Team 18 faced a challenging day at the Sandown 500 as erratic Melbourne weather conditions hampered their qualifying performance. Cub Cadet Racing’s Mark Winterbottom will start the endurance race from 13th position, while TRADIE Beer Racing’s David Reynolds will line up in 17th.

The day began with Practice 4 marred by torrential rain, causing significant delays and poor track conditions. In these damp conditions, Reynolds and co-driver Warren Luff finished in 14th, while Winterbottom and Michael Caruso were 17th. As the weather cleared slightly for Practice 5, though the track remained damp, a red flag ended the session early. Winterbottom and Caruso improved to 13th, with Reynolds and Luff in 16th.

The crucial Qualifying session saw more dramatic weather changes. The track, which had been drying, was hit by a sudden downpour and hail just minutes before the start. Despite an impressive early showing from Reynolds and Winterbottom, the session was interrupted by a red flag. After a switch to fresh tires, neither driver could capitalise fully, resulting in Winterbottom securing 13th and Reynolds 17th on the grid.

Sunday’s action will feature a warm-up at 9:55am, followed by the Sandown 500, Race 19 of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship at 2:05pm.

Fans can catch all the action live on Fox Sports and Kayo, with highlights available on 7Plus. Check local guides for further details.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Mark Winterbottom, driver #18 Cub Cadet Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 4: 17th

Practice 5: 13th

Qualifying: 13th

“Not too bad a day. When it was wet we were good, but when it was drying in that qualifying with a wet tyre on we, we blistered the tyre and punished it.

“If we could have made that tyre last I would have made the shootout, but we kept blistering tyres in that condition so we just gotta work out why, which we think we know.

“It would be nice to have that session again because I think we’re very good. If we didn’t have the blisters we would have got in for sure.

“No one knows the dry pace, so we’ve qualified 13th and maximised what we had and in the dry tomorrow we’ll see where we’re going.”

Michael Caruso, co-driver #18 Cub Cadet Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“Interesting day at Sandown. Obviously the weather played a large part of what the results would end up being, and Mark did a great job. I think he got the most out of the car in qualifying, obviously not exactly where we’d like to start but that’s all you can ask from Mark to do, to get the most out of it.

“We’ve got a warmup tomorrow, so we’ll try a couple of things before the race and we’ll come out fighting.”

David Reynolds, driver #20 TRADIE Beer Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 4: 13th

Practice 5: 16th

Qualifying: 17th

“I’m a bit disappointed about qualifying. Im the wet conditions, at the start of it, I had the fastest car by a mile, and then, put another set of tyres on the track, dried up a bit, and I was nowhere. We think we figured out why, and it was just a judgment error.

“Starting 17th tomorrow, going to be a difficult day, but anything’s possible. The tyre deg is really bad here, so if you have a car that hangs in there and you have two drivers that look after it, you’re still in with a shot.”

Warren Luff, co-driver #20 TRADIE Beer Racing Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“It’s been a day of pretty wild weather and it was pretty exciting to watch qualifying but looking forward to the race tomorrow.

“The forecast is for a dry day, we know we’ve got a fast race car. Qualifying didn’t pan out ultimately how we would have liked but I’ve got full confidence in Dave and the team and know that we’ll fight our way back to the front.”