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