Jamie puts pedal down
JAMIE Whincup extended his legend yesterday by flogging the field to win his fourth Sandown 500 crown and confirm himself as a V8 immortal.
On a day of domination for the all-conquering Red Bull Holden Racing Team, Whincup put on a 500km master class to beat teammate Shane van Gisbergen by almost seven seconds in a stunning show of speed.
Whincup was in a class of his own, with the best championship driver in history flawless as he and co-driver Paul Dumbrell made it three Sandown 500 wins.
Holden hero Craig Lowndes finished third to make it an all Triple Eight Race Engineering podium – delivering the Fords a thrashing.
I couldn’t be happier,’’ Whincup said.
“The car was awesome all weekend and PD (Dumbrell) did a fantastic job. We just had to keep our heads down and get on with the job.
Dumbrell set up the emphatic win by blasting his way to the front to win the startline battle as the first endurance race of the season launched to life.
With James Courtney and Rick Kelly the only full-time drivers to begin the race, Dumbrell led the co-driver class with a stunning display of early speed.
Fresh from setting a lap record in practice and then qualifying, the No.1 car had launched clear to lead by 17 seconds when a safety car was called on lap 21.
Dumbrell went back on his blitz when the race resumed and led Steve Richards by 20 seconds after 55 laps.
Dumbrell handed the car over to Whincup on lap 56 when another safety car ended his perfect stint.
“The team did a great job this weekend,’’ Dumbrell said.
“We knew we had great one-lap pace and I think we showed today that we had good race pace too.
“It is always good to get a win here because we haven’t been able to do the job for a few years.’’
Out to resurrect his championship and score his fourth Sandown 500 win, Whincup continued the blitz by pulling away from the field when the race resumed on lap 60. The Red Bull record breaker was never challenged.
Van Gisbergen charged through the field to extend his championship lead over Scott McLaughlin to 55 points.
Starting in 11th place with co-driver Earl Bamber, van Gisbergen, blasted his way to second in a Red Bull “rocket’’.