown/Jack Perkins Coca-Cola Chevrolet, which led the opening laps, had to settle for fourth, one spot ahead of Andre Heimgartner/Dale Wood (R&J Batteries Chevrolet), who blazed through from 15th on the grid.

It was yet another tough day for the Ford competitors, with the leading Mustang being the Penrite-backed machine of rookies Matt Payne and Frenchman Kevin Estre in sixth, with the latter particularly impressive on his Supercars debut.

They were followed home by the Shell V-Power Mustangs of Will Davison/Alex Davison, then Anton De Pasquale/Tony D’Alberto, with Tim Slade/Jonathon Webb (Nulon Chevrolet) ninth ahead of the wildcard Supercheap Auto Chevrolet of Craig Lowndes/Zane Goddard, who were in the mix throughout the event.

The reliability of the Gen3 Supercars platform proved to be better than expected, although a significant failure eliminated a pair of leading Fords, with Garth Tander losing a wheel off his Penrite Mustang through the esses, which subsequently smashed into the rear wing of James Moffat’s Monster Mustang.

It was also a race to forget for the Walkinshaw Andretti United Fords, which finished 22nd and 23rd, with Lee Holdsworth suffering damage early which slowed the car he shared with Chaz Mostert.

Away from Sandown, it was confirmed during the week that van Gisbergen has signed a development deal with Trackhouse Racing in North America, which will see the three-times Supercars champion take in multiple oval track series next year.

van Gisbergen will have a point to prove at the next round of the Supercars Championship, with the Repco Bathurst 1000 set for October 5-8.

Penrite Sandown 500 results:

Race – 161 laps

Championship points:

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