Van Gisbergen wins Race 7 after intense Kostecki battle

Shane van Gisbergen has won Race 7 of the Repco Supercars Championship at Perth’s Wanneroo Raceway after a forceful late pass on Brodie Kostecki.

The two were locked in a vigorous battle for much of the 42-lap opener at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint, with Kostecki getting the early upper hand thanks to a superior start from the outside of the front row.

They diced for the lead just before the Erebus Motorsport driver’s pit stop and again in the final laps when van Gisbergen, who went long, hunted down the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro.

After several bumps, van Gisbergen drove past on Lap 41 and went on to take the chequered flag 0.5949s to the good in the #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.

Kostecki had his hands full to hold off David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) for third, with Todd Hazelwood (#3 CoolDrive Mustang) climbing to fourth from outside the top 10 and James Courtney (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) claiming fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang), Tim Slade (#23 Nulon Camaro), Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang), Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), and Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro).

Kostecki continues to lead the drivers’ championship, by a margin of 76 points over Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang), who salvaged 11th from 15th on the grid.

Van Gisbergen is two points further back while Erebus continues to lead the teams’ championship, by a reduced, 79-point margin over Triple Eight Race Engineering.

When the lights went out to signal race start, Kostecki bested van Gisbergen from the outside of the front row and took the lead, with Reynolds slotting into third, from Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro), Payne, and Randle.

Davison emerged seventh and Courtney eighth after they made contact at Turn 1, ahead of Slade, Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), and Feeney.

That top 11 remained as you were until Hazelwood went under Feeney at Turn 1 on Lap 7, with the Triple Eight driver then having to hold off Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Nick Percat as they rubbed on exit.

Percat stopped at the end of that lap for fresh working side tyres on the #2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang, as van Gisbergen kept himself within half a second of Kostecki.

As pit stops continued around the back end of the top 10, the drivers at the very head of the field went to battle on Lap 17.

Van Gisbergen showed the nose at ‘Kolb Corner’ (Turn 6) and, when Kostecki went defensive at Turn 7, the Triple Eight pilot performed a criss-cross and picked off Car #99 at the other end of the main straight.

On Lap 18, Kostecki reclaimed the lead for just a moment when he went back down the inside at Turn 7, copping a bump as he then turned into the pits and grabbed more working side tyres.

He rejoined behind Reynolds, who completed his pit stop a lap earlier, but got back ahead of the #26 Mustang within five laps, with a pass at Turn 7.

As is often the case, van Gisbergen ran long, not stopping until the end of Lap 27, when he too was given fresh working side tyres.

Car #97 rejoined in an effective fourth position, behind Kostecki, Reynolds, and Courtney, before overtaking the latter on Lap 30.

Two laps later, van Gisbergen got a run on Reynolds as they exited Kolb and completed the pass before they rounded Turn 7.

By then, Kostecki was 2.2s up the road, while Payne ran in fifth, ahead of Slade, Hazelwood, Davison, Randle, Le Brocq, Feeney, Fullwood, and Mostert.

Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang), who qualified 19th, was running 22nd after he spun due to nose-to-rear contact from Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro) as he tried to enter pit lane for his compulsory stop.

Van Gisbergen had caught Kostecki with about three laps to go and began to pepper the rear of the #99 Camaro, as the Erebus driver defended stoutly.

Officials deemed it somewhat too stout when Car #99 was issued a bad sportsmanship flag for blocking with a couple of laps remaining, before van Gisbergen forced his way down the inside at Kolb on Lap 41.

Reynolds tried to buy in as well but Kostecki held him off, as Hazelwood got by Courtney late in the piece to take fourth, while also securing the fastest lap bonus points.

Further back, Le Brocq ended up 12th, Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) 13th, Fullwood 15th, Percat 17th, Heimgartner 21st, and Waters 22nd, with the incident between the latter two noted by stewards.

Qualifying for Race 8 and Qualifying for Race 9 will be held tomorrow from 09:15 local time/11:15 AEST.

Results: Race 7, Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint Updated

Fastest lap (bonus): Todd Hazelwood, 0:55.4566, Lap 30

Drivers’ championship Updated

Teams’ championship Updated