Shane van Gisbergen has won a tyre strategy determined Race 13 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway today, marking the Kiwi’s second career win.
The SP Tools-backed Falcon driver executed a late move on Craig Lowndes (TeamVodafone) to win the 69 lap race.
Van Gisbergen celebrated with a victory burnout and has moved up to third in the title race behind Jamie Whincup and Lowndes.
Mark Winterbottom (Orrcon Steel FPR) finished today’s race in third place, making up for a disappointing result yesterday.
Tim Slade (Lucky 7 Racing) and Russell Ingall (Supercheap Auto Racing) rounded out the top five.
Jamie Whincup and Lee Holdsworth were the only drivers who elected to start the race on Dunlop’s soft compound Sprint tyre. Whincup recovered for a slow start to lead the majority of the event until a late Saftey Car (when Karl Reindler crashed into a tyre wall) tipped the race on its head.
Whincup, trapped at the front on the hard tyres at the restart with less than 10 laps to go, was helpless against the soft tyre runners, eventually taking sixth place, while Holdsworth was worse off, finishing 15th.
The first Safety Car of the race also played its part in the outcome of the event. Will Davison was one of few who didn’t pit during the first Safety Car, which resulted in a long opening stint for the Trading Post Ford.
At the end of the race, Davison was left with the freshest soft tyres, moving from 14th place at the final restart to take seventh by the flag, one sport ahead of his IRWIN Racing brother Alex Davsion.
Yesterday’s podium finisher Steve Johnson (Jim Beam Racing) finished ninth, ahead of Jason Bargwanna (Jana Living Racing), giving the 2000 Bathurst winner two top 10 places over the weekend.
Jason Bright (Team BOC) suffered his second DNF of the weekend, with a massive engine failure at the end of the front-straight causing his demise. Bright’s horror event dropped him from fourth to 10th in the title fight.
Toll Holden Racing Team endured another shocker. Garth Tander had a bent steering arm on Lap 22, bowing out of the race. His team-mate James Courtney spun on Bright’s oil, dropping down the order. He finished 24th after a another delay later in the going, this time due to a broken left-rear damper mount.
Kelly Racing also had a frought day, with Saturday race winner Rick Kelly once again the squad’s highest finishing entry, despite finishing down in 20th position. Kelly went off on Bright’s oil early in the race, and later lost out badly when his fuel strategy forced the early use of his Sprint tyres.
The next event of the V8 Supercars Championship will be held at Townsville for the Sucrogen Townsville 400.
See below for the Race 13 result
| 1 | SP Tools Racing | Shane Van Gisbergen | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:04.3716 |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:05.2655 |
| 3 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:06.1017 |
| 4 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:06.5474 |
| 5 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:09.4492 |
| 6 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:11.5742 |
| 7 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:12.1848 |
| 8 | Irwin Racing | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:15.0812 |
| 9 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:15.6765 |
| 10 | Jana Living Racing | Jason Bargwanna | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:17.3615 |
| 11 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Paul Dumbrell | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:17.5202 |
| 12 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:19.1062 |
| 13 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:20.4378 |
| 14 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:20.4652 |
| 15 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:22.5310 |
| 16 | Mother Energy Racing Team | Jonathon Webb | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:24.9813 |
| 17 | Wilson Security Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:29.1436 |
| 18 | Bundaberg Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:32.2109 |
| 19 | Triple F Racing | Dean Fiore | Ford Falcon FG | 69 | 01:27:33.4502 |
| 20 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:44.0197 |
| 21 | Stratco Racing | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VE2 | 69 | 01:27:49.8758 |
| 22 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Holden Commodore VE2 | 68 | 01:27:36.1328 |
| 23 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | Warren Luff | Holden Commodore VE2 | 68 | 01:28:05.6452 |
| 24 | Toll Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VE2 | 63 | 01:27:40.5068 |
| 25 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Holden Commodore VE2 | 63 | 01:28:05.2757 |
| 26 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VE2 | 56 | 01:27:37.5319 |
| DNF | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 45 | 58:23.7959 |
| DNF | Team Boc | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VE2 | 10 | 12:17.4783 |
See below for the championship points after 13 races
| 1 | Jamie Whincup | 1395 |
| 2 | Craig Lowndes | 1239 |
| 3 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 1134 |
| 4 | Rick Kelly | 1082 |
| 5 | Steven Johnson | 1030 |
| 6 | Will Davison | 1020 |
| 7 | Garth Tander | 1013 |
| 8 | Alex Davison | 963 |
| 9 | Mark Winterbottom | 961 |
| 10 | Jason Bright | 920 |
| 11 | Fabian Coulthard | 838 |
| 12 | Lee Holdsworth | 801 |
| 13 | Tim Slade | 711 |
| 14 | Michael Caruso | 696 |
| 15 | Jason Bargwanna | 686 |
| 16 | James Courtney | 679 |
| 17 | Greg Murphy | 635 |
| 18 | Jonathon Webb | 618 |
| 19 | Paul Dumbrell | 616 |
| 20 | Steve Owen | 576 |
| 21 | James Moffat | 568 |
| 22 | David Reynolds | 564 |
| 23 | Russell Ingall | 539 |
| 24 | Todd Kelly | 517 |
| 25 | Dean Fiore | 517 |
| 26 | Tony D’Alberto | 493 |
| 27 | Karl Reindler | 444 |
| 28 | Warren Luff | 355 |
