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Andrew van Leeuwen

Tasmania Supercars: Van Gisbergen dominates to complete clean sweep

The Kiwi was forced to come from the second row of the grid for Race 3, after having what looked to be a pole lap in qualifying earlier in the day ruined by a clash with Tim Slade.

That job was made slightly easier on just the second lap of the race when early leader Jack Le Brocq, driving a hastily-repaired Holden following a Race 2 shunt, locked up at the hairpin.

That elevated van Gisbergen to second behind new leader Will Davison, who immediately came under fire from the Red Bull Holden. It took just a lap for van Gisbergen to find a way a through with a forceful move at Turn 6. 

Davison was then left to scrap with team-mate Anton De Pasquale and Matt Stone Racing driver Todd Hazelwood, De Pasquale eventually emerging in second place. In a bid to undercut weekend-long form man van Gisbergen, Dick Johnson Racing opted to pit De Pasquale on lap 9.

But van Gisbergen had enough pace that he was able to keep going until lap 23, take his mandatory service, and emerge with both the lead and better quality rubber. From there it was a case of managing the gap back to the DJR pair as he took his third win from three races.

"It's pretty awesome," said van Gisbergen.  "I can't thank Ampol Red Bull Racing enough. The car has been good all weekend and Broc [Feeney] has been up there as well. 

"Each race we had to work for it, [there were] some more good passes then, I hope it was good to watch. I'm pumped."

Race winner Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering (Photo by: Edge Photographics)

Van Gisbergen also revealed that he tried to trick DJR into pitting its cars early by reporting a lack of rear grip over the radio. 

"I was screaming over the radio pretending I had no rear and made them pit early and then I just went," he laughed. "Sucked in."

Davison ended up second after running down De Pasquale on better rubber late in the race.

David Reynolds capped off a solid day with a fourth place to go with his Race 2 podium, while Hazelwood ended up the best of the MSR cars in fifth. Cam Waters finished sixth ahead of Mark Winterbottom, Feeney, James Courtney and Nick Percat

It was another tough outing for former series leader Chaz Mostert, though, who could manage just 18th. His poor weekend has left him fourth in the standings, the gap to now leader Shane van Gisbergen already 145 points.

Anton De Pasquale is closest to van Gisbergen with a 67-point deficit while Davison is 122 points in arrears. 

Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering (Photo by: Edge Photographics)

Van Gisbergen leads Triple Eight team-mate Feeney in Race 2

Earlier on Sunday van Gisbergen led home first-time podium finisher Feeney in a Triple Eight one-two in the second Symmons Plains race.

The race was a straightforward battle of the Red Bulls, with Feeney enjoying two stints in the lead, despite van Gisbergen being in control of the race. The rookie's first go out front came right at the start, Feeney comfortably beating his team-mate off the line to get the run through Turns 1 and 2.

Any early advantage was quickly snuffed out, though, when Jack Le Brocq ran Andre Heimgartner off the road at the final corner on the opening lap. With Le Brocq's car left buried deeply in the fence the safety car was swiftly deployed, before the race was red flagged to repair the fence.

When the race restarted on lap 7 it was Feeney who continued to lead, although only until van Gisbergen slid underneath him into Turn 6 on that same lap. The Kiwi then settled into a long first stint, running right through to lap 27, some 10 laps longer than Feeney.

That helped Feeney back into the lead thanks to an undercut but, once again, it didn't last long. With a healthy tyre advantage van Gisbergen quickly found his way past at the hairpin, taking over a lead he would hold until the finish.

Broc Feeney and Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering (Photo by: Mark Horsburgh, Edge Photographics)

Feeney followed him home to make it a Triple Eight one-two and record his first Supercars podium.

It was another first of sorts for Reynolds, whose third place marked Grove Racing's first podium under full Grove family ownership. Reynolds finished just over a second behind Feeney, having shadowed the leading Red Bull Holdens without ever putting them under real pressure.

