Jack Perkins has fended off a determined Chaz Mostert to win the opening Fujitsu V8 Supercars race of the weekend at the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge.
The Supercheap Auto backed driver blasted into the lead from second on the grid, and was never headed over the 15 lap journey.
Pole-sitter Mostert dropped to fourth thanks to a bad getaway, but was back into second place by the completion of the opening lap thanks to Andrew Thompson and David Russell running wide into Turn 9.
Nick Percat took third on the final lap from David Russell, who suffered with a loose rear-wheel in the closing stages.
Scott McLaughlin defeated Thompson in a battle for fifth, with the Monster Energy Commodore having run as low as eighth after its early off.
Tim Blanchard, David Wall, Tony Bates and Geoff Emery rounded out the top 10.
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The Safety Car was called on the opening lap for an incident involving Marcus Zukanovic, Taz Douglas and Paul Morris.
The crash saw Zukanovic clip Douglas after being knocked sideways in front of the pack. Douglas suffered race-ending right-rear damage in the incident, having also collected Morris as he rotated his way towards Turn 1.
Daniel Jilesen failed to start Race 1 following his crash in qualifying this morning.
Race 2 for the Fujitsu V8 Supercars will take place at 1330 local time tomorrow.
See below for the full race result
| 1 | Bob Jane T Marts/Supercheap | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:23.8031 |
| 2 | Ford Performance Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 15 | 20:24.1734 |
| 3 | Coates Hire Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:26.8836 |
| 4 | Team Jayco | David Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:27.5171 |
| 5 | Fujitsu | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG | 15 | 20:33.3688 |
| 6 | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Andrew Thompson | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:33.7519 |
| 7 | Team Jayco | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:39.9562 |
| 8 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:40.1525 |
| 9 | Sportsalive.com / AFS | Tony Bates | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:42.4726 |
| 10 | AC Delco/Simworx/NDD | Geoff Emery | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:44.0003 |
| 11 | Simpro Software/Master Elect. | Luke Youlden | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:44.5704 |
| 12 | Carrington Equip/Go Karts Go | Drew Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:49.3353 |
| 13 | Bob Jane T-Marts | Rodney Jane | Ford Falcon FG | 15 | 20:51.4135 |
| 14 | Team Tom Supporters Club | Tom Tweedie | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:52.5565 |
| 15 | Shannons-Linde Racing | Cameron Waters | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:53.8518 |
| 16 | CEG Rentals/Go Karts Go | Aaren Russell | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 20:55.3358 |
| 17 | Action Racing | Marcus Zukanovic | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 20:55.7179 |
| 18 | Mad Croc Energy | Robert Cregan | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 21:04.8619 |
| 19 | SOLO Racing | Aaron McGill | Ford Falcon BF | 15 | 21:07.5016 |
| 20 | Drill Pro Services/Fuchs/ACS | Nick Cassidy | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 21:14.4503 |
| 21 | Formula Tech/Interquip Racing | Brett Stewart | Holden Commodore VE | 15 | 21:18.2426 |
| DNF | Sargent Security Racing | Paul Morris | Holden Commodore VE | 1 | 1:35.7490 |
| DNF | Fastaz Motorsport | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VZ |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Sandown Race Guide
