Davison wins after late drama at Symmons

Will Davison scored victory in Race 5 at Symmons Plains after a dramatic finish that saw heartbreak for Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom had been the drivers to beat throughout the 200km race, with the Red Bull driver seemingly on his way to a second victory in as many days.

Fluid dropped by Cameron Waters’ Ford at the Turn 4 hairpin with five laps remaining, however, turned the race on its head as the leaders were two of several to slide off.

Davison, who had taken third from Craig Lowndes two laps earlier, swept to the lead, scoring his first victory for Tekno and moving to the championship lead in the process.

Lowndes followed him through the chaos to finish second while Winterbottom recovered to salvage third.

Van Gisbergen spent the closing laps trying unsuccessfully to extract his Holden from the gravel and was eventually classified as a retirement.

Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert completed the top five, while Holden Racing Team duo Garth Tander and James Courtney recovered from poor qualifying performances to finish sixth and seventh respectively.

Van Gisbergen and Winterbottom had been rarely separated by more than a second throughout the 200km contest, for which pit strategy was dictated by two Safety Car periods.

Pole-sitter Winterbottom held the lead through the opening turns, elbowing Van Gisbergen aside during side-to-side contact on the run to Turn 2.

The Bottle-O Ford could not hold on for long however, with Van Gisbergen and team-mate Jamie Whincup scything past on lap 3 of 84.

A crash for Chris Pither two laps later triggered the first Safety Car, sending almost the entire field to pitlane.

Whincup was among the biggest losers as he was forced to stack behind Van Gisbergen, dropping back to 13th.

Van Gisbergen held the lead during the middle stint despite several nudges from an aggressive Winterbottom.

The Holden driver edged away to be more than a second ahead before a second full course yellow again saw the bulk of the field pit together.

Whincup, who had fought his way back into the top 10, was the cause of the second Safety Car on lap 40, running into the Turn 4 gravel trap on his own immediately after his stop.

The six-time champion eventually finished 19th after again visiting the Turn 4 run-off during the late drama.

The race’s hard luck stories included that of Waters, who dropped from sixth to 20th when stacking behind Winterbottom under the first Safety Car.

Any chance of a decent result for the Monster Ford was eventually dashed when engine problems required a spell in the garage as the second stops were commencing.

Pither’s sister Prodrive entry fared worst of all, however, taking heavy damage in his lap 5 crash.

The Kiwi had spun into the left-side fence at the exit of the Turn 4 hairpin following contact from Nick Percat.

Lowndes and Rick Kelly were the two biggest beneficiaries of the early yellow, jumping into the top four having completed their first stops at the end of the opening lap.

Kelly fell back to ninth by the start of the final stint, where brake problems caused several offs and eventually a trip to the garage.

Tim Blanchard later endured a wild moment of his own, spearing into the Turn 6 gravel in the closing stages with a damaged front splitter.

The V8 Supercars Championship continues at Phillip Island in two weeks’ time.

Result: V8 Supercars Tyrepower Tasmania Super Sprint Race 5

Championship Standings

VIDEO: Oil causes chaos in the closing stages of Race 5

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