Waters/Stanaway claim Sandown 500 win

Cameron Waters and Richie Stanaway produced a faultless drive to take out an eventful Wilson Security Sandown 500.

After a opening lap crash provided an hour long suspension, the Prodrive Ford duo controlled a time certain race for large periods, only losing the lead during the pit stop cycle.

Polesitters Waters and Stanaway were challenged by Shell V-Power Racing’s Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat throughout, but the championship leading Falcon came up just short.

The triumph marked Waters’ first win and podium as a primary Supercars driver and a maiden win for co-driver Stanaway.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
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The #97 Red Bull Holden of Shane van Gisbergen and Matt Campbell enjoyed a remarkable run from 21st to third with the duo on course for a podium until a puncture late on.

This elevated the #55 Prodrive entry of Chaz Mostert and Steve Owen to third, despite incurring a five-second penalty early in the race.

Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell appeared strong contenders for the victory, although a puncture in the second stint forced them to fight back from 23rd to sixth.

The race turned into a time certain affair following a heavy opening lap crash for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport’s Taz Douglas at Turn 6.

The co-driver of the #3 Aaren Russell entry suffered a right front puncture following contact with Ash Walsh, that turned the #75 Brad Jones Racing entry around at Turn 4.

As a result, Douglas was powerless to avoid the barriers at Turn 6 that required extensive repairs under the red flag.

At the stoppage, Richie Stanaway (#6 Prodrive Ford) led Alex Premat (#17 Shell Ford) with Paul Dumbrell (#88 Red Bull Holden) in third.

Prior to the red flag, the big movers were Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Holden) and Craig Lowndes (TeamVortex) who were the only primary drivers to start the race.

After starting from 21st, van Gisbergen surged to 13th on the opening lap while Lowndes assumed 17th position from 23rd.

Dean Canto in #5 Prodrive Ford was among the losers as he was nudged off the road at Turn 4 by Jack Perkins in the #22 Mobil 1 HSV Racing Commodore.

At the restart, Stanaway streaked into a lead as Premat came under pressure from Dumbrell for second.

Van Gisbergen continued his charge as he surged into the top 10, while team-mate Lowndes pitted early to hand over to co-driver Steven Richards to complete the permitted 54 lap minimum for a co-driver.

Dumbrell soon moved up to second with a move on Premat at Turn 1.

Meanwhile, Steve Owen (#55 Chaz Mostert Ford) was issued a five-second penalty for leaving Luke Youlden with no room when overtaking for fourth at Turn 9.

Van Gisbergen inherited the lead when the front two pitted, before diving into the pits to hand over to co-driver Matt Campbell, as Premat followed the Holden in to pit lane.

An early stop under the Safety Car saw the #75 of Ash Walsh and Tim Slade out of sequence with the field, Walsh holding the lead after the first round of stops from Dumbrell, Stanaway, Premat and Campbell.

However, the complexion of the race changed when Dumbrell suffered a right rear puncture while hassling leader Walsh.

The #88 co-driver dropped a wheel off the road at Turn 1, which may have contributed to the failure.

He dropped to 23rd almost a lap down after ducking into the pits for a replacement tyre.

At the front, Stanaway caught and passed Walsh for the lead, who then took a long stop on lap 40, remaining in the car to complete his required distance.

Premat moved into second with Campbell third and D’Alberto (#12 Shell V-Power Ford) fourth.

The critical lap 54 sparked a flurry of pit stops as teams handed over to their primary drivers.

Waters took over the lead from Stanaway in front of McLaughlin, while third-placed Campbell stayed in the #97 in third having yet reached his minimum distance.

Walsh, still out of sequence, held fourth in the #75 BJR entry ahead of Fabian Coulthard (#12 Shell Ford), Chaz Mostert (#55 Prodrive Ford) and the GRM duo of Garth Tander and James Moffat.

Whincup soon took over the #88 Triple Eight in 14th position following their earlier puncture.

Further back, Erebus Motorsport’s challenge unravelled when David Reynolds suffered a right front puncture while sitting just outside of the top 10.

McLaughlin began to close in on Waters after the final stops.

Despite applying pressure throughout the closing stages, the positions remained unchanged until the chequered flag.

Drama struck the #97 when van Gisbergen suffered a right front puncture on lap 106, dropping him from third to 16th at the flag.

As a result, Mostert inherited the final place on the podium.

A solid run throughout saw Garth Tander and James Golding emerge as the top Holden in fourth after a late pass on Coulthard.

James Moffat brought the #34 GRM Holden he shared with Richard Muscat home in seventh ahead of the Lee Holdsworth/Karl Reindler Commodore.

