[iV8SC12R20] Dick Smith Sandown 500, VIC 14-16 Sept

[Razor]

The "Season of Endurance" heads back to it's traditional starting homeland of Sandown International Raceway for the 500km event.

Mostly a stop-start type of circuit like Albert Park GP, Sandown International Raceway rewards people with top end speed with it's long back straight and decent stopping power with the sweeping left hander at turn 6, the right hand 90 degree corner at turn 1 and the awesome action shot and good passing spot that is the chicane and 90 degree left hand complex that makes turns 2, 3 and 4. Another characteristic of the track is that teams can get away with running less camber on the front tyres than usual, (usually by about 1-2 degrees less) so handling and suspension is not a real issue.

Qualifying gets a spruce up with the usual 20 minute qualifying session is for any driver in a combination and will sort the grid line-up for the first sprint race. The first sprint will be for the nominated co-driver, with the finishing positions determining the grid for the second sprint where the ‘Primary’ championship drivers take part. The finish positions at the end of the second sprint will determine the grid for the 500km race with the total points combined from both sprint races. Also to note there will be no compulsory pit stops in the sprint races.

Drivers for the event are:

1	TeamVodafone	Jamie Whincup	Paul Dumbrell	Holden VE II
2	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Nick Percat	Holden VE II
3	Team Hiflex	Tony D’Alberto	Dale Wood	Ford FG
4	Irwin Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Craig Baird	Ford FG
5	Orrcon Steel FPR Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Steven Richards	Ford FG
6	Tradingpost FPR Ford	Will Davison	John McIntyre	Ford FG
7	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Tim Blanchard	Holden VE II
8	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Andrew Jones	Holden VE II
9	SP Tools Racing	Shane van Gisbergen	Luke Youlden	Ford FG
11	Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing	Karl Reindler	Daniel Gaunt	Holden VE II
12	Jim Beam Racing	Dean Fiore	Matthew Halliday	FG
14	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	David Besnard	Holden VE II
15	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	David Russell	Holden VE II
17	Jim Beam Racing	Steven Johnson	Allan Simonsen	Ford FG
18	Team Norton DJR	James Moffat	Alex Davison	Ford FG
19	Tekno Autosports	Jonathon Webb	Scott McLaughlin	Holden VE II
21	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Chris Pither	Holden VE II
22	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Cameron McConville	Holden VE II
30	Team iSelect	Taz Douglas	Scott Pye	Holden VE II
33	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Alexandre Premat	Jack Perkins	Holden VE II
34	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Michael Caruso	Greg Ritter	Holden VE II
47	Lucky 7 Racing	Tim Slade	Andrew Thompson	Ford FG
49	V.I.P. Petfoods	Steve Owen	Paul Morris	Ford FG
51	Pepsi Max Crew	Greg Murphy	Owen Kelly	Holden VE II
55	The Bottle-O FPR Ford	David Reynolds	Dean Canto	Ford FG
66	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Christian Klien	Holden VE II
91	Tekno Autosports	Michael Patrizi	Jonny Reid	Holden VE II
888	TeamVodafone	Craig Lowndes	Warren Luff	Holden VE II

The usual suspects will be strong, although I must admit having Paul Dumbrell is a rather odd choice. Now he can be a solid driver at times and personally he's a really nice guy but he has a reputation of not stringing in good results and has a habit of either contacting barriers or other cars. Toll HRT and BJR are also a good bet with these two teams usually having something special lined up with the enduros. (plus there is extra focus on BJR with Sandown being one of the tracks that former BJR driver; the late Jason Richards favoured and had good results at) Dark horses will be the Kelly Racing squad with Rick Kelly winning last year's single driver event and Greg Murphy usually going quite good in the enduros, (I would normally put him in contention but with several months out, I class him as a "dark horse") SBR with their quick pace and GRM with their past decent results come enduro time.

