Sandown played host for round 7 of the Logitech G pro Invitational Series with the opening round of the endurance cup sure delivering action up and down the field.

161 laps around the physically demanding Victorian based circuit proved tough on all driver pairings. With some withstanding what was thrown at them better than others.

The 20 minute qualifying session proved highly contested yet again. SSR & TTR traded blows in qualifying, locking out the top eight positions with Andrew Gilliam/Jobe Stewart being the first non TTR/SSR cars, placing their Pursuit Commodore in 9th.

SSR/Boost mobile racing’s Jarrad Filsell/Dayne Warren took pole position starting alongside TTR’s pairing of Ethan Warren/ Michael Healy on the front row.
Brodie Kostecki/ Cooper Murray placed their SSR/ Boost Mobile machine in third, followed by TTR’s Madison Down in fourth, electing to start his co-driver Aaron Borg. The top five was rounded out by Brady Meyers/ Emily Jones in the #22 TTR entry.

Qualifying definitely wasn’t short of controversy, with many cars being warned for impeding, also noted was a major qualifying crash between Henry James Racing driver Chris Coxhead and SSR’s Jordan Ross. Ross being forced to tow meaning he was excluded from qualifying & forced to start from the back row.

Jarrad filsell elected to start the #94, finding a clean getaway taking control of the field into turn one closely followed by Ethan Warren. A blinding start from Fawzan El- Nabi saw the driver of the #55 momentarily slot into third, before running wide and rejoining behind stablemate Brodie Kostecki in fourth.

Further down the field drama began from the outset, with Griffin Gardiner’s Co-Driver Damon Woods finding the rear of Glen Postlethwaite’s #58 Commodore on the entry of turn one, sparking one of the biggest lap one accidents we’ve seen this season. Caught in the mess was TTR’s Ross Rizzo who Through no fault of his own found himself facing the wrong direction on the exit of turn one, only to be collected by his TTR teammate Kurt Stenberg. Ultimately the damage sustained for Ross on the opening lap may of contributed to their engine expiring whilst Richard was at the wheel on lap 34. This untimely engine failure only worsened what has already been a difficult season for Hamstead who firmly sits outside the top ten in the championship as a result.

Jake Burton along with teammate Jordan Sibberas found themselves in the action early also, Jordan being rotated into the wall on the exit of turn 5 by Bradley Vaughn, resulting in a penalty for Vaughn. This put an end to the day of Burton/Sibberas early, circulating for the remainder of the race finishing in 29th.

As the green flag running continued, there were a number of drivers making their way thought the field. One of which was the pairing of Marcello Rivera and Robert Gibbs. An impressive first stint from Gibbs set up a strong day for the #21 Evolution Racing team machine, moving up a stunning ten positions in the opening stages of the race. Their form would continue throughout the day with Marcello wheeling the Car home inside the top ten from twenty fourth on the grid. A impressive sign of what’s to come for the remaining round of the endurance cup.

The race remained relatively quiet throughout the middle stages with the Filsell/Warren pairing proving to be relatively unmatched throughout the day. The co drivers mainly took centre stage in this phase of the race, many impressing throughout their stints.

The likes of Josh Muggleton, Jobe Stewart & Cooper Murray were the benchmark in their respective co-driver stints, consistently lapping within a fraction of their lead drivers laptimes. Other notable performances included the likes of V8 newcomer Gianni Lutzu, showing he can mix it with some highly credited drivers during his stints.

As the lack of safety cars became evident, drivers settled into their rhythms and continued to tick off the laps. The final Pit stop window opened on lap 117, seeing a number of cars dive to the lane to complete the final pit stop.

Emily Jones was the first of the front runners to complete the final pit stop, handing the car over to Brady Meyers in a respectable 5th position for the run to the flag. Corey Shepherd was next to follow on lap 121, trailed closely by Brodie Kostecki on lap 126, interestingly handing his car back over to Cooper Murray to complete the remaining laps.

Dayne Warren lead the field home for a commanding victory alongside Jarrad Filsell, taking the checkered flag in just over 3 hours. The remaining podium places belonged to Rosella & El-Nabi in second along with Kostecki & Murray in third making it an all SSR podium.

Pursuit Sim Racing had a impressive race coming home 4th, followed closely behind by TTR’s Jake Maloney rounding out the top 5.

With Sandown now complete, we turn out attention to Bathurst. 161 of the most important laps of the year. With what we’ve seen so far in the 2022 endurance cup, Bathurst sure will deliver.

Who will deliver on Australia’s greatest stage? Who will be crowned Bathurst champions? Will it be the combination of Dayne Warren & Jarrad Filsell? Or Will Madison Down return to form and deliver a victory alongside Aaron Borg? Can Pursuit sim racing stand up and deliver like they’ve shown in recent rounds? Or will we see a dark horse deliver a Bathurst upset?

Tune in on the 22/23 of October to see who will etch their name In Bathurst folklore.