Mostert completed a remarkable recovery from 16th on the grid, running long to pop up in fourth place, right behind Reynolds, at the finish.

De Pasquale was fifth ahead of Team 18 pair Winterbottom and Scott Pye as Courtney, Lee Holdsworth and Hazelwood rounded out the top 10.

Tasmania Supercars - Race 2 results:

Cla # Driver Car Laps Gap
1 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore ZB 44  
2 88 Broc Feeney Holden Commodore ZB 44 2.418
3 26 Australia David Reynolds Ford Mustang GT 44 3.717
4 25 Australia Chaz Mostert Holden Commodore ZB 44 4.238
5 11 Australia Anton De Pasquale Ford Mustang GT 44 9.012
6 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom Holden Commodore ZB 44 11.515
7 20 Australia Scott Pye Holden Commodore ZB 44 14.557
8 5 Australia James Courtney Ford Mustang GT 44 17.431
9 10 Australia Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang GT 44 17.698
10 35 Australia Todd Hazelwood Holden Commodore ZB 44 19.321
11 2 Australia Nick Percat Holden Commodore ZB 44 21.482
12 9 Australia Will Brown Holden Commodore ZB 44 23.704
13 96 Australia Macauley Jones Holden Commodore ZB 44 23.896
14 22 New Zealand Chris Pither Holden Commodore ZB 44 24.666
15 3 Australia Tim Slade Ford Mustang GT 44 26.739
16 17 Australia Will Davison Ford Mustang GT 44 26.966
17 6 Australia Cameron Waters Ford Mustang GT 44 45.484
18 14 Australia Bryce Fullwood Holden Commodore ZB 43  
19 99 Brodie Kostecki Holden Commodore ZB 43  
20 4 Australia Jack Smith Holden Commodore ZB 37  
  55 Australia Thomas Randle Ford Mustang GT 39  
  8 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner Holden Commodore ZB 11  
  56 Australia Jake Kostecki Ford Mustang GT 7  
  34 Australia Jack Le Brocq Holden Commodore ZB 0  
  76 Australia Garry Jacobson Holden Commodore ZB 0  

Tasmania Supercars - Race 3 results:

Cla # Driver Car Laps Gap
1 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore ZB 44  
2 17 Australia Will Davison Ford Mustang GT 44 1.188
3 11 Australia Anton De Pasquale Ford Mustang GT 44 2.783
4 26 Australia David Reynolds Ford Mustang GT 44 3.197
5 35 Australia Todd Hazelwood Holden Commodore ZB 44 5.994
6 6 Australia Cameron Waters Ford Mustang GT 44 7.542
7 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom Holden Commodore ZB 44 9.679
8 88 Broc Feeney Holden Commodore ZB 44 10.365
9 5 Australia James Courtney Ford Mustang GT 44 11.652
10 2 Australia Nick Percat Holden Commodore ZB 44 15.417
11 3 Australia Tim Slade Ford Mustang GT 44 16.181
12 55 Australia Thomas Randle Ford Mustang GT 44 18.062
13 20 Australia Scott Pye Holden Commodore ZB 44 18.831
14 10 Australia Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang GT 44 22.689
15 9 Australia Will Brown Holden Commodore ZB 44 22.775
16 22 New Zealand Chris Pither Holden Commodore ZB 44 25.224
17 4 Australia Jack Smith Holden Commodore ZB 44 28.000
18 25 Australia Chaz Mostert Holden Commodore ZB 44 28.115
19 96 Australia Macauley Jones Holden Commodore ZB 44 29.834
20 76 Australia Garry Jacobson Holden Commodore ZB 44 30.772
21 14 Australia Bryce Fullwood Holden Commodore ZB 44 38.690
22 99 Brodie Kostecki Holden Commodore ZB 44 41.333
23 34 Australia Jack Le Brocq Holden Commodore ZB 44 42.881
24 8 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner Holden Commodore ZB 44 44.193
25 56 Australia Jake Kostecki Ford Mustang GT 41  
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