Ipswich Supercars: Van Gisbergen wins Triple Eight thriller

Looking for his 100th win, it was actually Jamie Whincup who led the majority of the race. The Red Bull-backed driver charged his way past Chaz Mostert and pole-sitter Chris Pither on the first lap, holding on to the effective lead through the sole round of stops.

It was the order of the stops, however, that made the difference in the end. While Whincup wound up with track position after stopping on Lap 8, sitting ahead of team-mates Craig Lowndes and van Gisbergen as the race rolled into its second stint, he was far from safe.

Having not taken fuel on during his stint, Whincup had Lowndes breathing down his neck straight away as he looked to conserve juice.

And as the laps counted down it became a three-way fight, van Gisbergen joining the show from more than seven seconds back thanks to not only be as safe as Lowndes on fuel, but having the best rubber thanks to stopping on Lap 17, nine laps later than Whincup.

In the end, it was the rubber that won out. After a tense on-track stoush, van Gisbergen barged his way past Lowndes at Turn 4 four laps from the end, and then into the lead at Turn 6 a lap later.

“It’s great to be here, and a 1-2-3 – fantastic job,” said the Kiwi. “These cars are amazing. I was surprised [Whincup and Lowndes] pitted as early as they did, but they were racing each other. We went for the time trial option and had good tyres. I’m so stoked.”

Whincup just hung on to take second, with not just Lowndes but the fast-finishing Prodrive Racing Fords of Mark Winterbottom and Mostert.

“Obviously I was going for the win. We put ourselves in the best position, but to win races you’ve got o have car pace, and we didn’t have anywhere near enough today,” admitted Whincup.

Tim Slade made good gains after stopping later than anyone else to come home sixth, ahead of Will Davison and Rick Kelly.

James Moffat hustled well in the second stint to come home ninth on what was a tough day for his Volvo GRM crew, team-mate Scott McLaughlin doing his title chances no help by coming home 15th.

Scott Pye was the feel good story of the race, finishing 21st after the DJR Team Penske squad put in a huge effort to repair his Ford after that scary crash in practice earlier today.