Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup have held on following a late Safety Car to claim Sandown 500 honours this evening. A determined opening stint from Jamie Whincup paved the way to success for Feeney, who controlled proceedings from Lap 57 when he took the wheel.
Brodie Kostecki and David Russell came home second, with Kostecki throwing everything at Feeney over the final minutes of the time certain race before eventually settling for the position.
Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway were the biggest movers in the race, pushing from 19th on the grid to finish third. A late mistake from Will Brown saw van Gisbergen take the final podium spot, having been put in a strong position following a patient opening stint from his compatriot.
Brown and Jack Perkins were forced to settle for fourth, one spot ahead of Kiwi Andre Heimgartner and co-driver Dale Wood, who progressed from 15th on the grid to 5th.
Matt Payne and co-driver Kevin Estre enjoyed a well-earned sixth, with Estre running with the leaders over his stint and Payne bringing the car home for an impressive result.
With co-drivers taking the start, the experience of Whincup off the second row was too much for Russell and Perkins to hold off, the duo retaining the top two spots over the opening lap but quickly relinquishing their positions shortly after.
Last year’s Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander (David Reynolds) was another big early mover, jumping to fourth from eighth in the early stages.
Everyone would survive a tense few opening laps, with the first incident of note coming on Lap 9 when Zak Best (James Courtney) spun onto the grass at the exit of Turn 2, returning to the track at the rear of the field.
Tander would become the race’s first retirement on Lap 19 when his left rear came off as he ventured through turns 7-9. His Mustang would spin to the right, hit the outside wall and come to a rest in the gravel, triggering a Safety Car.
While Tander and Reynolds were unfortunate in their undoing, James Moffat and Cam Waters were even more unlucky in theirs as Tander’s wheel hit the inside wall, bounced into the air and landed on the rear of the Tickford Mustang, damaging the wing as a result.
While under caution, Walkinshaw Andretti United were also forced into urgent repairs on Lee Holdsworth’s (Chaz Mostert) Mustang, which had been damaged on a heavy kerb strike earlier in the race. In a matter of one lap, three contending Fords had dropped out of contention. To the credit of the WAU and Tickford pit crews, both drivers would remain on the lead lap under caution.
Pit lane sprung to life while the Safety Car circulated, with co-drivers taking tyres and fuel. Perkins would emerge from the lane in the lead, ahead of Whincup, Michael Caruso (Mark Winterbottom) and Estre.
Stanaway, meanwhile, had moved forward to 16th, one spot ahead of Jaxon Evans who impressed over the opening stages, having started 22nd.
Fabian Coulthard (Nick Percat) had also moved forward to 21st from 26th.
Perkins, Whincup, Caruso and Estre pulled clear off the Lap 26 restart, with Estre working into the podium places with a class move on Caruso at Turn 1 on Lap 39 and Whincup re-taking the lead off Perkins at the same point two circuits later.
Moffat’s difficulties continued towards the end of the co-driver stints when he came together with Dylan O’Keefe near the rear of the field, spinning as a result.
Garry Jacobsen (Thomas Randle) would add to Ford’s misery around the same point with steering damage that saw the team lose several laps while they worked repairs.
Whincup, Perkins and Estre had pulled 9.5 seconds clear of the field when driver changes commenced, with Erebus putting Brown and Kostecki in their respective cars at the first opportunity.
Whincup handed the reigns to Feeney on Lap 57 and Stanaway passed over to van Gisbergen the following lap, having worked into the top ten in the final stages of his stint.
Van Gisbergen returned to the track tenth, while up front Payne continued where Estre had left off, running third behind Feeney and Brown, who each had retained their positions once driver changes had all played out.
Kostecki would eat into the gap to Payne over the following laps, eventually taking third spot off the Kiwi on Lap 79.
At the race’s mid-point Feeney’s lead was 6.7 seconds over Brown.
A 5-second penalty for repeated track limit violations would benefit both Heimgartner and van Gisbergen at the next round of stops, with both continuing to creep deeper into the top ten.
Van Gisbergen elected to run longer than the leaders during said stint, making the most of clear air and jumping Payne to take fourth once he returned.
Feeney’s lead, meanwhile, had ballooned out to 12.5 seconds over Brown, while Kostecki was a further 2.5 behind. Van Gisbergen sat fourth, 11 seconds off the podium places, with Payne and Heimgartner making for a three-car all-Kiwi battle during the stint.
Kostecki would also bridge the gap to his teammate, taking second before making his final stop on Lap 125. Brown followed on Lap 126, dropping behind his teammate, while Feeney and van Gisbergen remained out slightly longer, the Kiwi continuing to chew into the time of the leaders.
Van Gisbergen came in on Lap 129 and Payne followed the next time around, losing out to Heimgartner in doing so.
Kostecki would eat into Feeney’s lead over the following laps, while Payne was the fastest car on the circuit and had caught on to the rear of Heimgartner.
Cameron Hill losing steering on Lap 139 and stranding in the Turn 9 sand brought the race’s second caution, eliminating all the gaps and bringing the field together for a period behind the Safety Car.
A good launch off the restart saw Feeney take a one-second lead to the control line, which Kostecki reduced quickly before pressuring for the lead.
The battle also brought Brown into the equation as it became apparent the race was going to become time certain due to a delayed start following repairs to the Armco barrier from a crash in the earlier Super2 finale.
Van Gisbergen lost out behind the Safety Car, having to put Jack Le Brocq and James Golding a lap down before re-joining the front three.
A late mistake from Brown at Turn 7 resulted in van Gisbergen clinching the final podium place, before threatening Kostecki, who had been unable to find a way to take the lead, over the final laps.
Van Gisbergen ran out of time to make the move, with 158 of the 161 laps completed.
Heimgartner also held off Payne on the restart to clinch fifth.
Jack Smith and Evans were classified 18th, and Percat and Coulthard 23rd.
Next up; the Bathurst 1000. The scene has been set.
Header Image: Joel Hanks Photography
