Photo: supercars.com

Whincup and Lowndes win Sandown 500 as Scott McLaughlin is champion

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Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes won the Sandown 500 race while DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin secured his second straight Supercars Championship title.

The Triple Eight Race Engineering duo started from pole position but found themselves challenged by team-mates Shane van Gisbergen with co-driver Garth Tander.

Van Gisbergen started from 24th position after retiring from the second qualifying race yesterday following the controversial clash with Anton De Pasquale.

A very strong start to the race saw van Gisbergen climbing 22 places to hand the car over to Tander in second place on lap 72.

As the duo took their final stop on lap 134, van Gisbergen came out in the lead, eight seconds ahead of Whincup.

But the joy did not last as a rear damper of van Gisbergen’s Holden Commodore failed, dropping the duo down to finish 17th, two laps down.

Title rival McLaughlin also started from the back of the grid, this after being hit with a penalty for a controversial engine breach.

The DJR Team Penske driver, who only needed to finish the race to secure the title, recovered to finish ninth after receiving a 15-second time penalty for a refueling infringement, sealing his second straight title.

The Tickford Racing duos of Chaz Mostert/James Moffat and Lee Holdsworth/Thomas Randle claimed second and third respectively thanks to the issues of van Gisbergen.

McLaughlin’s team-mate Fabian Coulthard crossed the finishing line in fourth with co-driver Tony D’Alberto, after being spun in the opening stages of the race by Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Richard Muscat.

Kostecki Brothers Racing driver Jake Kostecki was involved in an incident with Tickford Racing co-driver Michael Caruso. Kostecki shuffled Caruso wide, resulting in the Ford Mustang driver making contact with the wall, sustaining suspension damage. The Kostecki brothers finished down in 16th position.

Scott Pye with Walkinshaw Andretti United co-driver Warren Luff crossed the line in fifth position ahead of the 23Red Racing duo of Will and Alex Davison.

Whincup and Lowndes’ victory handed them the 2019 Pirtek Enduro Cup title.

The next Supercars Championship race takes place on the streets of Newcastle with the season finale on November 22-24th.