Four years would pass before the first wins of the Holden and Ford era would begin. Tony Roberts and Bob Watson would drive 116 laps to win a 3 hour race aboard a Holden HK Monaro in 1984 on a track very different to what we drive today.

Whilst the length and manufacturers are different today, the echoes can still be seen in some of the liveries we’ll see on cars today.

In the sim world the names of Moffat, Bond, Brock, Murphy, Bowe, Johnson, Lowndes are echoed with our own versions. Down, Filsell, Burton, Meyers, Gilliam, Rudd, Woods, Rattray-White. The time period of the sim world may be shorter, but some of these names have already earned their place.

Others have another opportunity that beckons.

161 Laps is a number synonymous with Endurance Racing in this country. V8’s and challenging fences, kerbs, gutters, rises and falls.

Before you can take on a track of 6.2km in length, you must take its pint sized cousin for just as many times past the post.

The challenge with a shorter track is there’s less opportunity to show your pace, your talent, your opportunity and that line whizzes past much faster. Does that make winning at Sandown more or less important? Well… If it wasn’t for the mountain standing in the way the jury might still be out.

This is a critical juncture as well in terms of chasing the finals. One-third of the double points delivered. One-third directly in front of you on Friday night, and one more third to come make this crunch time if you want an opportunity to lift a championship at Adelaide in December.

But enough of the future, what about the present.

2026 - 500km - 161 Laps

Much the same as at Phillip Island you’ve got to try and connect the dots to make the strategy work. 54 laps is the minimum required for each individual driver but the kicker is that you only get 48 laps to a tank.

You can only have your driver run 80 laps consecutively as well, so about the best way to piece it together is to have your main driver start, get out of the car around lap 27-30 and then any safety car after 5 laps into the stint enables you to come back in for a top up and get their laps done by 81-84.

However, the issue becomes timing a driver swap and tire swap within those options. 57 Litres of fuel covers that driver swap, which equates to a touch less than 21 Laps of fuel.

With that in mind fuel to the end can be done by lap 113, critical lap for Main Drivers returning is 81, and then that links with the strategy as above! Easy… If everything works.

Safety cars are the bane of strategists' existence. We’ve got a chance of random safety cars and that just muddles the mixture.

In the meantime who is driving well? Currently Andrew Gilliam has increased that points lead again, but I would say over an extended period he just hasn’t strung results together at Sandown. Then again, Gilly has never been the big result kind of guy. Quietly punching away, sure but he’s going to need some wins before the end of the year.

Emily Jones and Rehan Liyanage were the surprise pairing at the Island. This has catapulted Jones to 3rd in the championship and the closest TTR have been to Jarrad Filsell in this era. Again, the rub of form is strong right now but Jones has been great at Phillip Island previously, less so at Sandown.

So where do we look? In a rain affected race last year Hayden Veld became another potential to grab some glory. It wasn’t to be, and rain isn’t in the offering this year, but offering Veld as a prospect raises an interesting point.

We’ve only had a single repeat winner at the Sandown 500:

• 2022 Jarrad Filsell and Dayne Warren
• 2023 Luke Rosella and Harley Haber
• 2024 Griffin Gardiner and Dylan Birse
• 2025 Jarrad Filsell and Brodie Kostecki

Four Unique pairings, with Filsell the only repeated name amongst them. This is a bad omen for Zach Rattray-White as his elected co-driver (Griffin Gardiner) has already won, but he’s unavailable for Friday night. His replacement also ranks among the previous winners in Dylan Birse. Add in a little bit of joy for the stats guru and you see both of his co-drivers have actually been on the totem in this enduro previously.

Brady Meyers always shows up during endurance season, and has featured towards the front in several. He will enter this one hungry after a few lean years and also finding himself the Finals bubble driver in 16th. Critical to not only his finals hopes, but also the longest period in the series without a result of note.

Then again, a fresh pairing and a weird result might be just what the doctor ordered. Jacob O’Reilly sits 11th in the points as the best placed Vermillion driver, the problem here is after a strong showing with Antal Sabo at Phillip Island, Sabo isn’t available and will be replaced by Tyce Hodge.

Regardless, the kerbs, the gutters, the strategy and 500 kilometres of trials and tribulations await Friday night for the second round of the Trueforce Endurance Cup.

See you then.