See below to read how the 2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500 unfolded live on Speedcafe.com’s Twitter feed.

V8 Supercars on warm-up lap for Dick Smith Sandown 500.

Youlden to start from pole ahead of Canto, Percat, Ritter, Russell, Luff, McConville, McLaughlin, Thompson and Jones.

D’Alberto and W.Davison are the only primary drivers set to start the race.

O.Kelly is starting from pitlane after frantic work by Kelly Racing to fix pre-race engine problems.

Ritter makes a strong start to take the lead from fourth. Clean start throughout the field.

Ritter locks up at Turn 9 and runs wide, allowing Youlden to take the lead.

Lap 1 order: Youlden, Ritter, Canto, Percat, Luff, Russell, McLaughlin, Thompson, McConville, Jones.

O.Kelly’s car is running on seven cylinders.

W.Davison is up to 20th and has set the fastest lap so far.

Lap 4 Youlden has stretched the gap to Ritter out to 1.1s.

Tim Blanchard falls off the circuit at Turn 9, dropping to 27th. O.Kelly is in pitlane.

Lap 5 Simonsen punches Klien into the back of D’Alberto at Turn 9. D’Alberto stuck, Safety Car about to come out.

Besnard, Gaunt, Pither and Blanchard pit. No driver changes.

Race to restart on Lap 8.

Drive-through penalty for Simonsen following earlier incident.

Race Control investigating loose bodywork on Klien’s Holden.

Youlden doing a solid job at the front. Gap is once again over 1s back to Ritter.

Championship contender watch sees #888 P4, #5 P12, #1 P14 and #6 P15.

Richards runs off the road at Turn 6 but rejoins without losing a place.

W.Davison complaining of brake fade in car #6. Currently tucked up behind Dumbrell in car #1.

O.Kelly is getting out of car #51, which has been in the garage with engine problems since the end of Lap 1.

Lap 15 Ritter spins out of second at Turn 9.

Ritter avoids parking in the gravel and rejoins 25th.

Car #9 engineer Dave Stuart giving Youlden the “smooth car, fast car” advice at the front.

Paul Morris reporting that there’s fluid coming from Klien’s car.

Lap 20 order: Youlden, Canto, Luff, Percat, McLuaghlin, Thompson, Jones, Russell, McConville, Baird.

Alex Davison falls off at Turn 1. Car was 13th but is now travelling slowly and is going to the garage.

A.Davison returns to the track. Reports say that something in the induction system was hampering the car’s throttle.

Canto has moved onto the back of race leader Youlden. Official gap is 0.3s.

Lap 23 Richards pits car #5 from 11th. The two-time Bathurst winner stays in the car.

O.Kelly has climbed back aboard car #51.

Lap 27 Canto pits from second and stays in car #55. Youlden’s gap back to the now second placed Luff is 2s.

Blanchard pits car #7 for a second time, and again stays in the car.

Lap 29 McLaughlin and Russell pit from the top 10. Both drivers stay aboard.

Lap 30 Percat, Dumbrell, Patrizi, Gaunt in the lane. Patrizi out, Reid in.

Lap 31 Luff and McConville pit for tyres and fuel.

Race leader Youlden will pit this lap.

Replays show that Percat has had small offs at Turn 1 and 4 after pitstop. Team-mate McConville also off at T1.

Lap 32 Youlden, Thompson and Perkins pit. Youlden rejoins behind Canto, Luff and Richards.

Lap 35 Just seven cars are yet to stop. Jones leads W.Davison by 2s.

Drivers still reporting that Supercheap Holden is losing fluid.

Davison wants to pit because of amount of fluid on windscreen from Klien’s car.

Of those to have pitted, Canto leads Luff, Richards (who benefited from the early stop), McLaughlin, Youlden, Percat, Dumbrell and Thompson.

Dumbrell has made his way around Percat.

Lap 40 order: Davison, Ritter, Besnard (all three yet to pit), Canto, Luff, Richards, McLaughlin, Youlden, Dumbrell, Percat.

Ritter pits from second place.

Besnard will pit this lap from second place. Leader Davison pits too.

Davison hands over to McIntyre for second stint. Canto has now cycled to the front in the #55.

