MOTORSPORT: Watch out for HRT

Triple Eight team owner Roland Dane has nominated the Holden Racing Team as a threat to his all-conquering Supercars squad during the Pirtek Enduro Cup, which commences with this weekend’s Wilson Security Sandown 500.

That’s the Walkinshaw Racing-run Holden Racing Team that surrenders the name to Triple Eight’s Red Bull squad at the end of this season, as well as losing its status -- and funding – as a Holden factory team, something Dane’s operation will lay sole claim to from 2017.

“I think they (HRT) are a real threat,” said Dane.

“I expect in endurance terms HRT to be strong. I am not sure if every team will be strong through all the endurance races but I think HRT will be.

“That will be partly through the quality of the drivers and also because they are normally a pretty good group strategically. They know what is going on.”

Not only has Dane comprehensively claimed victory over the Walkinshaw operation in the battle for Holden’s wallet, he also leads a three-car team into the opening round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup that has won the last seven races and sits 1-2-3 in the drivers’ championship courtesy of six-times champ Jamie Whincup, his frighteningly fast Red Bull teammate Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Lowndes, the veteran driver of the Team Vortex Holden Commodore VF who seems to be improving with age.

On top of that Triple Eight has won the Sandown 500 three times in the last four years. In 2015 Prodrive Racing Australia’s Mark Winterbottom won the race on his way to claiming the drivers’ championship. This year, the Ford Falcon FG X driver is fourth on the points and the only legitimate championship challenger for the T8 express.

But the three co-driver enduros – that also include the iconic Bathurst 1000 and the Gold Coast 600 -- are a mini-championship within themselves – granting those who have struggled through the sprint rounds a chance to shine before the season closes out with more single driver events.

HRT is at the top of the column when it comes to teams needing positive airtime.

It needs to put itself up in lights as it seeks a reconstructed future that will require new commercial backing and potentially, new drivers, as both James Courtney and Garn Tander are out of contract.

HRT has recalled strategy master Al McVean from the workshop for the three enduros after his tenure as Courtney’s race engineer ended earlier this year during a personnel reshuffle. The quietly spoken brainiac is widely respected along pitlane for his ability to divine the right call in complex situations.

This year there is more to consider than ever, with the Sandown enduro swapping to soft tyres for the first time and the compulsory pit stop count dropping for three. That’s on top of the usual challenges this race poses for set-up and the Spring Melbourne weather mixes up with bursts of sunshine, rain and wildly fluctuating temperatures.

The more complex the challenge the more likely T8 will star, as should PRA, which has consistently emerged as the Brisbane operation’s toughest opponents in recent years.

The rest apart from HRT? Well if recent rounds are any guide, they are little more than cannon fodder for the heavy end of pitlane.

At least they will look good while they suffer, as the retro round concept has been enthusiastically adopted by around half the 26-car grid. Paint schemes inspired by old touring cars, IndyCars and even NASCAR and speedway racers have been revealed.

That’s been one welcome initiative leading into the race at one of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship’s most famous venues at a time when it is also under threat from re-development in the next few years.

Another positive sign for the championship was Nissan’s renewal of its deal with the Kelly Family-owned Nissan Motorsport for two more years.

Twelve months on from when it started rolling out significantly improved V8 engines for its Altimas, this race will act as something of a litmus test for the four-car squad. Hopefully the carsales.com.au entry of Todd Kelly and rookie Matthew Campbell has a better run than last year, when the sponsorship deal was debuted with a 21st place finish.

Meanwhile here's what to look out for at Sandown this weekend:

>> The Wilson Security Sandown 500 is the 10th round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. It includes practice on Friday, 2 x 20-lap qualifying races for co-drivers and drivers on Saturday, from which the grid will be determined and a 500km endurance race on Sunday afternoon.

>> For the first time at the Sandown 500, all qualifying and racing will be conducted on the Dunlop soft tyre.

>> All cars will have to make at least three stops, one less than has been mandated since 2013. The co-drivers must complete one-third distance, or 54 laps.

>> The 3.1km track has a top speed of 270km/h. Average speed is 164km/h. Sandown poses massive set-up challenges as it combines two long straights with a bunch of 90 degree turns and a super-fast series of curves over the rise at the back of the track. High kerbs and a patchwork surface that offers grip of enormously varying quality adds to the puzzle. This year’s swap to soft Dunlops and the reduction from four to three compulsory pit stops adds to that.

>> Jamie Whincup owns the qualifying lap record at 1m 08.5730 sec and the race lap record at 1m 09.8500.

>> Just two pole positon qualifiers have won the race in the last 29 years, one of them being Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell in 2014 in the Red Bull Commodore. Red Bull cars have won three times in the last four years.

>> Craig Lowndes has the most race victories with nine, dating back to 1996 with Greg Murphy in a HRT Commodore.

>> Just seven out of 26 driver pairings continue on unchanged from last year, including defending PEC champs Garth Tander and Warren Luff.

>> Milestones this weekend include 150 round starts for defending VASC champion and 2006 and 2105 Sandown 500 winner Mark Winterbottom, who will have his first hit-out with new co-driver Dean Canto. Tim Blanchard will make round start number 50 in his BJR/Cooldrive Commodore.

>> Fox Sports and Channel 10 will telecast the action live.

Declaration: Bruce Newton is a paid contributor to the official v8supercars.com.au website. He’s also been twice voted motoring.com.au’s sexiest video presenter by the female members of the automotive PR corp.