Session times (AEST, please check local guides for times in your area)

Session	Bigpond Dashboard Timing	V8 Supercar Mobile App	Bigpond Streaming	Channel Seven
Friday 14 September	Practice 1	11:15 - 11:55	11:15 - 11:55
Practice 2	13:05 - 13:45	13:05 - 13:45
Practice 3	15:00 - 15:40	15:00 - 15:40
Saturday 15 September
Practice 4	10:40 - 11:20	10:40 - 11:20
Qualifying	12:40 - 13:00	12:40 - 13:00	12:40 - 13:00	14:00 - 17:30
Qualifying Race 1	15:45 - 16:15	15:45 - 16:15	15:45 - 16:15	14:00 - 17:30
Qualifying Race 2	16:38 - 17:15	16:38 - 17:15	16:38 - 17:15	14:00 - 17:30
Sunday 16 September
V8 XTRA				12:30 - 13:00
Warm Up	11:15 - 11:35	11:15 - 11:35		13:00 - 17:30
Race 20	13:35 - 17:15	13:35 - 17:15	13:35 - 17:15	13:00 - 17:30

[sizzle]

Got a bit to go to match Frostie in the F1 forum but good job.

BJRs weak link will be the speed of the 2nd steerers.

It will be interesting to see if the resurgence of the Supercheap car continues.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by sizzle

BJRs weak link will be the speed of the 2nd steerers.

They arent alone on that though...

Funnily enough, you might see the quicker of the 3 'BJR' co-pilots come from the customer car

[Razor]

Originally Posted by sizzle

Got a bit to go to match Frostie in the F1 forum but good job.

Thanks sizzle.

[JT.]

my dark horses are car 34 & car 14 if Besie doesn't bin it.

[FAS33]

was this copied and pasted?

[TSR]

As much as I want Frosty to win, I tend to think that Richo will be his weakest link at Sandown & Bathurst, so Will & John Mac will be my pick now.

As long as the blue oval win who cares.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by FAS33

was this copied and pasted?

In terms of what?

[Gaz170]

Originally Posted by JT.

14 if Besie doesn't bin it.

Going on past history, this is quite likely. If not, expect some other stupid error to take them out of contention.

[ForumNick]

...

[coln72]

Anyone got a link to an event schedule. Can only find one that lists the V8's and not the supports

[Rachel Richards]

Originally Posted by coln72

Anyone got a link to an event schedule. Can only find one that lists the V8's and not the supports

Try THIS ONE but prepare to be dissapointed with a lack of supports.

I also believe that as part of the return of the BBQ's there will be designated "Safety Officers" enforcing THIS POLICY

I also have a bit of a scoop !

An past ten-tenths poster may have been appointed as one of the aforementioned safety officers !

I wonder if he will get in for his chop !

[coln72]

Originally Posted by Rachel Richards

Try THIS ONE but prepare to be dissapointed with a lack of supports.

Excellent, just what I needed. Need to travel 3 hours to get to the circuit, so I wanted to know the start times so I didn't miss anything, have to get up tooooooo early or put up with my kids sooking about nothing being on.

Cheers

[Axeman444]

Nice OP Razor, GTRMagic needs to lift his game now

except for this

Originally Posted by Razor

the right hand 90 degree corner at turn 1

agree with thoughts on PD.
My Potentials: 2, 5, 6, 9, 22, 47, 55, 66, 888
Might get on podium via a weird Strategy Call: 8, 14, 17, 18, 34, 49
Strong but not strong enough to trouble the podium: 1, 4, 7, 15, 19
The rest...

Biggest underachievement vs potential: Car 1

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by Axeman444

Nice OP Razor, GTRMagic needs to lift his game now

except for this

agree with thoughts on PD.
My Potentials: 2, 5, 6, 9, 22, 47, 55, 66, 888
Might get on podium via a weird Strategy Call: 8, 14, 17, 18, 34, 49
Strong but not strong enough to trouble the podium: 1, 4, 7, 15, 19
The rest...

Biggest underachievement vs potential: Car 1

your actually suggesting that Jamie Whincup cant get on the podium?

