Sandown Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Springvale, Victoria, Australia, approximately south east of the Melbourne central business district. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its "drag strip" front and back straights being long respectively.

History

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 Australian Touring Car Championship race in 1965.

Motor racing

The opening meeting, held on 11 and 12 March 1962, featured the 1962 Sandown International Cup, which was contested by world-famous international drivers including Jack Brabham, Jim Clark, Stirling Moss, Bruce McLaren and John Surtees. A second Sandown International Cup was held in 1963, the two races serving as the forerunners of the Sandown round of the annual Tasman Series from 1964 to 1975. 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, Ian Geoghegan, Allan Moffat, Bob Jane, Colin Bond and Peter Brock and continues to the present day.

In 1984, the track was extended to to comply with FIA regulations for minimum track length for World Championship events, the ultimate goal being to host the Formula One World Championship, though ultimately that went to Adelaide.

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. The new international standard pits included pit bays and lock-up garages for over 40 cars.

In 1989, the largely unpopular, International Circuit (often referred to by Australian television commentators as the "Village Grand Prix" due to how slow the infield section was compared to the rest of the circuit) was abandoned and the track reverted to , though not by using the original 8 turn layout, but a modified 13 turn course. This was achieved by simply bypassing the largely unpopular tight and twisty infield section that had been in use since 1984 and using only the re-configured National (outer) Circuit. The effect was also to bring the cars closer to the spectator area on the outside of the esses to bring back spectators to the area. The esses at the end of the back straight was a popular spectator area during the 1970s and 1980s with several converted double-decker buses frequenting race meetings.

While the extension to the circuit had been necessary to lift Sandown's minimum length to 3.9 km, unfortunately the circuit promotors, the Light Car Club of Australia, were restricted by not being able to expand beyond the property boundary which only left going infield, which itself met with restrictions from the Melbourne Racing Club who administered the Sandown horse race course who naturally wanted minimal disruption to their horse racing track. The 800 metre extension was not overly popular with spectators (there was no spectator access to the infield) nor the racers, especially the touring car teams who in that era (1984–1988) found the long runs in 2nd gear through that section were hard on drivelines and transmissions.

Sandown continued to host both the 500 kilometre race and a sprint round of the championship, the Sandown Challenge, throughout the majority of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In 2001 and 2002, the circuit hosted the Grand Finale as the closing round of the season. When the Sandown 500 returned in 2003, the sprint round was removed from the calendar and Sandown no longer hosts two major V8 Supercars events per year.

The infield section was still used for motorcycle racing at the track until about 2001 as the high speed esses (turns 6–9) at the end of the back straight were deemed too dangerous for the bikes at high speed (the entry speed off the straight was close to with very little runoff area between the track and the outside fence. Using the infield section not only bypassed the esses but slowed the bikes down and allowed them to continue using the circuit for the series such as the Australian Superbike Championship.

In late 2007 the Melbourne Racing Club, owner of the venue, brought the management of the motor circuit in house. As part of securing the future of motorsport at the venue Sandown's Manager Wade Calderwood negotiated a long-term deal with V8 Supercars. Under this deal the MRC invested significant funds as part of a 3-year upgrade to the pits and circuit safety.

Under the local Council permit, Sandown Raceway is limited to running five motorsport events per year, at no louder than 95 decibels. Currently these events include the Sandown 500, Historic Sandown, Shannons Nationals and two Victorian State Race Series events.

The long-term future of this historic circuit is unclear as the owners of Sandown Park want to have it rezoned so that they can sell it to a property developer who would then demolish the venue and turn it into high density housing.

Sandown 500

The circuit was home to the Sandown 500 which was first held in 1964 through to 2007, with a return to the calendar from 2012. Since 2025 the format has changed to be two 250 kilometre races all contested by the one driver as opposed to the previous format of one 500 kilometre race contested by two drivers.

V8 Supercars

With the establishment of V8 Supercars in 1997, the Sandown 500 event remained as part of its calendar for that year and 1998. Sandown became a sprint round of the V8 Supercars Championship Series for 1999 and 2000, then as three 150km races with pit stops in 2001 and a 150km race on the Saturday and 300km race on the Sunday in 2002. The event was won by Todd Kelly in 2001 and by Marcos Ambrose in 2002. The 500km format returned in 200

For the 2008 season, the 500 kilometres endurance race was moved to the Phillip Island circuit. Sandown remained on the calendar as a venue, but hosted a regular multiple sprint race format event earlier in the year. The event returned to its single 500 kilometres roots in September 2012 as an enduro precursor to the Bathurst 1000, with the inaugural Dick Smith Sandown 500 won by the Holden Commodore Team Vodafone pairing of Craig Lowndes and Warren Luff.

World Sportscar Championship

On 2 December 1984, Sandown held the last round of the 1984 World Endurance Championship. The race, known as the Sandown 1000, was won by Stefan Bellof and Derek Bell in their Rothmans Porsche 956. This race was the first FIA World Championship road racing motor racing event to be held in Australia. As the race name suggests, the race distance was to be long. However, under WSC rules, with the exception of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (and in certain years, the 24 Hours of Daytona), races had a time limit of 6 hours. The six-hour mark was reached when the Bellof/Bell Porsche had run only 206 laps (803.4km), thus the race was declared at the time limit some 51 laps short of the 1000km distance.

