Sandown 500 Preview

13 Sep, 2018

This weekend’s Sandown 500 marks the first round of the Pirtek Endurance Cup and the first time Tim Blanchard and Dale Wood will pair up in the #21 Team CoolDrive Supercar as co-drivers.
 
The Sandown 500 is known as the ‘Retro Round’ and Tim is honouring his dad, John Blanchard, by throwing back to his time behind the wheel in the 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship. The yellow, white and red livery which featured on his Logamo Racing #20 BMW M3 Evolution is certainly a showstopper and memorable with many of the old school Supercar fans.
 
All sessions will be LIVE on FOX Sports across the weekend, plus coverage on Channel Ten/One HD. Check your local guides for times.
 
TRACK TIMES 

Friday 14^th September

10:40 – 11:10 – Practice One – Co-Drivers Only

12:30 – 13:00 – Practice Two

15:35 – 16:05 – Practice Three – Co-Drivers Only

Saturday 15^th September

10:10 – 10:25 – Practice Four

11:40 – 12:00 – Qualifying

13:40 – 14:15 – Race for the Grid One

16:15 – 16:50 – Race for the Grid Two

Sunday 16^th September

10:15 – 10:35 – Warm Up

13:20 – 16:50 – Race 24 – 500kms
 
FAST FACTS 
- Track Length – 3.1km // Direction – Anti-Clockwise // Fastest Speed – 270km/h // Average Speed – 165km/h

- Qualifying Lap Record – 1m08.5730s, Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering, Holden VF Commodore, 2014

- Race Lap Record – 1m09.2289s, Chaz Mostert, Prodrive Racing Australia, Ford Falcon FG X, 2017

- Tim is in retro colours for Sandown, honouring the colours his dad, John Blanchard drove in when he competed in the Australian Touring Car Series in 1993

- Only once has the entire field finished a pre-Bathurst 500km endurance race – all 28 starters finished the 2011 Phillip Island 500.

- The greatest number of cars to finish on the lead lap of a Sandown 500 is 20. This was in 2015 and the 20 cars were covered by just over 40 seconds.

- Only three times in the last 31 Sandown enduros has the pole sitting car gone on to win the race. Lowndes/Murphy 1996, Whincup/Dumbrell 2014 and Waters/Stanaway 2017.

- Tim is pairing up with Dale Wood for the Pirtek Endurance Cup. No stranger to the #21 Commodore!
 
MEET TIM -  

Friday 14^th September

10:00 – 10:15 @ Team CoolDrive Stand, Merchandise Alley

Saturday 15^th September

9:00 -9:15 @ Team CoolDrive Stand, Merchandise Alley

Sunday 16^th September 

11:30 – 12:00 – Autograph Session @ front of Team CoolDrive Transporter