V8 Supercars: Sandown 500

Ford Performance Racing (FPR), the defending Sandown 500 champion, returns to the Melbourne track seeking back to back victories in the 40th running of the classic endurance race.

Its driver line-up includes 2006 Sandown 500 winner Mark (Frosty) Winterbottom, who drove to victory with Jason Bright in a new record race time of three hours 22 minutes and 16 seconds.

Winterbottom is competing in his fifth Sandown 500 this weekend, when he’ll be co-driven by New Zealand A1 Grand Prix and ChampCar driver Matt Halliday.

Halliday (28) is making his fourth Sandown 500 appearance and as displayed impressive speed in testing with FPR throughout the season, ensuring that his pairing with interbottom forms a strong and experienced alliance.

Castrol FPR Falcon driver, NZ-born Steve Richards, heads to the enduros after a season-high second place finish at Sydney’s Oran Park last month.

Richards, a double Bathurst 1000 winner, has yet to win at Sandown.

He’s joined by the fast and experienced 30-year-old Tasmanian racer Owen Kelly, who re-joins FPR after competing with the team during its debut (2003) Sandown and Bathurst endurance race campaigns.

Fresh from winning the Oran Park V8 Supercar Development Series round and a campaign of Stock Car races in the United States earlier in the year, Kelly’s 2007 season is peaking at the right time.

In a masterpiece of understatement, Winterbottom says: “Sandown has special memories for me and it’s good to be heading back to the teams and Ford Australia’s home race.

“The developments that we’ve made with our FPR Falcons during the season with the help of our experienced co-drivers, finds us very well prepared for this tough race.

“The circuit rewards strong horsepower, high speed balance and brakes, which are now our strongest points. I am looking forward to the start of our enduro campaign as one of the defending winners of this round, and to racing with Matt once again.”

Halliday says he’s “better prepared than ever this season, which is important as making the change from open wheelers to V8 Supercars always requires some adaptation”.

“The team’s detailed testing has enabled me to be right on the pace leading up to this race. Mark and I have worked well together in the past and he’s returning as a defending Champion, so we have an extra incentive to try and win this race.

“I enjoy racing at Sandown as it’s similar in many ways to Pukekohe and I’ve had some good races there in the past.”

Team Kiwi field strong line-up

New Zealand motor racing fans’ eyes will be fixed firmly on the Team Kiwi Racing Ford Falcon at Sandown this weekend as V8 Supercar rookie Shane van Gisbergen makes his Australian endurance racing debut.

Van Gisbergen, who has set his career sights on the Australian V8 Supercar Championship, turned in a superb result in his first-ever V8 round, at Sydney’s Oran Park. In a meeting marked by on-track mayhem, the 18-year-old kept a clear head and brought the Falcon to the finish in all three races, taking a creditable 13th in one of them, and scoring championship points for the team.

For the endurance races, he’s joined by NZ V8 champion John McIntyre, who returns to the all-black outfit after driving Nissan Primera 2.0-litre Touring Cars for TKR earlier in his career.

It’s a fast driver combo, and it’ll be interesting to watch the black Falcon’s progress.