Photo: V8 Supercars

Ford dominate Sandown 500 race to claim a 1-2

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Prodrive Racing Australia made the most of the first V8 Supercars endurance race of 2015 by claiming a double victory at the Sandown 500 with Mark Winterbottom clinching victory just 0.6596 seconds ahead of team mate Chaz Mostert after 161 laps.

The duo started second and third with co-drivers Steve Owen and Cameron Waters behind Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell.

The Holden duo kept the lead for the majority of the race but fell down the order after sustaining a puncture right after a pit stop, finishing down in 15th position.

Tekno Autosports driver Shane van Gisbergen was involved in the fight for the lead with the Ford duo, but made a mistake, ran wide and dropped to third position.

The Holden Racing Team duo of Garth Tander and Warren Luff were right on the rear bumper of van Gisbergen at the very end of the race, but had to settle for fourth, with the Rod Nash Racing duo of David Reynolds and Dean Canto in fifth.

The Volvo Polestar Racing duo of Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Prémat got into drama early in the race as the hose to the airjacks was left in the car when Prémat exited the pits. The duo was awarded a drive through penalty and lost a lap on the leaders that McLaughlin later got back during a safety car period, but finished down in 14th position.

There were a number of incidents during the race, including Nissan Motorsport driver Alex Buncombe going into the tyre barrier at turn nine, causing a brief safety car period. Another safety car period came as a bolt was found on track in one of the fastest corners.

Tim Slade and Tony D’Alberto claimed position six, ahead of the Walkinshaw Racing entry of Lee Holdsworth and Sebastien Bourdais in seventh position.

Winterbottom has extended his championship lead to 2215 points, leading team mate Mostert by 198 points while Reynolds sits in third position, 360 points behind the leader. Craig Lowndes, who finished 13th in the race today, is fourth on 1792 points while his team mate Whincup has dropped down to eighth position behind Van Gisbergen.