McIntyre has rejoined in 10th place.

Gaps at the front: Canto 2s Luff 1.2s Richards 2.2s McLaughlin Dumbrell 1.8s Youlden 0.5s.

Race Control is looking at a possible fluid leak from the #14 Lockwood car.

Lap 50 order: Canto, Luff, Richards, McLaughlin, Dumbrell, Youlden, Percat, Thompson, Baird, McConville.

McLaughlin lets Dumbrell through for fourth.

Lap 55 Luff has Canto’s race lead down to 0.6s. Richards a further 2s adrift in second.

Lap 57 Dumbrell scythes past Richards for third at Turn 1. Tyres significantly fresher on car #1.

Youlden is now back to seventh after an off at Turn 9.

Car #18 has a broken rear sway bar link and is “pushing like a boat”. Moffat is now in the car, which is three laps down after earlier issues.

Lap 60 order: Canto, Luff, Dumbrell, Richards, McLaughlin, Percat, Youlden, Thompson, Baird, McConville.

Race leader Canto now has both TeamVodafone Holdens on his bumper.

Lap 62 Dumbrell takes second from Luff.

Great job by Dumbrell to grab track position on his team-mate as the next round of stops approach.

Faultless run by Canto so far. His tyres are three laps older than Dumbrell’s but he’s withstanding the pressure.

The D’Alberto/Wood entry has been given a drive-through for turning Ritter around at Turn 12.

Lap 70 order: Canto, Dumbrell, Luff, Richards, McLaughlin, Percat, Youlden, Thompson, Baird, McConville.

Blanchard and Gaunt pit for their respective primary drivers.

Richards pits from fourth. Percat follows from sixth. Winterbottom and Tander jump aboard.

Lap 72 Canto pits from the lead. TeamVodafone duo inherit the top positions.

Reynolds into Bottle-O Ford and Webb takes over Tekno Holden from McLaughlin.

Luff pits from second. Lowndes in.

McIntyre makes a stop after a short stint. The Kiwi stays in car #6.

Lap 74 Dumbrell pits to hand over to Whincup. Brake pad change coming for car #1.

Youlden, Thompson, McConville, Halliday also pit.

Lap 75 Whincup rejoins ahead of Lowndes and Canto, just.

Whincup, Lowndes, Reynolds, Winterbottom, Webb and Tander have now cycled to the front once more.

Lap 78 Premat turned around at Turn 1 while running 14th. Rejoins 18th without damage.

Replays show that Premat had contact with Reid at Turn 1.

Lap 80 order: Whincup, Lowndes, Reynolds, Winterbottom, Webb, Tander, Slade, Van Giz, Ritter, Holdsworth.

Lap 81 Douglas and Owen collide at Turn 9. Safety Car coming for tyre bundle on circuit.

Ritter pits from ninth to hand over to Caruso.

Race restarts on Lap 84. Webb off at Turn 1 and drops from fifth to ninth.

Reid has pitted with major front damage.

Replays show Reid was slow off of Turn 12 on the restart and punted into the Turn 12 exit fence by Bright.

McIntyre has a hard job in this stint keeping pace with the regular drivers. He is back to 12th.

Lap 90 order: Whincup, Lowndes, Reynolds, Winterbottom, Tander, Slade, Van Giz, Holdsworth, Webb, Courtney.

An irate Patrizi describes Bright as an “absolute lunatic” over the track PA after the former Bathurst winner’s earlier incident with Reid.

Whincup leads Lowndes by just 0.4s and says his rear tyres are already starting to go off. Engineer Mark Dutton suggests softer front bar setting.

Car #1 had a roll-centre change at its last pitstop.

McIntyre is currently 15th in car #6 and will hand back over to Davison as soon as their fuel window opens.

Whincup is now edging away from Lowndes – gap between top two is 1s.

Lap 100 order: Whincup, Lowndes, Reynolds, Winterbottom, Tander, Slade, Van Giz, Holdsworth, Webb, Courtney.

Final stops are at least still 10 laps away based on fuel numbers.

Holdsworth continues to run eighth despite engine sounding rough thanks to a suspected cracked header.

McIntyre is under siege. Bright, Coulthard and Caruso demote car #6 to 18th in the space of four corners.

