Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell romp to victory in the Sandown 500
ON a day of domination for the all-conquering Red Bull Holden Racing Team, Jamie Whincup put on a 500km master class to beat teammate Shane van Gisbergen by almost seven seconds in a stunning show of speed.
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JAMIE Whincup extended his legend by flogging the field to win his fourth Sandown 500 crown and confirm himself as a V8 immortal.
On a day of domination for the all-conquering Red Bull Holden Racing Team, Whincup put on a 500km master class to beat teammate Shane van Gisbergen by almost seven seconds in a stunning show of speed.
Whincup was in a class of his own with greatest championship driver in history flawless as he and co-driver Paul Dumbrell made it three Sandown 500 wins as a pairing.
Holden hero Craig Lowndes finished third to make it an all Triple Eight Race Engineering podium – and thrash the Fords.
I couldn’t be happier,’’ Whincup said.
“The car was awesome all weekend and PD (Dumbrell) did a fantastic job. We just had to keep our heads down and get on with the job.
.@jamiewhincup and Paul Dumbrell lead Triple Eight 1-2-3 at https://t.co/APvREIIvkA Sandown 500. #VASC
— Supercars (@supercars) September 16, 2018
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Dumbrell set-up the emphatic win by blasting his way to the front to win the start-line battle as the first endurance race of the season launched to life.
With James Courtney and Rick Kelly the only full-time drivers to begin the race, Dumbrell led the co-driver class with A stunning display of early speed.
Fresh from setting a lap record in practice and then qualifying, the No.1 car had launched clear to lead by 17 seconds when a safety car was called on lap 21.
Dumbrell went back on his blitz when the race resumed and led Steve Richards by twenty seconds after 55 laps.
Dumbrell handed the car over to Whincup on lap 56 when another safety car ended his perfect stint.
“The team did a great job this weekend,’’ Dumbrell said.
“We knew we had great one lap pace and I think we showed today that we had good race pace too.
“It is always good to get a win here because we haven’t been able to do the job for a few years.’’
Out to resurrect his championship and score his fourth Sandown 500 win, Whincup continued the blitz by pulling away from the field when the race resumed on lap 60.
The Red Bull record breaker was never challenged.
“Thankfully there were no safety cars,’’ Whincup said.
“And the gearbox and tyres held in there for a nice clean race.’’
Van Gisbergen charged through the field to extend his championship lead over Scott McLaughlin to 55 points.
Starting in 11th place with co-driver Earl Bamber, van Gisbergen, blasted his way to second in a Red Bull “rocket’’.
“It is just a privilege to drive these cars,’’ van Gisbergen said.
“The team really gave us some rockets. It was just awesome. Earl did a great job to get us up the front from 11th and the team put on some good strategy to get us home.
“It was just an amazing day.’’
Also mounting a rescue mission after starting in 10th, Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards made it a perfect day for Triple Eight Race Engineering by finishing third to make it a podium lock-out.
“We had a fantastic first two stints to set it up,’’ Lowndes said.
“Then the car lost a little bit of pace in the middle but the guys did a fantastic job in the pits to tune it up.
“And we just made sure we finished up with that one-two-three.’’
McLaughlin held off a fast finishing Dave Reynolds to keep his championship dream well and truly alive with a fighting fourth.
RESULTS
Race 3 (161 laps)
1. Jamie Whincup (Holden) 3hrh17mins28.6203sec
2. Shane Van Gisbergen (Holden) 3:17:35.4515
3. Craig Lowndes (Holden) 3:17:36.8769
4. Scott McLaughlin (Ford) 3:17:53.7975
5. David Reynolds (Holden) 3:17:54.3701
6. Scott Pye (Holden) 3:18:02.8423
7. Fabian Coulthard (Ford) 3:18:07.3546
8. Rick Kelly (Nissan) 3:18:17.4368
9. Garth Tander (Holden) 3:18:20.4341
10. Chaz Mostert (Ford) 3:18:26.8033
11. Will Davison (Ford) 3:18:26.8900
12. Anton de Pasquale (Holden) +1 Lap
13. Cameron Waters (Ford) +1 Lap
14. Andre Heimgartner (Nissan) +1 Lap
15. Tim Slade (Holden) +1 Lap
16. James Courtney (Holden) +1 Lap
17. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +1 Lap
18. James Golding (Holden) +1 Lap
19. Tim Blanchard (Holden) +1 Lap
20. Richie Stanaway (Ford) +1 Lap
21. Todd Hazelwood (Holden) +1 Lap
22. Jack Le Brocq (Holden) +5 Laps
23. Lee Holdsworth (Holden) +16 Laps
24. Nick Percat (Holden) +19 Laps
25. Michael Caruso (Nissan) +27 Laps
26. Simona De Silvestro (Nissan) NC