Reigning Sandown 500 Champions TeamVodafone have embraced the inaugural three race sprint format with drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes dominant in qualifying and Race 1 at Round 5 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Sandown International Raceway today.

Whincup, who was fourth fastest in yesterday’s practice sessions set a new qualifying record with a time of 1.09.6987, before taking victory in the first of three 39 Lap races.

The TeamVodafone driver got a sensational start, immediately pulling a gap on fellow Ford driver Mark Winterbottom. A perfect pitstop placed him back on track in the lead and he drove a smooth, faultless race to finish nearly three seconds ahead of the FPR driver and Lowndes.

In rejoicing his tenth V8 Supercar career race win, Whincup acknowledged his opposition would make improvements ahead of tomorrow’s two races.

“Everything is running to plan,” said Whincup. “The car was great, our strategy was spot on and there were no mistakes.”

“As I have only ever raced a V8 Supercar at this track in an endurance format, it was important for me to get a good result today.”

“We still have two races tomorrow so we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Whincup continued. “We will do some more work tonight to make sure we stay in front, as we know our rivals will also make some improvements.

After qualifying seventh teammate Craig Lowndes had an eventful race, struggling with radio communications early on and with involved in a number of on track scuffles.

“I got a reasonable start and managed to slip through the first lap mayhem unscathed,” said Lowndes.

“Things really got interesting from the pitstop onwards and I had a few close battles and nervous moments.”

“We still need to find a bit more drive but I am pleased to be starting up the front for Race 2 tomorrow,” he added.

The final two 39 Lap V8 Supercars races will be held at 12.15pm (AEST) and 4.05pm tomorrow.

Top Ten Race 1 Results

1. Jamie Whincup, 100pts
2. Mark Winterbottom, 92pts
3. Craig Lowndes, 86pts
4. Russell Ingall, 80pts
5. Garth Tander, 74pts
6. James Courtney, 68pts
7. Rick Kelly, 64pts
8. Fabian Couthard, 60pts
9. Shane Van Gisbergen, 56pts
10. Mark Skaife, 52pts