The next (and only other) FIA World Sportscar Championship race held in Australia was also held at Sandown on 20 November 1988. This was the 1988 360 km of Sandown Park, the final round of the 1988 World Sports-Prototype Championship, which was won by Jean-Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass driving their Sauber Mercedes C9. This race would prove to be the final top level motor race on the International Circuit, with Schlesser setting the circuit's outright lap record with a time of 1:33.580. Schlesser also set the fastest ever recorded lap time of the International circuit during qualifying for the race when he piloted his C9 around in a time of 1:28.620.

Historic Sandown

Historic Sandown is an annual event held at the circuit on the first weekend of November. Promoted by the VHRR (Victorian Historic Racing Register) and run by the MG Car Club of Victoria, it is a highly successful event which in 2009 attracted a record 400+ historic racing cars including touring cars, MG racers and Formula Fords and was also headlined by the Biante Touring Car Masters.

Cycling Victoria

Several Melbourne cycling clubs hold regular races over the summer season.

Athletics Victoria

Annually, Athletics Victoria hold a road race (sometimes a team relay) as a part of the AV Cross Country season.

Australian Grand Prix

Sandown Raceway has held the Australian Grand Prix on six occasions, the last being in 1978, seven years before the event became part of the FIA Formula One World Championship in 1985. Two World Drivers' Champions were winners of the AGP at Sandown, Jack Brabham in 1964 and the late Jim Clark in 1968, with Clark's winning margin being only 0.1 seconds from the Ferrari of New Zealand's Chris Amon being one of the closest finishes in the race's history. John Goss' 1976 victory saw him become the first, and so far only winner of both the Australian Grand Prix and the Bathurst 1000 touring car race.

The winners of the Australian Grands Prix held at Sandown Raceway are:

Special Guest at the 1978 Australian Grand Prix, the 50th anniversary of the event (and the final time it would be held at Sandown), was Argentina's five-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio. Following the race Fangio, Australia's own three-time World Champion Jack Brabham, Bob Jane and former racer turned Holden dealer Bill Patterson, staged a spirited three-lap demonstration/race. Fangio and Brabham cleared out and swapped the lead many times. Fangio was driving a Mercedes-Benz W196 that he raced in and , while Brabham (not yet Sir Jack) drove the Repco-Brabham V8 powered Brabham BT19 in which he won the Formula One World Championship to become the first and only person to win the Drivers' championship in a car of his own design and build. Brabham 'won' the demonstration, just ahead of Fangio, with Patterson (driving a Cooper) and Jane (driving a Maserati) some distance behind in 3rd and 4th.

Upgrades

Sandown was repaved and received many new safety features in 2013 in accordance with new FIA rules. More tyre barriers were added, and new catch fencing was also added during big events like Historic Sandown and the Wilson Security 500. The main grandstand was also upgraded to feature a new bar and food complex. Along with the grandstand, the pits were also upgraded. Following a spate of major accidents at the end of the back straight (particularly at turn 6) between 2010 and 2017, the run-off area was also extended in early 2019.

Events

1. Current

2. November: Supercars Championship Sandown 500, GT4 Australia Series GT Festival Sandown, Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia, Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series, Historic Sandown

3. Former

4. Aussie Racing Cars (2003–2007, 2022, 2025)

5. Australian Grand Prix (1964, 1968, 1972–1973, 1976, 1978)

6. Australian GT Production Car Championship (1999–2002)

7. Australian Mini Challenge (2008–2009)

8. Australian motorcycle Grand Prix (1976)

9. Australian National Trans-Am Series (2022–2025)

10. Australian Nations Cup Championship (2001, 2004)

11. Australian Performance Car Championship (2001, 2004)

12. Australian Production Car Series (2004, 2007—2015, 2018–2019, 2022–2024)

13. Australian Sports Car Championship (1969, 1973, 1980–1981, 1983, 1986–1988)

14. Formula 4 Australian Championship (2015–2017)

15. GT World Challenge Australia (1983–1984, 2007–2008, 2010–2011, 2014–2020, 2022, 2025)

16. Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship (2003–2008, 2014–2017, 2020–2024)

17. S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship (2019, 2021)

Supercars Championship

• Grand Finale (2001–2002)

• Sandown 500 (1964–1965, 1968–1998, 2001–2007, 2012–2019, 2023–2024)

• SuperUtes Series (2018, 2023, 2025)

• Tasman Series (1964–1975)

• TCR Australia (2019, 2022–2024)

• Touring Car Masters (2007, 2009–2014, 2016–2019, 2022, 2024–2025)

• V8 Ute Racing Series (2001, 2004–2005, 2009, 2011, 2013–2015)

• World Sportscar Championship (1984, 1988)

Lap records

As of November 2025, the fastest official race lap records at Sandown Raceway are listed as:

Notes

References

External links

• Sandown Raceway

• Map and circuit history at RacingCircuits.info

• Easternats