Jack Daniel’s Racing heads to the Dick Smith Sandown 500 this weekend for the traditional Bathurst curtain raiser, which has returned to its spiritual home after a five-year absence.
The team is confident of a strong showing after a positive two-day test at Winton Raceway and a brilliant performance the last time the V8 Supercar Championship visited the suburban Melbourne circuit.
In Race 25 of the 2011 V8 Supercar Championship, Jack Daniel’s Racing’s Rick Kelly survived treacherous wet conditions and kept a hard-charging James Courtney at bay to collect his third race win of the 2011 season. Brother Todd also survived a late race battle with Shane van Gisbergen and Will Davison to finish third and join Rick on the podium.
The last time Sandown hosted the V8 Supercar endurance race in 2007, Rick and Paul Radisich missed victory by less than three seconds to Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, while the previous year Rick and Todd teamed up to finish 2nd in the 500.
While Rick is yet to etch his name on the Sandown endurance trophy, Todd’s name appears alongside that of Mark Skaife, as winners in 2003.
Celebrating its 50th year, Sandown has seen many of the worlds leading F1 drivers compete there including, Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and our own Jack Brabham. Even five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio has driven at Sandown, when was reunited with his Mercedes Grand Prix car for a demonstration run, at the Jubilee AGP meeting.
Sandown is equally famous for its touring car events that began back in 1964, with an international six-hour touring car race, (won by an Alfa Romeo) and the precursor to what is now the 500.
This year sees the unique format of two qualifying races (for this race only), in addition to the usual practice and qualifying sessions.
Todd Kelly – “I am looking forward to the 500 this weekend. The enduros are always good and we’ve got a good bunch drivers on board. We have enjoyed a fair bit of success over the years and after a very good two-day test at Winton recently, I think we can look forward to a competitive race”.
Rick Kelly – “I can’t wait for the enduros and their very different format. We are heading back to Sandown, which has been a happy hunting ground for us last year getting our third win. We’ve got a fantastic co-driver in Dave Russell, a good team and confidence heading into this weekend after a very productive test at Winton recently. The endurances are our chance to sneak a little further forward in the championship”.
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
Length: 3.1 kilometres
Direction: Anti-clockwise
Average speed: 164km/h
Top Speed: 270km/h
Lap Record: Garth Tander 1m09.8573sec
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AFTER RACE 19
1 Jamie Whincup 2238
2 Mark Winterbottom 2237
3 Will Davison 2116
4 Craig Lowndes 2084
5 Shane Van Gisbergen 1634
6 Garth Tander 1527
7 Tim Slade 1464
8 Fabian Coulthard 1432
9 Lee Holdsworth 1286
10 David Reynolds 1179
15 Todd Kelly 1082
16 Rick Kelly 1057
EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday September 14th
Practice 1 1015-1055
Practice 2 1200-1245
Practice 3 1400-1440
Saturday September 15th
Practice 4 0940-1020
Qualifying 1140-1200
Qualifying Race 1 20 laps 1445
Qualifying Race 2 20 laps 1638
Sunday September 16th
Warm up 1015-1035
Race 161 laps – 500km 1335
TELECAST TIMES
Channel 7
Saturday September 15th
Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne 1400-1730
Adelaide 1330-1700
Perth 1200-1530
Sunday September 16th
Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne 1300-1730
Adelaide 1230-1700
Perth 1100-1530
