THIS weekend’s Sandown 500 marks the 20th anniversary of when a wheelchair-bound Scott Pye first attended the historic event.
Pye was seriously injured in a road crash in January 2003; he was 13 at the time.
Nine years later he made his Supercars Championship debut in the 2012 Sandown 500, driving for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport.
Now at Team 18, Pye will pair up with Warren Luff for the 2023 edition, in what is the first Sandown enduro since pre-COVID.
“The Sandown 500 being back now, I first went and watched that in 2003 in a wheelchair with my Dad sitting in the grandstand,” Pye said on the most recent episode of The Driver’s Seat.
“It was the year it snowed and I actually had to go home because the steel rods hanging out of my seat got that bloody cold.
“That’s a race I’ve just wanted back for so long and it’s one I want to win.”
The 33-year-old has twice been a top five finisher in the Sandown 500, in 2014 for Dick Johnson Racing alongside Ash Walsh, and with Luff in 2019 for Walkinshaw Andretti United.
A big result this weekend would be timely for Pye, who will be replaced by David Reynolds next year at Team 18.
Pye is likely to be a major player in the co-driver silly season, with a return to Triple Eight (with whom he raced Super2 in 2012) a logical possibility.
“I think for the enduros now with Luffy, we have got such a good opportunity to go get some results and kick some backside and hopefully put myself in an even better position for next year,” he said.
STAT ATTACK: Pye, the perennially underrated pilot?
Pye/Luff have also twice finished runner-up in the Bathurst 1000.
V8 Sleuth’s coverage of the 2023 Penrite Oil Sandown 500 is proudly presented by Biante – Fuel your passion with winning model cars. Visit Biante here to check out their range of model cars in a range of scales from 1:64 to 1:10.
