Shane van Gisbergen chalked up Holden’s 500th ATCC/V8 Supercars race victory in a dominant display for Triple Eight at Symmons Plains.
Van Gisbergen beat home team-mate Jamie Whincup and customer Triple Eight runner Will Davison in the 120km sprint race, taking the championship lead in the process.
Pole-sitter Mark Winterbottom led the early stages but saw his chances of victory evaporate when he overshot the pit box during his stop on lap 8 of 50.
Winterbottom rejoined in a net seventh and, although able to make his way back around a struggling Fabian Coulthard, fell to ninth in the closing stages while fighting those on better rubber.
Seventh-placed starter Whincup meanwhile headed in the opposite direction, taking Rick Kelly and Lee Holdsworth on the opening lap before pitting as soon as the window opened at the end of lap four.
A quick stop and strong pace enabled the six-time champion to emerge from the pitstop cycle with the effective lead of the race.
His advantage didn’t last long, however, with Van Gisbergen pulling off an inside move on his team-mate at the Turn 4 hairpin on lap 18.
Van Gisbergen had earlier made a clean move on his other team-mate Lowndes for second in the opening laps, underlining the blistering form he showed at Albert Park two weeks ago.
The Kiwi slid his way to the flag a second clear of Whincup, who found himself fending off a fast-finishing Davison.
Lowndes had appeared on course for third after the stops but lost positions to Davison and an impressive Rick Kelly in the closing stages.
Brad Jones Racing went long on strategy, subsequently allowing drivers Jason Bright and Tim Slade to charge through to sixth and eighth respectively while on fresh rubber.
Cameron Waters split the duo in seventh, while Prodrive team-mate’s Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert were ninth and 10th respectively.
Coulthard plummeted to an eventual 18th as he struggled with brakes on his Ford, four places behind DJR Team Penske team-mate Scott Pye.
Lee Holdsworth failed to repeat his fourth place qualifying result in 12th, while Scott McLaughlin fared worst of all, suffering engine problems from the outset.
The V8 Supercars will return to the track tomorrow for qualifying and the 200km Race 5.
Result: V8 Supercars Tyrepower Tasmania Super Sprint Race 4
| 1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:25.1871 |
| 2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:26.1259 |
| 3 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:26.3216 |
| 4 | Sengled Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 50 | 44:32.7025 |
| 5 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:35.3083 |
| 6 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:38.1988 |
| 7 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 50 | 44:40.5019 |
| 8 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:42.4744 |
| 9 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 50 | 44:42.8105 |
| 10 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 50 | 44:43.3541 |
| 11 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:45.5248 |
| 12 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:45.9401 |
| 13 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:48.8363 |
| 14 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 50 | 44:49.9038 |
| 15 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:50.0851 |
| 16 | Erebus Motorsport Penrite | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 44:54.7583 |
| 17 | Super Black Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 50 | 44:55.7998 |
| 18 | DJR Team Penske | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 50 | 44:56.8497 |
| 19 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 50 | 44:56.8785 |
| 20 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Volvo S60 | 50 | 44:57.0655 |
| 21 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 50 | 44:57.3561 |
| 22 | Team GB Galvanizing | Dale Wood | Nissan Altima | 50 | 44:57.6257 |
| 23 | Plus Fitness Racing | Aaren Russell | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 45:03.6872 |
| 24 | ARBO/Repair Management Aust Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 45:03.9425 |
| 25 | ABRO/Repair Management Aust Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore VF | 50 | 45:12.4932 |
| 26 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 40 | 45:01.9393 |
Championship Standings
| 1 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 347 |
| 2 | Jamie Whincup | 345 |
| 3 | Rick Kelly | 291 |
| 4 | Cameron Waters | 280 |
| 5 | Will Davison | 267 |
| 6 | Michael Caruso | 264 |
| 7 | Craig Lowndes | 264 |
| 8 | Jason Bright | 261 |
| 9 | Garth Tander | 259 |
| 10 | James Courtney | 252 |
| 11 | Mark Winterbottom | 249 |
| 12 | Todd Kelly | 229 |
| 13 | David Reynolds | 223 |
| 14 | Scott McLaughlin | 216 |
| 15 | Nick Percat | 204 |
| 16 | Scott Pye | 199 |
| 17 | Fabian Coulthard | 178 |
| 18 | Tim Blanchard | 164 |
| 19 | Tim Slade | 162 |
| 20 | Lee Holdsworth | 159 |
| 21 | Chaz Mostert | 155 |
| 22 | James Moffat | 141 |
| 23 | Andre Heimgartner | 119 |
| 24 | Dale Wood | 86 |
| 25 | Chris Pither | 79 |
| 26 | Aaren Russell | 45 |
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