Tim Slade finally replaced Walsh on lap 85, driving the final stint to claim ninth for #75 BJR entry, while Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto (#5 Prodrive) completed the top 10.

Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards finished in 12th position.

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport suffered double heartache after being issued with a 30 point penalty and a $5,000 fine after #62 co-driver Alex Davison exited the pits with a loose right rear wheel.

The two LDM cars were the only retirements from the race.

Second place for McLaughlin sees the Shell V-Power Racing driver extend his championship advantage to 84 points over Whincup.

Results: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Wilson Security Sandown 500

1	Monster Energy Racing	C.Waters/R.Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	125	3:31:35.785
2	Shell V-Power Racing Team	S.McLaughlin/A.Premat	Ford Falcon FG/X	125	3:31:36.460
3	Supercheap Auto Racing	C.Mostert/S.Owen	Ford Falcon FG/X	125	3:31:58.360
4	Wilson Security Racing GRM	G.Tander/J.Golding	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:02.953
5	Shell V-Power Racing Team	F.Coulthard/T.D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG/X	125	3:32:03.505
6	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:12.181
7	Wilson Security Racing GRM	J.Moffat/R.Muscat	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:13.124
8	Preston Hire Racing	L.Holdsworth/K.Reindler	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:14.561
9	Freightliner Racing	T.Slade/A.Walsh	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:18.304
10	The Bottle-O Racing Team	M.Winterbottom/D.Canto	Ford Falcon FG/X	125	3:32:19.725
11	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	J.Courtney/J.Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:23.015
12	TeamVortex	C.Lowndes/S.Richards	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:33.423
13	TEKNO Woodstock Racing	W.Davison/J.Webb	Holden Commodore VF	125	3:32:45.389
14	Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing	D.Wood/C.Pither	Holden Commodore VF	124	3:31:49.189
15	Sengled Racing	R.Kelly/D.Wall	Nissan Altima	124	3:31:57.345
16	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	S.Van Gisbergen/M.Campbell	Holden Commodore VF	124	3:32:05.057
17	MEGA Racing	J.Bright/G.Jacobson	Ford Falcon FG/X	124	3:32:19.432
18	carsales Racing	T.Kelly/J.Le Brocq	Nissan Altima	124	3:32:33.742
19	Erebus Penrite Racing	D.Reynolds/L.Youlden	Holden Commodore VF	124	3:32:34.831
20	Team Harvey Norman	S.De Silvestro/D.Russell	Nissan Altima	124	3:32:41.482
21	Nissan Motorsport	M.Caruso/D.Fiore	Nissan Altima	123	3:31:57.622
22	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	S.Pye/W.Luff	Holden Commodore VF	113	3:31:58.665
23	Mongrel Boots Racing	N.Percat/M.Jones	Holden Commodore VF	109	3:32:23.122
DNF	Repair Management Aust Racing	A.Rullo/A.Davison	Holden Commodore VF	43	2:29:23.294
DNF	Plus Fitness Racing	Taz Douglas	Holden Commodore VF

Championship points: After Race 19

1	Scott McLaughlin	2334
2	Jamie Whincup	2250
3	Fabian Coulthard	2173
4	Chaz Mostert	2052
5	Shane Van Gisbergen	1914
6	Mark Winterbottom	1659
7	Garth Tander	1608
8	Craig Lowndes	1584
9	Cameron Waters	1564
10	David Reynolds	1491
11	Tim Slade	1281
12	Lee Holdsworth	1269
13	James Moffat	1227
14	Will Davison	1146
15	Rick Kelly	1146
16	Michael Caruso	1095
17	Nick Percat	1089
18	Scott Pye	1084
19	James Courtney	1047
20	Todd Kelly	1039
21	Jason Bright	975
22	Tim Blanchard	828
23	Simona De Silvestro	822
24	Dale Wood	699
25	Alex Rullo	438
26	James Golding	402
27	Richie Stanaway	300
28	Alexandre Premat	276
29	Steve Owen	258
30	Jack Le Brocq	237
31	Tony D’Alberto	222
32	Macauley Jones	219
33	Paul Dumbrell	204
34	Taz Douglas	198
35	Richard Muscat	192
36	Karl Reindler	180
37	Ashley Walsh	168
38	Dean Canto	156
39	Shae Davies	153
40	Jack Perkins	144
41	Alex Davison	141
42	Steven Richards	138
43	Jonathon Webb	132
44	Chris Pither	126
45	David Wall	120
46	Matthew Campbell	114
47	Garry Jacobson	108
48	Luke Youlden	96
49	Todd Hazelwood	90
50	David Russell	90
51	Dean Fiore	84
52	Cameron McConville	81
53	Warren Luff	78
54	Aaren Russell	69
55	Matthew Brabham	57