Keep up-to-date with all the Sandown 500 news, with daily updates of the on-track action 👇
Friday 15/09
Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88
Practice 1 – First (01:09.2966)
Practice 2 (co-drivers only) – Third (1:09.7919)
Practice 3 – Second (01:08.7128)
Shane van Gisbergen/Richie Stanaway – Car #97
Practice 1 – Sixth (01:09.3701)
Practice 2 (co-drivers only) – Second (01:09.6482)
Practice 3 – Fifth (01:08.9534)
Broc Feeney – Car #88
“It’s really cool to be back here at Sandown and it’s a fun track to race at. The first few laps around here this morning were pretty wild – you’re just hanging on. It’s been a while since we’ve thrown the car over kerbs, but it’s great to have those racing conditions back. Working with Jamie is always awesome, and even better that we get to do it for two events this year. It’s been a pretty good day so far I think, but for sure we still have areas of improvement before the big one on Sunday.”
Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“Overall, I think it was a very positive day. I enjoy driving these cars, it’s a bit of a blast from the past and the lack of aero means the car is moving around a lot and is really hard to keep the tyre alive, especially around Sandown with all the drive sections of the track. With last years car, I had so much muscle memory and was able to jump in expecting to be as quick as the main guys, but this car is not the case – I think it’s going to be a big step down between the main drivers and the co-drivers. My main focus is on co-driving duties, and handing over the car in one piece to Broc so he can do what he does best.”
Richie Stanaway – Car #97
“It’s been a good day for us. We rolled out of the truck fast and went about tuning the car more towards race pace. Right now, I think we have a really good car for one lap speed, but we obviously have 500-kilometres to race on Sunday, so it’s about balancing the performance tomorrow, and then we’ll have a different objective on Sunday. The day went really smoothly I thought. We have a few little issues to work on, but nothing out of the ordinary. Ergonomically, I’m feeling as comfortable as I possibly can in the car. You never feel perfect as a co-river, but it’s as good as I could hope for driving with Shane considering he’s a lot taller.”
Saturday 16/09
Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88
Practice 4 – First (01:08.5834)
Qualifying, Race 23 – Third (1:08.5833)
Top Ten Shootout – Fifth (01:09.0325)
Shane van Gisbergen/Richie Stanaway – Car #97
Practice 4 – Ninth (01:08.9757)
Qualifying, Race 23 – 19th (1:08.9848)
Broc Feeney – Car #88
“Looking at the big picture, it’s been a good day. We were quickest this morning, third in qualifying, but the shootout was the disappointment. P5 has been our lowest result so far this weekend, but I think we’ve been really competitive all weekend. The two Erebus cars have been fast, so we’ll see how we go tomorrow. We obviously didn’t put a good lap together in the shootout, but we’re still starting on the third row for a 161-lap race so we have a long way to go. I’m very keen for tomorrow and I’ve been working towards this race for a long time now. It’s an unknown what it’s going to be like in the race, but I’m looking forward to seeing how Jamie goes and hopefully it’s a good day for us.”
Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“It was a strange day for me, I didn’t even do a lap. Marty (Short, #88 race engineer) and Broc did an amazing job today and the car is very quick. We didn’t quite nail the shootout, but when you think about it, it’s only Broc’s second year in the main game and we don’t do many shootouts at events anymore, so I thought he did a great job for his experience managing to get a P5. It’s over to me now, most likely I’ll start the race and try to keep the #88 up the front.”
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“It wasn’t the best day for us unfortunately. I feel sorry for everyone in my team for qualifying so poorly, but hopefully we can make some improvements for tomorrow’s race. Richie has been amazing, and his lap times have been super impressive – he’s really fast so it’s a shame we’re not starting further up the grid. Our emphasis tomorrow is to have a clean race, and the rest will sort itself out.”
Richie Stanaway – Car #97
“I wasn’t planning on driving at all today, but I ended up getting a few laps in the fourth practice. For me, it was really useful to get some running in the car instead of just sitting in the garage all day. We had a pretty good couple of runs, but we’re still just trying to find the balance between focusing on the qualifying today and the race setup tomorrow. We still haven’t settled on what we’re going to do with the race setup tomorrow, but we’ll have a good think about it tonight and hopefully what we roll out with tomorrow is fast over a long run.”
Sunday 17/09
Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup – Car #88
Race 23 – First
Championship standings – Third (1967 points)
Shane van Gisbergen/Richie Stanaway – Car #97
Race 23 – Third
Championship standings – Second (2016 points)
Teams’ Championship standings – Second (3953 points)
Broc Feeney – Car #88
“Today was awesome, there’s no other way to describe that feeling. It was pretty special to win today and under the circumstances at the end was very tough. My co-driver Jamie did a fantastic job to get us in the position up the front so we could get clean air, but the safety car got rid of that and it was game on until the end. All the guys in our team did a fantastic job, not only today but the entire weekend. I’m so stoked to be able to stand on the top step today. The circumstances at the end of the race with the safety car made it an exciting end to the race and an even better way to win the race. I tried to use the lap up to get a bit of a jump on the restart, and Brodie (Kostecki) has been fast all weekend, but to hang on makes it even more special.”
Jamie Whincup – Car #88
“The feeling of winning another Sandown 500 is incredible. I’ve always said that is doesn’t matter if you cross the line or you’re a co-driver, it’s still the same feeling that’s for sure. I don’t think you should underestimate the job Broc did in the last stint. That was as tough as it gets with all three cars breathing down his neck and it was a true four-way battle. To keep your nerve at a huge event like the Sandown 500 is very difficult and he did a fantastic job. I obviously can’t thank the team enough. We had fast cars this weekend, and that’s the biggest thing you can do because it makes the strategy a little bit easier. A big congratulations to the entire crew at Triple Eight Race Engineering who clocked up 250 race wins this weekend a few weeks after our 20th anniversary. What a day.”
Shane van Gisbergen – Car #97
“We had a good race today. I thought our car setup could have been a little bit better, but overall, it was pretty good. Richie did a good job, and we probably missed the safety car call a bit – we could have made it in so we didn’t have to double stack which hurt us a bit. After that, all the good work Richie did during the race he had to do again. Once I got in, I came out in a pretty good spot, and every time Andrew (Edwards, #97 race engineer) dropped the right amount of fuel in and I came out in clean air and was able to do my thing, but I didn’t quite have enough at the end.”
Richie Stanaway – Car #97
“It’s really cool to be racing this weekend, and I’m looking forward to the next event in Bathurst now rather than being at home watching it on TV which I’ve been pretty used to over the last couple of years. Usually when you come to Sandown as a co-driver, you’re sort of sitting back and have a very different role, but coming here this weekend, I had a different mentality knowing I’m going to be in the category next year and driving at the end of these enduros. It’s been incredible to be a part of this team, and I couldn’t ask for a much better garage to be in. I’ve loved every minute of it. I only get two goes with this team, and it would be a shame to waste it by not getting on the podium at both events. It wasn’t an easy race, but we go there in the end.”
