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Andrew van Leeuwen

Sandown Supercars: Van Gisbergen wins tense finale

The race got off to a wild start as van Gisbergen and Davison battled for the lead of the race.

Starting from pole, Davison was under fire from van Gisbergen from the word go. On just the second lap the Kiwi got next to the Shell Ford up the back straight, Davison only retaining the lead as he had the racing line into Dandenong Road.

Van Gisbergen then crept up the inside of Davison at the last corner, Davison copping teammate Anton De Pasquale up his rear-left guard as he was baulked.

The subsequent damage took De Pasquale out of contention, however Davison was able to continue in second with nothing more than a rubbing rear guard.

He almost got a crack at reclaiming the lead on the very next lap when van Gisbergen ran slightly wide at Turn 4, although the Red Bull Holden driver was able to hold on.

The pair then spent the first stint separated by less than a second until van Gisbergen took his mandatory stop on Lap 17.

Davison took over the lead, opting for the overcut strategy usually favoured by van Gisbergen and Triple Eight.

He didn't make his stop until Lap 23, resuming behind van Gisbergen and just in front of an early-stopping Chaz Mostert.

After a brief challenge from Mostert, Davison was able to set about eating into van Gisbergen's 2.5-second lead with his superior rubber.

The Shell Ford driver wasn't quite quick enough, though, van Gisbergen managing the gap expertly as he took his second win of the day by four-tenths.

Van Gisbergen now holds a 500-point series lead.

"It was pretty cool in those first few laps, what a battle," said van Gisbergen. "It's a shame Anton got damaged and we couldn't all fight it out.

"[Davison] has been very fast this weekend and I was following him yesterday and he was driving really well.

"That race, I knew I had to get him at the start so I put him under maximum pressure. At the end I could see him coming, I just tried to go as hard as I could. I didn't look in the mirror, just tried to keep pushing. It was awesome."

The early stop ultimately proved costly for Mostert who found himself under fire from Cam Waters as the second stint wore on.

Waters then took himself out of contention for the podium when he fired off the track at Dandenong Road while trying to get past Mostert.

That opened the door for Broc Feeney to hunt down Mostert, the rookie scoring a second career podium and first since Tasmania back in March.

Mostert finished fourth ahead of Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade and Scott Pye.

Thomas Randle and David Reynolds were next as Waters recovered for 10th.

The 2022 Supercars season continues early next month in New Zealand.

Sandown SuperSprint Race 3 results

Cla # Driver Car Gap Interval Points
1 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore ZB      
2 17 Australia Will Davison Ford Mustang GT      
3 88 Broc Feeney Holden Commodore ZB      
4 25 Australia Chaz Mostert Holden Commodore ZB      
5 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom Holden Commodore ZB      
6 3 Australia Tim Slade Ford Mustang GT      
7 20 Australia Scott Pye Holden Commodore ZB      
8 55 Australia Thomas Randle Ford Mustang GT      
9 26 Australia David Reynolds Ford Mustang GT      
10 6 Australia Cameron Waters Ford Mustang GT      
11 9 Australia Will Brown Holden Commodore ZB      
12 5 Australia James Courtney Ford Mustang GT      
13 8 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner Holden Commodore ZB      
14 14 Australia Bryce Fullwood Holden Commodore ZB      
15 4 Australia Jack Smith Holden Commodore ZB      
16 99 Brodie Kostecki Holden Commodore ZB      
17 96 Australia Macauley Jones Holden Commodore ZB      
18 10 Australia Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang GT      
19 31 Australia James Golding Holden Commodore ZB      
20 56 Australia Jake Kostecki Ford Mustang GT      
21 22 New Zealand Chris Pither Holden Commodore ZB      
22 2 Australia Nick Percat Holden Commodore ZB      
23 11 Australia Anton De Pasquale Ford Mustang GT      
24 35 Australia Todd Hazelwood Holden Commodore ZB      
  34 Australia Jack Le Brocq Holden Commodore ZB      
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