Winton Supercars: Waters pips van Gisbergen in finale

Waters was the big winner at the start, bolting into the lead through Turns 1 and 2 as he left van Gisbergen scrapping over second with Andre Heimgartner.

It was a scrap that Heimgartner was up for, too, demoting his fellow Kiwi to third on the exit of Turn 2 before covering smartly into Turn 3 to seal second place.

Heimgartner was initially able to match Waters for pace, the pair separated by around eight tenths for the first five laps.

However around that point Waters was able to break clear, his lead growing as Heimgartner dropped back to van Gisbergen.

On Lap 14 the two New Zealanders traded places, van Gisbergen sliding under Heimgartner on the exit of the sweeper to reclaim second place.

At that point the lead was just under three seconds, but van Gisbergen quickly made inroads on Waters.

The lead was down to around 1.5s on Lap 18 when Waters elected to take his mandatory stop.

For the first time this weekend van Gisbergen went for an overcut, staying out for an extra four laps before hitting the lane.

But his stop itself was costly, a decision to take on three tyres allowing Heimgartner, who stopped on the same lap, to get out ahead.

It didn't take long for van Gisbergen to clear Heimgartner, but it did mean he was well over five seconds adrift of Waters as the stops shook out.

The additional grip from the three-tyre strategy meant van Gisbergen could consistently reel Waters in during the second stint.

But he couldn't quite run the Monster Mustang down, Waters holding on to win by just four-tenths in a finish that was similar to yesterday's opener.

"I'm so pumped to get it done again," said Waters. "Two wins this weekend, absolutely amazing.

"I know Shane took three tyres, I knew he was going to come back at me. He was fast in that first stint. I just tried to press on, maintain as much of a gap as I could, and I held on."

Heimgartner came home a somewhat lonely third while David Reynolds was similarly lonely in fourth place.

Erebus pair Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown were next on the road, however Kostecki was dumped down to 13th, and Brown promoted to fifth, in the final results due to a time penalty for speeding in pitlane.

That elevated Lee Holdsworth to sixth ahead of Broc Feeney, Anton De Pasquale, Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison.

Van Gisbergen now leads De Pasquale in the standings by 281 points, while Waters is now third, another 52 points back.

The season continues next month with the Darwin Triple Crown.

Winton SuperSprint Race 3 results

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Interval
1	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	-
2	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	0.442	0.442	0.442
3	8	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore ZB	10.732	10.733	10.290
4	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	15.256	15.256	4.524
5	9	Will Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	25.565	25.565	10.309
6	10	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	27.756	27.757	2.191
7	88	Broc Feeney	Holden Commodore ZB	28.705	28.706	0.949
8	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	29.024	29.024	0.318
9	18	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	34.190	34.190	5.166
10	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	35.437	35.437	1.247
11	25	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	36.616	36.616	1.179
12	55	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	39.024	39.025	2.409
13	99	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	39.276	39.276	0.251
14	20	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	41.858	41.858	2.582
15	2	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	43.610	43.610	1.752
16	76	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	45.407	45.407	1.797
17	34	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	45.642	45.642	0.235
18	35	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	50.638	50.638	4.996
19	96	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	53.833	53.833	3.195
20	3	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	58.791	58.791	4.958
21	27	Jayden Ojeda	Holden Commodore ZB	59.177	59.177	0.386
22	22	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	59.506	59.506	0.329
23	14	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	59.524	59.525	0.019
24	49	Jordan Boys	Holden Commodore ZB	1'02.336	1'02.337	2.812
25	56	Jake Kostecki	Ford Mustang GT	1'02.636	1'02.636	0.300
26	4	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	1 lap
27	5	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	5 laps
View full results