Melbourne: Start Your Engines
Start your engines, Melbourne, for this weekend’s Norton 360 Sandown Challenge. Luckily there were no seriously damaged V8 Supercars at Tassie, particularly for Championship leaders Jamie Whincup and James Courtney. It’s nigh on impossible to get a buggered car up to Queensland, fixed, and back to Victoria in the space of less than a week. The northerners have set up camp in Melbourne for the week in anticipation of the penultimate event of the year.
V8 Supercars declared the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge the heritage event for 2010 to celebrate 50 years of the Australian Touring Car Championship but there will be a very contemporary battle going on at Sandown. J-Dub is only 50 points astray from Courtney in the Championship standings while Mark Winterbottom’s win in Tasmania has him 200 points behind the leader. Horsepower counts for a lot at Sandown, something Frosty is not lacking in his Falcon and if he stays ahead of his rivals…
Pic: V8s set to thrill & spill at Sandown
Credit: Justin Deeley
Parade laps of historic cars and memorabilia displays make up part of the activities to celebrate the rich history of Aussie touring cars. The Autobarn Touring Car Masters will be there in all their glory while Matt Hall adds even more vroom to the weekend. The Australian Red Bull Air Race pilot will perform aerobatic displays before each of the races. Hall is a former air force fighter pilot and those who participate in the Air Race World Championship are among the best in the world so he will give the crowd some ripper entertainment. He knows many V8 Supercar fans are also Air Race fans and he hopes to meet as many as possible. And if you keep your eye out you might also spot Cam McConville at Sandown.He has kept busy this year finishing third at Bathurst with Garth Tander, driving in the Fujitsu Series and running his own business, but this weekend he fills in for Mark Beretta as a pitlane reporter.
Those attending the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge should consider buying a grandstand ticket because it entitles fans to a free pitlane walk before the day’s racing begins on both Saturday and Sunday. Grandstand and corporate ticket holders also get free access to the indoor Advantage Bar and Restaurant that boasts great track viewing, TV screens, food and beverage outlets as well as exclusive driver appearances. The Norton 360 Sandown Challenge takes place this weekend, November 19-21.