Van Giz is pressuring team-mate Slade for sixth. Holdsworth still running strongly one place further back.

Gaps at the front: Whincup 2s Lowndes 0.6s Reynolds 1.4s Winterbottom 2.6s Tander 1.7s Slade.

Lowndes should make his final stop before Whincup, says car #1 engineer Mark Dutton.

Lap 110 order: Whincup, Lowndes, Reynolds, Winterbottom, Tander, Slade, Van Giz, Holdsworth, Webb, Courtney.

Simonsen has gone off at Turn 9 but surfs through the gravel and continues. Plenty of debris now in Turns 10/11/12.

Reynolds is being urged to stay with second-place Lowndes. Car #55 has significant understeer late in this stint.

Lap 115 Car #7 again kicks off the pitstop cycle.

Lap 116 Reynolds and Winterbottom pit together. Holdsworth, Webb in the lane too.

Fuel, tyres, brakes and roll-centre change for #55. Problem on the right-front sees Reynolds rejoin behind Holdsworth.

Lap 117 Lowndes, Slade, Van Giz, Ingall, Coulthard, McIntyre pit.

Lap 118 Whincup pits from the lead. Tander follows from second.

Whincup has a comfortable 4.2s advantage over Lowndes after the stops. Winterbottom a further 1s adrift in a corrected third.

Lowndes is bemused as to why the gap is so big. Engineer Jeromy Moore urges Lowndes to put his head down.

Lap 120 order: Bright (yet to make a final stop), Whincup, Lowndes, Winterbottom, Tander, Slade, Van Giz, Holdsworth, Reynolds, Webb.

Lap 121 Bright pits, handing the lead to Whincup.

Van Giz has passed team-mate Slade for fifth.

Reynolds is 14s off of the lead after that pitstop delay.

Lap 123 Davison sets the fastest lap of the race so far, currently running 21st.

Lowndes is edging closer to Whincup at the front. Gap is currently 2.2s.

Lap 124 Reynolds now takes the fastest lap from Davison.

Battle for fourth is intense. Tander has Van Giz, Slade, Holdsworth and Reynolds Falcons all in close company.

Lap 129 Gap between Whincup and Lowndes is down to 1.25s.

Holdsworth goes wide at Turn 9 and lets Reynolds through for seventh.

Gaps at the front: Whincup 1.2s Lowndes 1.8s Winterbottom 8.8s Tander 0.3s Van Giz 0.6s Slade 0.6s Reynolds 2.8s Holdsworth.

Whincup now just 0.7s in front of Lowndes. Winterbottom only 1.4s further back in third.

Lap 138 Johnson spins at Turn 4. A difficult day for car #17.

Davison remains mired down in 19th and will need a Safety Car to make significant progress from here.

Gap between Whincup and Lowndes less than 0.5s.

Lap 140 Lowndes has taken the lead from Whincup after the latter went off at Turns 2/3

Whincup locked an inside front as he went off. He’s immediately asked to think about his bias.

Lap 145 order: Lowndes, Whincup, Winterbottom, Tander, Van Giz, Reynolds, Slade, Holdsworth, Webb, Courtney #V8SC

Winterbottom is now applying the pressure to Whincup for second.

Gaps with 10 laps to go: Lowndes 1.5s Whincup 0.4s Winterbottom 8.2s Tander 1.5s Van Giz 0.4s Reynolds.

Lowndes leads Whincup by 1.9s with five laps remaining. Whincup continues to hold out Winterbottom.

Lap 159 Winterbottom takes second from Whincup after contact at Turn 9.

Replays show that Winterbottom was a long way up the inside when the contact occurred. Winterbottom now 3.6s ahead of Whincup.

Lowndes enters the final lap with a 2.2s lead over Winterbottom.

Lowndes/Luff take out Dick Smith Sandown 500, finishing 1.6s ahead of Winterbottom/Richards.

Whincup/Dumbrell, Garth Tander/Nick Percat, Shane van Gisbergen/Luke Youlden, David Reynolds/Dean Canto, Tim Slade/Andrew Thompson, Lee Holdsworth/Craig Baird, James Courtney/Cameron McConville and Jonathon Webb/Scott McLaughlin round out the top 10.