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Townsville Supercars: Van Gisbergen takes T8's 200th win

Triple Eight has become the first Supercars team to rack up 200 race wins thanks to a Townsville masterclass from Shane van Gisbergen.

Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

Starting fourth on the grid, van Gisbergen set up the victory with a smart start and some aggressive car placement on the way into Turn 2. While pole-sitter Nick Percat and Scott McLaughlin both ran down the inside into the slow right-hander, van Gisbergen ran a high line and popped out in between the top two.

After a handful of laps sitting behind Percat, van Gisbergen charged into the lead at the last corner on Lap 7. 

Once in front there was no stopping the Kiwi, van Gisbergen cruising to his first race win of the season, and a record-setting 200th for Triple Eight Race Engineering, by more than 8s. 

"Man it feels good," said van Gisbergen of breaking his own drought. 

"The weeks we've had, my crew's never given up. We smoked them, it was awesome. 200 wins for Triple Eight, what a great feeling."

McLaughlin finished second, holding off title rival Jamie Whincup who came home strong in the second stint.

That helped McLaughlin slightly extend his series lead, the Penske Ford driver now 149 points to the good.

Percat slipped back to fourth, the Brad Jones Racing driver running long in his first stint. It meant he had good rubber quality at the end, and could have inflicted some damage had their been a late Safety Car. However without a caution he was unable to work back into the fight for the podium. 

It was a decent showing for Tickford, Cam Waters leading the way for the Ford squad in fifth as Jack Le Brocq and Lee Holdsworth finished seventh and eighth.

In between those Mustangs was Scott Pye in sixth, another stirring race drive yielding a five-place gain for the Team 18 driver.

Mark Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert rounded out the Top 10.

Race results:

Cla # Driver Car Gap
1 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen
Holden Commodore ZB
2 17 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
Ford Mustang GT 8.395
3 88 Australia Jamie Whincup
Holden Commodore ZB 10.293
4 8 Australia Nick Percat
Holden Commodore ZB 13.567
5 6 Australia Cameron Waters
Ford Mustang GT 14.807
6 20 Australia Scott Pye
Holden Commodore ZB 16.128
7 55 Australia Jack Le Brocq
Ford Mustang GT 33.857
8 5 Australia Lee Holdsworth
Ford Mustang GT 36.309
9 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom
Holden Commodore ZB 38.404
10 25 Australia Chaz Mostert
Holden Commodore ZB 42.971
11 15 Australia Rick Kelly
Ford Mustang GT 43.193
12 2 Australia Bryce Fullwood
Holden Commodore ZB 43.421
13 44 Australia James Courtney
Ford Mustang GT 44.405
14 14 Australia Todd Hazelwood
Holden Commodore ZB 48.110
15 9 Australia David Reynolds
Holden Commodore ZB 48.304
16 99 Australia Anton De Pasquale
Holden Commodore ZB 49.481
17 35 Australia Garry Jacobson
Holden Commodore ZB 52.139
18 3 Australia Macauley Jones
Holden Commodore ZB 52.505
19 19 Australia Alex Davison
Holden Commodore ZB 52.673
20 12 New Zealand Fabian Coulthard
Ford Mustang GT 52.752
21 22 New Zealand Chris Pither
Holden Commodore ZB 56.058
22 4 Australia Jack Smith
Holden Commodore ZB 58.301
23 34 Australia Jake Kostecki
Holden Commodore ZB 58.785
24 7 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner
Ford Mustang GT 1'03.753

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