It's taken a few months, but Brisbane-based Triple Eight Race Engineering, which competes in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship circuit has finally unloaded its highly-prized V6 Sandman racer. Let's take a look at this legendary ride and what makes it so special.
Sold To Aussie Porsche Team
The tech team, which had the wagon for sale since October, announced on Wednesday that it was sold to the father-and-son Porsche racing team of Stephen and Benton Grove. The financing concerning the deal were not made public, although the Groves, who sold their own Supercar to Triple Eight at the end of the 2019 season, said the transaction was more like a trade.
Test Car For Red Bull Holden Team
The Groves won't just be getting a car, they'll also get a showcase item that embodied the heart and soul of its previous owners. Introduced in 2014 at the Gold Coast 600, the Sandman has been used as a test car for modifications later added to the Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
It's also been the team's promotional vehicle that especially enjoyed a great deal of profile when fellow Aussie and former Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo took the Sandman for a spin in 2016 as part of a Red Bull Marketing Campaign.
For the three-time Grand Prix winner more accustomed to open-wheel racing, getting in the drivers' seat of the Sandman was a new experience for him. “I wasn’t sure what to expect but driving the Triple Eight Sandman was a lot of fun,” said Ricciardo after his run. “I was surprised how responsive the car was.”
From A V8 Back To A V6
Back then, the Sandman was equipped with a five-speed paddle shift transmission and a 5.6-liter V8 engine capable of generating more than 700 horsepower. The following year, the car was refitted with a V6 twin-turbo engine for testing before suspending those operations in 2018, when they decided to go with V8 engines for the two cars in the team's Commodore racing fleet. Before the sale, Triple Eight re-stripped and rebuilt the Sandman with a V6 engine.
Sources: Red Bull Holden Racing, Speed Cafe, Supercars, Yahoo! Sports