I will just point out that PD beat JW in race 1 at sandown last year (but yes not so good in race 2)

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Axeman444

Nice OP Razor, GTRMagic needs to lift his game now

except for this

agree with thoughts on PD.
My Potentials: 2, 5, 6, 9, 22, 47, 55, 66, 888
Might get on podium via a weird Strategy Call: 8, 14, 17, 18, 34, 49
Strong but not strong enough to trouble the podium: 1, 4, 7, 15, 19
The rest...

Biggest underachievement vs potential: Car 1

Turn 1 is a right hander, just flipped over.

[Axeman444]

Originally Posted by peckstar

your actually suggesting that Jamie Whincup cant get on the podium?

with his listed co-driver that is exactly what I am saying. I thought what i wrote was quite clear and obvious?

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by Axeman444

with his listed co-driver that is exactly what I am saying. I thought what i wrote was quite clear and obvious?

thats fine

just thinking its a weird thing to say. not sure why he would be rated worse than many of the drivers out there.

Sandown is the one track wheer PD has shown form in recent years.

With the benefit of a triple 8 car and Jamie driving the bulk of the race. I would think they are the genuine favourites and also the most likely to win

[ford71]

Dumbrell won his first and only race at Sandown in 2010.

I know because I saw it with my own eyes.

[dsg]

Originally Posted by ford71

Dumbrell won his first and only race at Sandown in 2010.

I know because I saw it with my own eyes.

This is true I saw it on television with my own eyes too.

[peckstar]

Originally Posted by dsg

This is true I saw it on television with my own eyes too.

just to be clear as you used an ambiguous word "it"

Is ist true that you saw ford 71 watch dumbrell win on tv with your own eyes

or is true that you saw dumbrell win Sandown on TV with your own eyes

[FAS33]

or could it be that he saw ford71 on t.v watching Dumbrell win Sandown in 2010...with his own eyes

[Bugger All]

Originally Posted by FAS33

or could it be that he saw ford71 on t.v watching Dumbrell win Sandown in 2010...with his own eyes

Or it could be that the Sandown raceway is actually on dsg's television set (yes that would be a very big screen tv) and he saw ford71 watch the win happen literally ON his tv???

[GTRMagic]

Next thing you will be telling us that the moon landings were real

Back to the topic.. there are some doubts as to the speed, consistency & reliability of many of the 2nd pilots in certainly the top 4 cars from FPR & 888...

Mr Dumbrell has previously run hot and cold, blindingly quick when he is on 'it' and disappointingly slow when he is not. Not necessarily a strategic thinker behind the wheel, perhaps the 'lightbulb' driver management strategy at 888 will suit him best, being told what to do with driver-tweakable settings, with how to drive the car etc...

Mr Luff has been a codriver in a number of teams, but lacks 2012 match fitness... awesome times in the drift car at Eastern Creek earlier this year not withstanding... This might be the better pairing of the two...

Mr Richards has seemingly not demonstrated a raw speed in his Carrera Cup running to suggest that he will be able to trouble the lap records. A safe pair of hands usually, doesnt mean the outright speed will be there.

Mr McIntyre is an undoubted talent, running very well in his home country's racing series'. But this is significantly more intense... and with a lead driver that is sometimes on "it" and other times wondering where 'it' went... it will be hard to fathom a great result here.

There are equally as many possible issues in the other garages as you wander down the entry list. One of the more interesting pairings might be Mr Thompson and Mr Slade... if the car 'works' and the two pilots are in the zone.. this could be a bloody quick pairing all day. Or not. So goes the fickle nature of trying to find a sweetspot...

Who will win this thing?

A $5 for a place on #66... the pensioner and the F1 jockey...

Whatddaya reckon?

[Mixer]

Pretty good wrapup GTR.

I sure hope Dumbrell doesn't bin it just as the championship is getting interesting.

My money is on Luffy & Lowndes. Question marks over all the FPR cars for speed, but Richo should be able to keep it together, but there's no lunchtime stint anymore.

Definitely #66 and #14 are my roughies. Bezzy has always done alright come enduro time. #8 could go well here too.