Tander/Luff win thrilling Sandown 500

Garth Tander has broken a 72 race winless streak by taking victory alongside Warren Luff in a highly entertaining Wilson Security Sandown 500.

The reigning Pirtek Enduro Cup winners performed faultlessly on a drama filled day where intermittent showers and a time certain finish dictated pit strategy.

Tander held on to take the flag just 0.3s clear of a charging Shane van Gisbergen/Alex Premat Holden after 143 of the scheduled 161 laps.

The HRT Commodore’s front-left guard had blown apart on lap 122 which, while deemed safe by race control, left Tander struggling for speed in the dying laps.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
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The win is veteran Tander’s maiden Sandown 500 triumph and his first Supercars race victory since Townsville, 2014.

Will Davison/Jonathon Webb held off Scott McLaughlin/David Wall despite an engine problem to secure the final podium spot, ahead of Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen and Fabian Coulthard/Luke Youlden in the leading Fords.

Second for Van Gisbergen was enough to hand the Kiwi a seven point championship lead on a difficult day for nearest rivals Jamie Whincup (13th), Craig Lowndes (eighth) and Mark Winterbottom (24th).

A lengthy red flag delay following a heavy opening lap crash for James Golding meant the race was always destined to hit its time cut-off, adding to an already complex strategic equation.

Luff put in a sterling performance against his fellow co-drivers at the start, leading the majority of the way through the opening two stints.

The early running took place in dry conditions before a shower dragged the bulk of the field to pitlane for wets on lap 37.

Starting Whincup’s Holden, Paul Dumbrell eventually got the better of Luff just before another downpour saw Dean Canto (in Winterbottom’s Falcon) in the Turn 4 tyre barrier on lap 55, triggering the second Safety Car.

Dumbrell was among a handful not to pit while Luff dived in to hand over to Tander, who rejoined seventh and with a fuel advantage over the Red Bull Holden.

Tander caught Dumbrell in the third stint before the Holdens pitted together for slicks on lap 74 – the HRT Commodore rejoining with a healthy gap thanks to a shorter fill time.

Whincup took over from Dumbrell but quickly saw his race fall apart with a drive-through penalty for his co-driver removing his belts prior to stopping in the pit box.

McLaughlin, who had been among those to shadow the Tander/Luff strategy, then emerged as the HRT’s biggest threat, passing Tander for the lead in the fourth stint.

In an intense battle, McLaughlin, Tander and Van Gisbergen ran line astern before the HRT pulled its driver in on lap 104.

Tander took the lead back when McLaughlin and Van Gisbergen pitted a lap later – McLaughlin dropping to third when he ran off at Turn 1 on his out-lap.

Former champion Tander was able to hold the lead to the end despite the guard issue and the best efforts of Van Gisbergen, who ran out of time to steal the victory.

Further back, Mostert and co-driver Owen scored fifth despite losing time double-stacking behind the Super Black Ford at the lap 55 Safety Car.

Coulthard and Youlden were sixth after an off-sequence strategy required a late final fuel stop while leading.

Seventh for Todd Kelly/Matt Campbell marked a fine debut for the Carrera Cup ace, while Craig Lowndes salvaged eighth after an early mistake from co-driver Steven Richards buried the Caltex Holden back in the pack.

The star co-driver had been Richie Stanaway, who masterfully drove the Super Black Ford up to third in the second stint while on slicks in changeable conditions.

Canto had also been on slicks when he went in the fence, putting Winterbottom’s Ford two laps down in a major blow to the reigning champion’s title hopes.

The Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Commodore of Nick Percat and the returning Cameron McConville finished ninth, while the top 10 was completed by the Rick Kelly/Russell Ingall Nissan.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Wilson Security Sandown 500 Race 20

1	Holden Racing Team	G.Tander/W.Luff	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:30:56.7695
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	S.Van Gisbergen/A.Premat	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:30:57.1180
3	Team Darrell Lea STIX	W.Davison/J.Webb	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:31:11.5269
4	Wilson Security Racing GRM	S.McLaughlin/D.Wall	Volvo S60	143	03:31:12.6851
5	Supercheap Auto Racing	C.Mostert/S.Owen	Ford Falcon FG/X	143	03:31:13.0808
6	DJR Team Penske	F.Coulthard/L.Youlden	Ford Falcon FG/X	143	03:31:19.4434
7	carsales Racing	T.Kelly/M.Campbell	Nissan Altima	143	03:31:22.6153
8	TeamVortex	C.Lowndes/S.Richards	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:31:30.0998
9	Repair Management Aust Racing	N.Percat/C.McConville	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:31:32.9141
10	Sengled Motorsport	R.Kelly/R.Ingall	Nissan Altima	143	03:31:34.2994
11	Holden Racing Team	J.Courtney/J.Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:31:35.1290
12	Preston Hire Racing	L.Holdsworth/K.Reindler	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:31:39.8310
13	Red Bull Racing Australia	J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VF	143	03:31:39.8380
14	Nissan Motorsport	M.Caruso/D.Fiore	Nissan Altima	143	03:31:45.5598
15	DJR Team Penske	S.Pye/T.D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG/X	142	03:30:58.0490
16	Freightliner Racing	T.Slade/A.Walsh	Holden Commodore VF	142	03:30:59.4406
17	Super Black Racing	C.Pither/R.Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	142	03:31:36.0113
18	GB Galvanizing Racing	D.Wood/D.Russell	Nissan Altima	142	03:31:43.0332
19	Plus Fitness Racing	A.Heimgartner/A.Russell	Holden Commodore VF	142	03:31:48.4964
20	Team Cooldrive	T.Blanchard/M.Jones	Holden Commodore VF	141	03:31:13.6029
21	Team BOC	J.Bright/A.Jones	Holden Commodore VF	141	03:31:53.2138
22	Erebus Motorsport	S.Davies/C.van der Drift	Holden Commodore VF	141	03:31:53.7239
23	The Bottle-O Racing Team	M.Winterbottom/D.Canto	Ford Falcon FG/X	138	03:31:18.7313
DNF	Monster Energy Racing	C.Waters/J.Le Brocq	Ford Falcon FG/X	98	02:37:53.5846
DNF	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Volvo S60
EXC	Erebus Motorsport Penrite	D.Reynolds/C.Baird	Holden Commodore VF

Championship Standings

1	Shane Van Gisbergen	2248
2	Jamie Whincup	2241
3	Crag Lowndes	2091
4	Scott McLaughlin	1989
5	Mark Winterbottom	1902
6	Will Davison	1812
7	Chaz Mostert	1757
8	Garth Tander	1663
9	Michael Caruso	1638
10	Tim Slade	1632
11	James Courtney	1578
12	Fabian Coulthard	1504
13	Rick Kelly	1497
14	Todd Kelly	1441
15	Jason Bright	1233
16	Scott Pye	1180
17	David Reynolds	1090
18	Chris Pither	1033
19	James Moffat	1002
20	Cameron Waters	993
21	Dale Wood	928
22	Nick Percat	896
23	Tim Blanchard	860
24	Andre Heimgartner	797
25	Lee Holsworth	786
26	Aaren Russell	561
27	Warren Luff	300
28	Alex Premat	276
29	Jonathon Webb	258
30	David Wall	240
31	Steve Owen	222
32	Karl Reindler	213
33	Luke Youlden	204
34	Matt Campbell	192
35	Steven Richards	180
36	Cameron McConville	168
37	Russell Ingall	156
38	Jack Perkins	144
39	Paul Dumbrell	132
40	Shae Davies	132
41	Dean Fiore	126
42	Tony D’Alberto	120
43	Ash Walsh	114
44	Richie Stanaway	108
45	Kurt Kostecki	108
46	David Russell	102
47	Macauley Jones	90
48	Andrew Jones	84
49	Chris van der Drift	78
50	Craig Baird	72
51	Dean Canto	72
52	James Golding	0
53	Jack Le Brocq	0