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Andrew van Leeuwen

The Bend Supercars: Van Gisbergen triumphs in wet finale

A downpour shortly before the start meant the race initially got underway behind the Safety Car.

That only last two laps, though, the race going green with Waters in the lead on Lap 3.

The second half of the opening lap saw three different leaders in what was a brilliant scrap between Waters, van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale.

First it was De Pasquale that lunged Waters to lead, only for the Shell Ford driver to then drop back to fourth was Waters, van Gisbergen and Feeney got through.

Van Gisbergen then briefly led over Waters before the Tickford driver got back through on the main straight.

Waters and van Gisbergen continued to battle for the next two laps until van Gisbergen ran slightly wide on Lap 5 and Feeney snuck into second.

The rookie then slid off the road on the next lap, allowing van Gisbergen to pick up the battle for the lead with Waters.

Van Gisbergen briefly got ahead again on Lap 7 and then at the start of Lap 8, but couldn't make either move stick.

The Kiwi kept the pressure on for the next three laps until Waters finally ran too deep into the penultimate corner.

He kept his car on the road but the slight delay was enough for van Gisbergen to sneak through into the lead.

Once in front there was no stopping van Gisbergen, his lead over two seconds within a couple of laps before ballooning from there.

He took his stop on Lap 23, the penultimate lap, before cruising to a 8.7s victory.

"That was awesome," said van Gisbergen of the early battle with Waters.

"It's always good racing someone who has nothing to lose. He drives hard, but respectful as well.

"It was awesome. Once I got in front I struggled a bit with no train tracks to follow, but then I pulled away.

"What an awesome weekend, I can't thank the team enough. I've struggled with feeling in the car all weekend but it's been super fast."

Waters cruised to second place ahead of Erebus driver Brodie Kostecki, who was impressive in tough conditions on his way to third.

Will Davison and Chaz Mostert both put in stirring drivers after an early coming together.

Mostert got into the back of Davison during the frantic early laps, the Shell Ford left facing the wrong way as Mostert copped a 15-second penalty for his efforts.

Davison spun again while beginning his recovery but was then able to charge through to finish fourth, ahead of Feeney and Will Brown.

Mostert, meanwhile, charged through the field after serving his penalty to finish a remarkable eighth, right behind De Pasquale.

Nick Percat and Lee Holdsworth rounded out the Top 10.

James Golding and David Reynolds looked to be on for good results midway through the race as they charged into the Top 10.

However they had a coming at Turn 6 in the second half of the race which dropped Golding back to 14th, and forced Reynolds into the pits with significant damage.

He was ultimately classified 22nd, four laps down.

There was trouble between the Matt Stone Racing teammates, meanwhile, with Todd Hazelwood taking Jack Le Brocq out of the race in the early stages.

Hazelwood kept going but could only manage 21st.

Wildcard Zak Best was classified last after being withdrawn from the race due to a broken wiper motor.

Thanks to his latest victory van Gisbergen will take a 393-point lead over Waters to the next round of the series at Sandown Motor Raceway on August 19-21.

The Bend SuperSprint Race 3 results

Cla # Driver Car Time Gap Interval
1 97 New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore ZB -    
2 6 Australia Cameron Waters Ford Mustang GT 8.7109 8.711 8.711
3 99 Brodie Kostecki Holden Commodore ZB 17.2306 17.231 8.520
4 17 Australia Will Davison Ford Mustang GT 25.5051 25.505 8.275
5 88 Broc Feeney Holden Commodore ZB 31.8322 31.832 6.327
6 9 Australia Will Brown Holden Commodore ZB 32.6306 32.631 0.798
7 11 Australia Anton De Pasquale Ford Mustang GT 32.8623 32.862 0.232
8 25 Australia Chaz Mostert Holden Commodore ZB 33.3410 33.341 0.479
9 2 Australia Nick Percat Holden Commodore ZB 34.8295 34.830 1.489
10 10 Australia Lee Holdsworth Ford Mustang GT 38.4134 38.413 3.584
11 3 Australia Tim Slade Ford Mustang GT 46.5096 46.510 8.096
12 5 Australia James Courtney Ford Mustang GT 47.4082 47.408 0.899
13 20 Australia Scott Pye Holden Commodore ZB 47.8889 47.889 0.481
14 31 Australia James Golding Holden Commodore ZB 49.3800 49.380 1.491
15 18 Australia Mark Winterbottom Holden Commodore ZB 49.8655 49.866 0.485
16 49 Jordan Boys Holden Commodore ZB 59.9304 59.930 10.065
17 14 Australia Bryce Fullwood Holden Commodore ZB 1'21.4235 1'21.424 21.493
18 22 New Zealand Chris Pither Holden Commodore ZB 1'45.9922 1'45.992 24.569
19 4 Australia Jack Smith Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap    
20 96 Australia Macauley Jones Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap    
21 35 Australia Todd Hazelwood Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap    
22 26 Australia David Reynolds Ford Mustang GT 4 laps    
  56 Australia Jake Kostecki Ford Mustang GT 7 laps    
  34 Australia Jack Le Brocq Holden Commodore ZB 21 laps    
  78 Zak Best Holden Commodore ZB 21 laps    
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