Perth Supercars: Van Gisbergen triumphs in opener

Starting from pole, De Pasquale led across the first stint of the race. It was never an overly comfortable lead, though, with Cam Waters and van Gisbergen constantly stalking the Shell Ford.

On Lap 17 Waters took to the lane for his mandatory service, which, with the undercut now on the table, forced De Pasquale to do likewise on the next lap.

De Pasquale managed to get back out ahead of Waters, while van Gisbergen stayed out on an overcut strategy.

As usual the Triple Eight Holden was exceptionally kind on its tyres, van Gisbergen able to run until Lap 32 before pitting for new rubber.

He then resumed right behind the leaders but with tyres that were significantly fresher.

It took less than two laps for the Kiwi to clear Waters with a simple pass down the back straight and into Turn 7.

It then took nine more laps for van Gisbergen to chase down De Pasquale, his first ever win in Perth sealed with an impressive move up the inside of Turn 1.

The victory also marked a 600th for Holden in Supercars and gives van Gisbergen a 157-point series lead over De Pasquale.

"I just have to thank the team," said van Gisbergen.

"It's so awesome to drive a good car here. I enjoyed myself. There were some good battles and it was awesome to see the hill packed. It's great to come back and race here.

"[De Pasquale and Waters] were really fast at the start and I wasn't saving [tyres] so I thought I was going to drop off. And then I saw Anton start sliding and Cam looked really strong.

"But when they pitted that early I was surprised. I tried to keep going and it worked out at the end."

De Pasquale and Waters rounded out the podium in that order, Waters having gone close to getting by De Pasquale after the stops before losing ground as they lapped Bryce Fullwood.

For a long time Brodie Kostecki looked good for fourth place, only for a slow stop due to a stubborn left-rear wheel to drop him down to eighth.

That opened the door for David Reynolds to nab fourth ahead of Broc Feeney, who had to pass the likes of Will Davison, James Courtney and Andre Heimgartner in the second stint.

Davison and Courtney were next ahead of Kostecki, as Todd Hazelwood, Heimgartner and Lee Holdsworth rounded out the Top 10.

Walkinshaw Andretti United made minor gains after its qualifying disaster, Nick Percat managing to finish 21st from the very back of the grid. Chaz Mostert finished right behind him in 22nd.

The Perth SuperNight continues with two day time sprint races tomorrow.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Interval
1	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	-
2	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	2.307	2.308	2.308
3	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	7.318	7.318	5.010
4	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	12.354	12.354	5.036
5	88	Broc Feeney	Holden Commodore ZB	14.059	14.060	1.706
6	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	15.968	15.968	1.908
7	5	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	21.729	21.729	5.761
8	99	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	22.566	22.567	0.838
9	35	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	22.875	22.876	0.309
10	8	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore ZB	26.383	26.384	3.508
11	10	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	29.715	29.715	3.331
12	55	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	31.887	31.887	2.172
13	3	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	32.198	32.199	0.311
14	18	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	32.645	32.645	0.447
15	96	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	33.472	33.473	0.828
16	34	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	35.186	35.186	1.713
17	9	Will Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	36.369	36.369	1.183
18	76	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	36.669	36.670	0.301
19	20	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	37.102	37.102	0.432
20	56	Jake Kostecki	Ford Mustang GT	37.969	37.970	0.868
21	2	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	40.792	40.793	2.823
22	25	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	41.188	41.189	0.396
23	4	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	42.398	42.398	1.210
24	22	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	44.039	44.039	1.641
	14	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB
View full results