Sandown International Raceway
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| Location | Melbourne, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°57′3″S 145°10′2″E / 37.95083°S 145.16722°ECoordinates: 37°57′3″S 145°10′2″E / 37.95083°S 145.16722°E |
| Owner | Melbourne Racing Club |
| Opened | 11 March 1962 |
| Major events |
Sandown 500 Australian Grand Prix Tasman Series World Sportscar Championship |
| International Circuit | |
| Length | 3.104 km (1.928 mi) |
| Turns | 13 |
| Lap record | 1:05.7669 ( Tom Tweedie, Chevron B24/28 Chevrolet, 2013, Formula 5000) |
| International Circuit (1984–1998) | |
| Length | 3.878 km (2.409 mi) |
| Turns | 17 |
| Lap record | 1:33.580 ( Jean-Louis Schlesser, Sauber C9 Mercedes-Benz, 1988, World Sportscar Championship) |
| Original Circuit (1962–1984) | |
| Length | 3.100 km (1.926 mi) |
| Turns | 8 |
| Lap record | 59.60 ( Alfredo Costanzo, McLaren M26 Chevrolet, 1981, Formula 5000) |
Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its "drag strip" front and back straights being 899 and 910 metres long respectively.
Sandown Racecourse was first built as a horse racing facility, dating back into the 19th century, but closed in the 1930s in a government run rationalisation program. Redevelopment began not long after World War II. A bitumen motor racing circuit was built around the outside of the proposed horse track (which was not completed until 1965) and was first opened in 1962 and held the race which became the Sandown 500 for the first time in 1964. The circuit hosted its first sprint round in 1965.
When Sandown first opened in 1962 it held the Sandown International Cup, which featured world-famous drivers such as Stirling Moss and Bruce McLaren. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the race meetings continued to attract international stars along with the best of Australia's drivers.
Australia's traditional Holden/Ford rivalry really surfaced at the track in the late 1960s and through the 1970s with drivers such as Norm Beechey, Pete Geoghegan, Allan Moffat, Bob Jane, Colin Bond and Peter Brock and continues to the present day. From 1968 to 1980 almost every major touring car race held at the circuit was won be those driving either a Holden or a Ford.
1984 saw an extension of the track to 3.9 kilometres (2.4 mi) to comply with FIA regulations for minimum track length for World Championship events. It also saw the first 500 km race held at the circuit, the Castrol 500, being Round 3 of the 1984 Australian Endurance Championship. Along with the circuit changes, some AUD$600,000 had been spent relocating the pits from its original place between what was turns one and two (now turns one and four) to its now permanent place coming onto the main straight. Peter Brock and Larry Perkins took their Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore to a one lap victory in the 1984 Castrol 500; it was to be the last of Brock's record nine wins in the Sandown enduro events.
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