The two-car Ford team of WPS Racing finished the Sandown 500 looking more like rally cars than 💎Supercars but still managed 🐈to place 16th and 21st in the ninth round of the Australian V8 Supercar Series.

David Besnard, who piloted c🅺ar 23 with co-driver Charlie O'Brien, had a disastrous start to the race when he speared off the track on the first corner and had to be towed out of the mud.

The incident saw him drop a lap on the field and, while pushing the car trying to make up lost ground, he repeated the exercise just nine laps later to go to the tail of the field and four laps down൩ on the leaders.

When he came in for 🅠his first dri🔴ver change on lap 58 he had edged into 28th spot and was well out of contention for a top 10 finish.

O'Brien, who was seconded on Saturday mornin༒g to partner Besnard after scheduled partner Neil McFadyen fell ill, then completed his 54-lap session and, while he also had a few incidents, he had pushed the car into 21st position.

Besnard the💧n saw out of the balance of the 160-lap endurance race and brought car 23, sponsored by team owner Craig Gore's Wright Patton Shakespeare Financial Group, home in 16th place.

"I was just trying too hard at th👍e start," said Besnard. "It wasn't an ideal situation with the driver combination change and I was trying to compensate for that.

"We had a g🐻ood car but we never really got a chance to show that."

O'Brien said he was happy to hand the car back to𓄧ಌ Besnard after completing his stint behind the wheel.

"My knees and hips are pretty sore at the mom𒀰ent because I was pretty cramped in there," said O'Brien. "I reckon I could have soldiered on for another 20 laps but any longer and I would have had to come in."

WPS Racing's Car 48, driven by John McIntyre and Alex Yoong, had a strong start to the race and was knocking on the door of theꦫ top 10 before it too had a number of journeys into the mud.

McIntyre, who started in the car an♍d climbed to a race-high 11th place before coming in on lap 58 for the first driver change, saiཧd it was a great experience to compete in just his second V8 Supercar race.

"It was a fantastic experience but you tend to underestimate how tough itꦯ is and how hard they go in the endurance races," said McIntyre.

"I settled in pretty quickly but with all of the safety cars it was tough to get into a rhythm. I ma🅘naged to keep the car straight and I held my ground against guys who have been driving in the series for the wh♏ole year so that was pleasing."

After the first driver change Yoong returned to the track ✃in 22nd position and was very competitive in his first V8 Supercar race.

Byও lap 96 he h🦄ad climbed into 13th position before running through an oil spill and sliding off the track.

"The car was going well and we were on the lead lap and then someone dropped some oil and I spun into the gravel and got stuck i💛n 🌄the mud," said Yoong.

"I a🅺lso lost both side mirr༒ors so it was difficult to see any cars trying to dive up my inside.

"Anyway, it was good to get the♏ first race under my belt and I think we showed we are competitive."

Yoong handed the car back t🔴o McIntyre for the final ra💧ce home and they completed the race in 21st position.

"It♛ probably wasn't indicative of how we went t♛oday," said Yoong.