By MARK PAXTON
MARK Winterbottom has taken a huge step forward chasing his first ever V8 Supercars Championship after enduring a tough Sandown 500, on Sunday.
Taking on the classic Greater Dandenong course, Winterbottom and his Prodrive Racing Australia co-driver Steve Owen defeated team-mates Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters by just six-tenths of a second.
Local racer Jack Le Brocq from Upper Beaconsfield finished 19th in his Sandown 500 debut – at just 23 years of age – with Erebus Motorsport team-mate Ash Smith.
For Winterbottom the result was a relief.
“It’s just awesome to finally get it done,” Winterbottom said of his win in the first round of the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
“Last time the team and I won this race was in ’06, and I was in the garage watching (Jason) Brighty, cheering him on. So it’s a completely different feeling almost 10 years later.”
The race did not come without some issues for Winterbottom, when a safety car picking up debris on the track ate into his lead.
“It killed me. I had a seven or eight-second lead, and was starting to think about what’s for dinner. Then the safety car comes out and you’re not hungry anymore!” Winterbottom said.
Winterbottom’s eight-second lead was demolished because of a safety car, but he was not without some luck.
Earlier in the race Whincup and Paul Dumbrell – after leading for the majority of the race – on lap 115 were forced to come in for a pit stop. The freak right rear tyre puncture put Whincup at the back of the pack.
Tekno Autosports Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb edged out Garth Tander and Warren Luff for the final podium spot.
Friday’s practise saw Marcos Ambrose Former V8 supercars champion return to the track this week, and it did not go as smoothly as he would have liked after receiving a $5000 fine after he performed a practice start during Friday afternoon’s session, which is a breach of regulations.
This was the only driving infringement on Friday.
The victory at Sandown 500 extends Winterbottom’s lead in the V8 Supercars championship over his team-mate Chaz Mostert to 198 points. David Reynolds is in third, 360 points behind the leader.
The next event at Sandown race course will be Thoroughbred, the Zipping Classic on Saturday 14 November.
The V8 Supercars championship heads to New South Wales for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 from 8 to 11 October.
V8 SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER BOARD
1 Mark Winterbottom (2215), 2 Chaz Mostert (2017), 3 David Reynolds (1855), 4 Craig Lowndes (1792), 5 Fabian Coulthard (1694).
