By Jarrod Potter
WHILE others in the Sandown 500 V8 Supercars would limp bashfully through the rest of the race following a pit-lane penalty – Jamie Whincup isn’t your average driver.
Sandown maintained its status for throwing some curve balls in the V8 Supercars season – with Supercars championship leader Whincup forced to work his way back from the dregs of the pack.
Whacked with the dreaded black-flag after a driver-change resulted in a dangerous spinning wheel incident, the Red Bull Racing Australia maestro deftly worked his way back up from 25th place.
Like a knife through butter, Whincup sliced his way through the pack and pushed his way into second place behind team mate Craig Lowndes.
A 20-lap cat-and-mouse battle ensued with Lowndes trying in vain to hold off his team mate’s challenges, but inevitably with the faster car, Whincup seized advantage on lap 151 and held strong for the remaining 10 laps.
Celebrating their 10th year in Australia motor-racing in style, Red Bull crossed the line for the quinella – with Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff holding off numerous attacks from top finishing Ford Performance Racing’s Will Davison and Steve Owen.
Capping off a stellar Sandown was the Mercedes of Lee Holdsworth and Craig Baird – clinching fourth place for the newcomers to the V8 competition in the company’s best finish.
The enduro-season heads off to the illustrious Bathurst circuit to take on the Bathurst 1000 on 10-13 October.
