THE SANDOWN 500 RETURNS

THE SANDOWN 500 RETURNS

It was a huge week for Penrite Oil and Penrite Racing as we hosted the return of the iconic Penrite Oil Sandown 500. In the lead up to the event we worked closely with Allan Moffat OBE and Dementia Australia to reimagine the famous Allan Moffat 1979 Federation XC Falcon livery on our Penrite Racing Mustangs.

Cars 19 and 26, a reference to the year 1926 when Penrite Oil was established, both donned the historic livery which proved to be a fan favourite. With a stellar driver line-up and team the Penrite Racing Mustangs fought back from being off the pace in early practice on Friday to an impressive starting position on Sunday with P7 for Matthew Paybe and Kévin Estre in Car 19 and P8 for David Reynolds and Garth Tander in Car 26.

Payne and Estre, the fastest Ford pair, took out P6 and the fastest lap of the race whilst Garth Tander suffered a suspected wheel nut failure whilst running in a commanding 4th position early in the race. 

With a resurgence in crowd numbers nearing 70,000, the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 was a great success with a rare sunbathed Sandown weekend providing the perfect conditions to enjoy the return of the Sandown 500. 

TEAM QUOTES

Matt Payne – Car #19

“We finished second in the warm-up and Kevin and I started 7th for the race. He did an awesome job and got us up to 3rd after his first two stints. He got out lap 55 and I was not so strong in my first stint; probably lost a little bit of time and the car didn’t quite come together how I wanted it to. The second last stint was really good and the car was much better for me. I made up a lot of time so we were sitting around 5th and then the last stop we lost a bit of time and ended up coming out 6th. I was trying to push to get closer to 5th but the safety car came out. That hampered our progress, and we started with the rear tyres a little bit too cold. There were a couple of lapped cars around as well but we still finished 6th and I am incredibly happy. It is a solid result for us at Sandown and I can’t thank the team enough; they did an awesome job over the weekend. The car performed flawlessly for #19 and we can’t wait for Bathurst!”

Garth Tander – car #19

“For car 26, it started out a good day, we were fastest in the warm-up and the car was really strong early, but unfortunately we had an issue and the wheel came loose about lap 20; it came off and sent me in the fence. It’s a shame for the team because we made up some good spots early in the race. The car speed was really good and we were cruising in the early part of the race. Unfortunately we didn’t get to the end of the first stint or even get Dave in the car which is disappointing but we are keen to get to Bathurst!”