It was another controlled display from the Phillip Island winners, who held their nerve while chaos unfolded across 161 laps at the Home of Horsepower.

Veld’s Magical Lap

The event began with one of the moments of the season. In slippery and unpredictable conditions, Hayden Veld stunned the field by setting a 1:07.749 to claim Playseat Pole Position, his first ever in the V8PRO Invitational Series.

“I grabbed a Coke, came back and saw I was still on top,” Veld laughed afterward. “I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, that’s the best lap I’ve ever put together.”

Even the second qualifying group could not get close as the track lost pace. It was a breakout performance and a popular story before the race had even begun.

A Slippery Start to a Long Night

Race day brought classic Melbourne weather. The track was half dry, half wet, with puddles still sitting on the grid boxes as the field formed up.

When the lights went out, grip was at a premium. Several cars struggled off the line, and contact in the midfield sent cars skating across the grass through turn one. Hayden Veld lead from Pole and managed the pace at the front of the field for the majority of the opening portion. By lap 30, the first Safety Car was deployed, bringing momentary calm to the field after a fast paced opening stint to the race..

From there, the tone was set. Teams jumped early into their first stops, handing over to co-drivers and reshuffling strategy for what was already shaping up as a long and unpredictable race.

Mid-Race Mayhem

Once racing resumed, the front pack lit up. Reuben Goodall struggled to keep the ERT #53 at the pointy end of the field as the battle between Filsell/Kostecki, Burton/Anderson, Woods/Lutzu, and Rosella/McMillan was relentless, with positions changing at every restart and pit cycle.

The conditions never truly stabilised. Damp patches remained off-line as light rain fell, catching drivers out throughout the night. On lap 38 Corey McFarlane who had been particularly aggressive and moving forward in the opening stages ran off the track at turn 4. Moments later Rehn Campbell had a technical failure heading down the back stretch causing a high speed incident that ended his race and involved several drivers, particularly Lochie Dalton who was aboard Matt Bowlers #18 Camaro.

The stop start affair continued as reliability became the main talking point throughout the race with several cars including Corey McFarlane, Dylan O'Keeffe and Ewan Baker all suffering engine failures and bringing out safety cars. Notably, all three drivers were codrivers, shining light on the importance of the experience gained from the regular full time drivers in the field. The race never found a long rhythm, and each yellow flag brought another round of fuel and tyre gambles.

Light rain began to fall throughout the middle stages of the race as drivers pushed on with on warm slick tyres and gambled with cold new ones during a round of green flag pit stops.

“The track was never one thing or the other,” said Griffin Gardiner. “You’d be flat through one corner one lap, then fighting the rear the next. It kept everyone honest.”

The Turning Point

By the halfway mark, the race had turned into a game of strategy. Filsell and Kostecki stayed slightly off-sequence, choosing to run longer in their middle stints. It proved to be the move that would win them the race.

When Baker brought out another Safety Car around lap 110, the timing could not have been better for the #94 team. They dived in for service and cycled out in clear air while others were stuck in traffic.

“That yellow was huge for us,” Kostecki said. “It fell perfectly. Once we had the lead, we just needed to manage it to the end.”

From there, the #94 Mustang became the car to beat.

The Run to the Flag

The final stint was pure endurance racing. Fuel numbers were tight, tyres were fading, and the chasing pack smelled blood. Damon Woods was right there applying pressure, while Gardiner charged from deep in the field to put himself back in podium contention.

Inside the Lobs eSports garage, it was tense. Filsell was dealing with minor screen freezes and hardware issues, but he never cracked.

“There were a few little gremlins at the end,” Filsell admitted. “My screen froze twice, which made me sweat a bit, but we held on. After that, it was just about keeping calm and not overdriving.”

Behind him, Woods and Gardiner kept pushing. The battle for the podium was fierce as Rosella and McMillan made a late charge of their own after climbing from the back half of the field.

A late five-second penalty for the #55 car added another twist, reshuffling the order but not changing the race winner. After more than three hours of racing, Filsell crossed the line first to secure the team’s second straight 500-kilometre triumph.

Podium and Standout Drives

Woods and Gardiner claimed brilliant podium finishes after staying in contention all night. Rosella and McMillan were bumped off the podium but still with one of the drives of the race, recovering from a lowly grid position to finish inside the top three.

Further back, Jake Burton and Josh Anderson were unlucky not to reach the podium after leading early, while Beau Albert earned valuable championship points with a clean run that kept him in the fight for a top 20 finish in the standings.

Eyes Toward the Mountain

With two rounds remaining, including the season’s biggest race at Bathurst, momentum is firmly with Filsell and Kostecki. The pair have swept both 500s and now hold the upper hand heading into Mount Panorama.

“To win both 500s feels pretty special,” Filsell said after the race. “We’ve had good pace all year, but these Enduro Cup rounds are something else. Bathurst will be the big one, and we’ll be ready.”

After a wild night at Sandown, all roads now lead to The Mountain for the 2025 Bathurst 1000, where the championship, the Enduro Cup, and bragging rights for the season will all be on the line.