RBHRT in strong position to clinch Pirtek Enduro Cup

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s Gold Coast double one-two has it in a strong position to win this year’s Pirtek Enduro Cup with either of its entries.

Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes led Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander home in Race 26 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship in Surfers Paradise, with the quinella reversed in Race 27 on the following day.

Those results have not only seen Triple Eight Race Engineering close the gap to Shell V-Power Racing Team at the top of the teams’ championship, but also put the Banyo squad’s cars first and second in the Pirtek Enduro Cup standings.

The #97 entry of van Gisbergen/Tander has finished first or second in each race of the Pirtek Enduro Cup thus far and holds 564 points through the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

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Whincup/Lowndes were fourth at Mount Panorama and sit 36 points back, while Great Race winners Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Premat are third in the #17 DJR Team Penske entry despite missing Sunday’s race on the glitter strip due to the championship leader’s frightening crash in Armor All Qualifying.

The Ford duo are 135 points off the lead of the series within a series, but a quirk in the format of this year’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500, which closes out the Pirtek Enduro Cup makes for a more complicated scenario to establish a winner.

This year’s qualifying heats for the heritage 500km enduro are official races with championship points on the line; 50 each for Races 28 and 29 (60km sprints) and 250 for the 161-lapper on Sunday week.

One scenario in which a Triple Eight entry would win the Pirtek Enduro Cup is if Car #97 finishes no worse than seventh in each of the three races in Melbourne.

In the unlikely event that both Triple Eight entries do suffer significant setbacks, the two Walkinshaw Andretti United combinations are within a dozen points of McLaughlin/Premat and could therefore also become a factor.

Triple Eight has won the Pirtek Enduro Cup in four years out of the six in which it has been contested to 2018.

All of its current drivers have been among those to take the title, although Tander did so with WAU (then the Holden Racing Team) in 2015.

Practice at Sandown starts on Friday, November 8.

Pirtek Enduro Cup standings

Pos	Num	Drivers	Team	Pts
1	97	Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander	Triple Eight Race Engineering	564
2	888	Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes	Triple Eight Race Engineering	528
3	17	Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Premat	DJR Team Penske	429
4	2	Scott Pye/Warren Luff	Walkinshaw Andretti United	423
5	22	James Courtney/Jack Perkins	Walkinshaw Andretti United	411
6	9	David Reynolds/Luke Youlden	Erebus Motorsport	390
7	5	Lee Holdsworth/Thomas Randle	Tickford Racing	372
8	23	Will Davison/Alex Davison	23Red Racing	348
9	15	Rick Kelly/Dale Wood	Kelly Racing	321
9	6	Cameron Waters/Michael Caruso	Tickford Racing	321
11	18	Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards	Team 18	300
12	8	Nick Percat/Tim Blanchard	Brad Jones Racing	267
13	19	Jack Le Brocq/Jonathon Webb	Tekno Autosports	240
13	12	Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto	DJR Team Penske	240
15	21	Macauley Jones/Dean Canto	Brad Jones Racing	228
16	3	Garry Jacobson/Dean Fiore	Kelly Racing	225
17	78	Simona De Silvestro/Alex Rullo	Kelly Racing	213
18	34	James Golding/Richard Muscat	Garry Rogers Motorsport	201
19	33	Richie Stanaway/Chris Pither	Garry Rogers Motorsport	174
20	99	Anton De Pasquale/Will Brown	Erebus Motorsport	162
21	14	Tim Slade/Ash Walsh	Brad Jones Racing	144
22	55	Chaz Mostert/James Moffat	Tickford Racing	120
23	56	Brodie Kostecki/Jake Kostecki	Kostecki Brothers Racing	108
24	35	Todd Hazelwood/Jack Smith	Matt Stone Racing	90
25	7	Andre Heimgartner/Bryce Fullwood	Kelly Racing	42

Previous Pirtek Enduro Cup winners

Year	Drivers	Team
2013	Craig Lowndes/Warren Luff	Triple Eight Race Engineering
2014	Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell	Triple Eight Race Engineering
2015	Garth Tander/Warren Luff	Walkinshaw Racing
2016	Shane van Gisbergen/Alexandre Premat	Triple Eight Race Engineering
2017	Chaz Mostert/Steve Owen	Tickford Racing
2018	Craig Lowndes/Steven Richards	Triple Eight Race Engineering