MOTORSPORT: Sandown starts the countdown

Crunch time has arrived in the V8 Supercars Championship.

By the time the next three co-driver endurance races are completed, beginning with this Sunday’s Sandown 500, just who is still in with a shot at the 2015 title should be a lot clearer.

As rivals like Red Bulls Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup have fallen off the pace of the barnstorming Pepsi-Max Falcon FG Xs of Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert, they have consoled themselves with the thought that Sandown and next month’s Bathurst 1000 can deliver a 300 point swing.

That is, if the Falcons don’t finish and you win then you reclaim 300 points that they have gradually built up over the 23 preceding single driver races.
Nice theory, but no points for the Fords is a pretty remote possibility given their reliability and pace.

The second part of that remit – the winning bit? Well, no-one but Triple Eight has won at Sandown in the three years since the 500 returned from Phillip Island – nor at the motorcycle GP circuit for the two years before that. In 2013 and 2014 Whincup and co-driver Paul Dumbrell have been in a class of their own.

T8 has also won the two iterations of the Pirtek Enduro Cup in 2013 and 2014, which is the championship within a championship that encompasses Sandown, Bathurst and the Gold Coast 600.

But given how the point score is going this year with Pepsi-Max on top of the drivers’ and teams point’s tables, a win for Winterbottom/Owen or Mostert/ Waters could simply be a sign of bigger things to come this year.

Remember, in 11 years racing full-time in V8 Supercars Winterbottom has yet to win the championship and in 12 years nor has Prodrive Racing Australia – or Ford Performance Racing as it was previously known.

Winterbottom did show some fragility for the first time this year in the last round at Sydney Motorsport Park, while Mostert charged on and narrowed the point’s gap between them to 174 points.

Whether it’s Winterbottom or Mostert who ends up on top in the team’s final year with Ford backing it would be a fitting way to end an era.

There are plenty of other sub texts running through this race too. Marcos Ambrose returns to the cockpit of the DJR Team Penske Falcon for the first time since the AGP - and to Sandown for the first time since 2005. This is being widely touted as a three-race farewell.

Ambrose insists he hasn’t made up his mind to retire and has declared he and Scotty Pye a big chance for podiums and even wins.

Meanwhile, over at Holden Racing Team, Russell Ingall has come out of retirement to replace the injured James Courtney in the Commodore VF that

Jack Perkins will co-drive. Jack is son of Larry of course, with whom Russell won Sandown in 1998… omens?

At carsales.com.au we have a stake in the race too, with Nissan’s Todd Kelly and his English co-driver Alex Buncombe debuting in our colours this weekend.

After his strongest start to the season in years, Kelly has slipped back into the pack in the last couple of rounds and is looking to rebound at Sandown, even though its long straights don’t help the Altimas out that much.

“The cars have always been good at Sandown through the little complex on to the back straight,” Kelly said. “That helps to keep cars behind you off you tail and to get a tow from the car in front.

“The second half of the straight has been our problem, but we have improve that year on year with less drag and tuning the engine up.

“This year will just be another step forward again. We have also find quite a bit from the test day which should be good for Sandown as well.”

>> The Wilson Security Sandown 500 on Sunday is race 24 of the championship. However, there will be two qualifying 60km races on Saturday, the first for co-drivers and the second for the regulars, to determine the grid.
>>All running is on hard Dunlop tyres, four pit stops in the race are compulsory and the co-driver must complete  a minimum 54 of the 161 laps.
>>A new taller ‘drop gear’ ratio will elevate top speeds on the back straight from 265kmh to 270kmh and stop the cars bouncing off the rev limiter on the back straight. That potentially means more passing over the rise, the hairiest section of the whole track.
>>There are four international (non Aussie or Kiwi) co-drivers in the race: Poms Oliver Gavin and Alex Buncombe and Frenchmen Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Premat (although Alex raced here full-time for GRM for two years).
>>A PRA protest against Lowndes biffing Winterbottom in the rain at Sydney Motorsport Park will be held this weekend. If found guilty a points penalty is likely, which could push Ford driver Reynolds into the top three on the table.
>> The 3.1km Sandown circuit is one of the most historic in Australian motorsport. In south-eastern suburban Melbourne, it rings a horse racing track and with its large grandstands and manicured grass banks, brings some civility to the spectating experience.
>>For engineers the track is a headache because of its rough surfaces and 90 degree bends. The Triple Eight Commodores have run exceedingly well here in recent years, exploiting their great traction and kerb-riding ability. By contrast, this is traditionally the worst venue on the calendar for Brad Jones Racing.
>>Long straights mean hard stops, so expect pad changes. Double stacking and delays in the narrow pitlane will also be a factor. Track position, as always, is king.
>>This is the first in a run of three races that Channel 10 will telecast live FTA as well as Foxsports on pay TV.