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 |