Van Gisbergen converts in Supercars Race 19 at SMP

Shane van Gisbergen has converted pole position into victory in Race 19 of the Repco Supercars Championship at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver qualified fastest for the 36-lap contest at Sydney Motorsport Park but spent the opening laps trailing the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro of Andre Heimgartner after being bettered off the start line.

Once back in front, van Gisbergen galloped to a seven-second lead and would eventually take the chequered flag 5.2275s to the good in a result which sees him jump Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mate Broc Feeney into third in the drivers’ championship.

Heimgartner took second place while Dick Johnson Racing Ford driver Anton De Pasquale passed Feeney on the final lap to put the #11 Shell V-Power Mustang on the podium for the second time in as many events.

Feeney ended up fourth, from BJR’s Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang), and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang).

Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) came home eighth but extended his championship lead to 41 points over team-mate Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), who got back to 14th after an opening-corner spin.

Mark Winterbottom (#18 DeWalt Camaro) and Hack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro) rounded out the top 10.

Back at the start, Heimgartner got the jump from the outside of the front row and led in the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro from van Gisbergen (#97 Camaro), Feeney (#88 Camaro), Kostecki, Fullwood, and Waters.

At the back of the top 10, a four-wide squeeze as the field poured into Moffat Corner had negative consequences for one of the title contenders.

With Winterbottom on their inside, De Pasquale on drivers’ left and David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) on the right both made contact with the nose of Brown’s #9 Camaro, sending the latter two off into the outfield.

On Lap 4, van Gisbergen attacked Heimgartner at Bond Bend and Turn 4 before making the pass for the lead at Turn 6, at which point Feeney was 1.5s in arrears.

Van Gisbergen stretched his margin beyond a full second on Lap 7, while De Pasquale got by Winterbottom for eighth on Lap 8 at Turn 9.

De Pasquale gained another spot when he overtook Waters on Lap 13 at Turn 4, as van Gisbergen’s lead approached three seconds.

Kostecki passed Feeney for third as they swept through Corporate Hill on Lap 15, with Heimgartner circulating four seconds up the road.

Triple Eight called Feeney in at the end of that lap and he was followed into the pits by De Pasquale, with both taking four fresh tyres.

The pattern continued when Fullwood was into the lane on Lap 17 and then Kostecki on Lap 18, the latter rejoining behind Feeney, De Pasquale, and Fullwood.

Heimgartner was seven seconds in arrears of van Gisbergen when he stopped for four more hoops on Lap 19, resuming between De Pasquale and Fullwood.

With the threat of the undercut having become obvious, van Gisbergen and Waters were called in on Lap 20, and the latter would stall when Car #6 was dropped from its jacks.

Van Gisbergen, on the other hand, got back out in seventh position, first of those to have stopped, before Heimgartner overtook De Pasquale on Lap 22 at Bond Bend.

Car #8 was an effective second place as a result of passing the #88 Camaro of Feeney on Lap 24 at Turn 6, and that became official when Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) took service a moment later.

Van Gisbergen led by 3.2s with a third of the race to go, from Heimgartner, Feeney, De Pasquale, Fullwood, Kostecki, Winterbottom, Le Brocq, Waters, and Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro), although the latter would be overtaken for 10th by Mostert on Lap 25.

Heimgartner brought the gap back under three seconds but it appeared #97 was driving to a number in the closing stages, and there was no threat from behind to #8 either, with Feeney drifting away from the top two.

Attention shifted a little further back, with Waters going under Winterbottom for seventh on Lap 31 at Corporate Hill and Mostert getting through for eighth at the final corner.

Kostecki did not resist when Waters got up the inside at Turn 8 on Lap 33, and then he ceded seventh spot to Mostert on Lap 35 at Turn 6.

Meanwhile, De Pasquale had closed in on Feeney and was harassing #88 in the battle for the final podium place.

He eventually made the pass as they exited Turn 6 on the 36th and final lap, meaning another podium for Car #11 after the win three weeks earlier in Townsville.

The next event is the OTR SuperSprint at The Bend on August 18-20.

CLICK HERE for Race 19 Results

Drivers’ championship

Teams’ championship