So who are the teams in the best position to claim a win in the most prestigious race many drivers would choose to win over the championship?

Sandown winners despite late issues with loose bodywork, and combined superbly for a long overdue team win. Tander will be keen to let the team know he is unhappy with the decision not to renew his contract for 2017 and beyond, and prove he should still have the seat in front of the incoming Scott Pye. Tander will be at his aggressive best.

Van Gisbergen now leads the championship by seven points to team mate Jamie Whincup after an inspired drive at Sandown for second. Frenchman Premat silenced the critics with a solid and professional performance. Expect this team to be front runners.

Defending Bathurst champions who had a dismal run at Sandown to finish eighth when a top three was on the cards. Both drivers qualified poorly and then made mistakes in the race. Will be looking for redemption as Lowndes is now 157 points behind Van Gisbergen in third place in the championship.

Won their respective qualifying races at Sandown, but threw a front running position away when Dumbrell loosened his seatbelts coming into the pits and was given a drive-through penalty. They finished 13th, but the mistake cost Whincup the championship lead. The six-time champion was not impressed and will be out to make amends.

Defending champion Winterbottom had a shocker in Melbourne and wasn’t helped by a costly mistake from Canto in the race. They finished 23rd and last, and will need a great result at the mountain for Winterbottom to improve from fifth in the championship standings. The team need to lift their game and not make mistakes.

A competitive fourth in Melbourne and fifth place for McLaughlin at Bathurst last year add up to a strong combination to be front runners. Team owner Garry Rogers would love to stick it to Volvo who have withdrawn their support beyond this year leading to an acrimonious legal battle.

Finished third at Sandown with excellent performances from both drivers who have previously been strong at Bathurst. Webb only competes in the three endurance race each year but still can run with the full-timers. My dark horse team for the top spot on the podium.

Should have finished better than 11th at Sandown, and Courtney will be out to prove to the HRT bosses that his new three-year deal was justified. Perkins won’t have Courtney’s pace but should be a solid back up hoping to add his name to the honour role alongside his famous father Larry, who won the race six times.

Mostert returns to the scene of his huge crash last year that prevented him from starting the race, and he’s hoping to prove his 2014 win was no fluke. Like Webb, Owen only competes in the three endurance races each year, but he is a very underrated driver which makes this an extremely competitive combination.

Sixth at Sandown and fourth at Bathurst last year, but team owner Roger Penske will be expecting a much better result from the combination, and nothing short of a podium finish will suffice. The team has all the ingredients to make it happen, so it’s now up to the drivers and smart strategy.

Pye will be out to prove he should have been kept on instead of being replaced by Scott McLaughlin in 2017 although he has landed on his feet. He replaces Garth Tander at Walkinshaw Racing. Fifteenth place at Sandown is not indicative of their potential, but they need to be on the lead lap after the last fuel stop.

Kelly is a previous winner at Bathurst, and did a solid job at Sandown with rookie Supercar driver Campbell who was very impressive first time out. On the back of Nissan’s recent announcement to continue in Supercars with the Kelleys, they will be going all out for a good result. Only down side is the Kellys are effectively running five cars so will have to ensure they don’t trip up with strategy and pit stops.