Sandown 500

V8 supercar race
Race_name = Just Car Insurance 500
Circuit_link = Sandown Raceway
Circuit_name = Sandown International Raceway
Race1_laps = 161
Race1_distance = 500
Race2_laps =
Race2_distance =
Race3_laps =
Race3_distance =
Last_race_year = 2007
Last_race_link = 2007 Sandown 500
Winning_driver = Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes
Winning_team = TeamVodafone
Winning_manuf = FordThe Sandown 500 was a touring car race held annually at Sandown Raceway near Melbourne, Australia.

The event was first run in 1964 and has been held in all but four years up until its end in 2007: 1966, 1967, 1999 and 2000 and it has been a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series each year since 2003. It was typically held in September, the month before the season's other main endurance race, the Bathurst 1000.

The original two races were for production based sedans and was substantially longer than later iterations of the race. When the race was revived after its first hiatus in 1968 it then began its long time role as a warm-up event for the Bathurst 1000, following them same technical regulations, which, until 1973, were not the Touring car regulations of the day.

The second hiatus in the races history occurred in 1999 when a Queensland government supported bid centred on Queensland Raceway saw the 500 kilometre co-driver endurance race shift north as the Queensland 500, although Sandown maintined a slot on the V8 Supercar series calendar.

The Sandown 500 race was revived again in 2001, returning to its roots as a race for production cars, although by linking regulations with Australian Nations Cup Championship, a GT category, as well as the Australian GT Production Car Championship saw considerably more exotic cars than 1964's Alfa Romeos. By 2003, new owners of Queensland Raceway had tired of the relative expense of the 500 kilometre endurance race format, allowing Sandown to reclaim the event and the Production Car 500 race was abandoned after only two runnings to allow for V8 Supercars return.

After a change of promotor of Sandown Raceways motorsport activities, a changed V8 Supercar calendar has seen Sandown allocated a sprint round and the 500 kilometre event moved to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the 2008 season.Cite web|url=http://www.v8supercar.com.au/content/latest_news/32672637-Big-bang-V8-Supercar-farewell-for-grand-old-lady-in-2008/|title=Big bang V8 Supercar farewell for grand old lady in 2008|accessdate=2008-01-23|date= 2007-10-06|publisher=Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series]

Past winners

"* The .05 (pronounced "point-oh-five") in the event name for 1989 was part of a Government campaign targeting drink-driving; 0.05% is the legal blood alcohol content limit in Australia."

[cite web |url=http://www.clubsonline.com.au/custompage/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_main&CategoryID=46&orgid=30&cfid=3955737&cftoken=29695263&dts=22102006131152 |title=Betta Electrical Sandown 500 History |accessdate=2006-10-22 ] [cite web |url=http://www.sandownraceway.com.au/History.htm?fuseaction=display_main&CategoryID=46&orgid=30&cfid=3955737&cftoken=29695263&dts=22102006131152 |title=Sandown International Motor Raceway:The History of Sandown |accessdate=2006-10-30 ] [ Official Programme, International 6 Hour Touring Car Race, Sunday, November 21, 1965]

References

External links

* [http://www.justcarinsurance500.com.au/ Just Car Insurance 500] Official event website