Paul Dumbrell wins eventful first co-driver race at Sandown

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Paul Dumbrell claimed victory in an eventful first co-driver only race at the Sandown 500 race weekend.

Pole sitter Cameron Waters headed the field into turn one for Prodrive Racing Australia but made a mistake not long after, seeing team mate Steve Owen claiming the lead.

Dumbrell followed Owen past Waters and put pressure on the Ford driver for the lead. A few laps later and the Holden driver made his move, passing for the lead which he kept to win by over seven seconds.

There was action aplenty during the race with Sebastien Bourdais going off track in turn one after a clash with Webb.

Volvo Polestar Racing co-drivers Chris Pither and Alexandre Prémat had a tough day, with Prémat being involved in an accident with Andrew Jones, dropping down the order, and Pither being spun by British Nissan driver Alex Buncombe.

Owen and Waters made it to Fords on the podium in positions two and three, while Dean Canto finished fourth for Rod Nash Racing.

Tekno Autosports co-driver and team owner Jonathon Webb crossed the line in fifth, with Russell Ingall charging through the field from 12th on the grid to finish sixth.

Tony D’Alberto, Marcos Ambrose, Luke Youlden and Karl Reindler rounded off the top ten.

The results of this race determines the grid for the second qualifying race for the regular drivers.