Sydney Supercars: Van Gisbergen wins Red Bull thriller

Van Gisbergen and team-mate Jamie Whincup both skipped past pole man Chaz Mostert on the first of the 31 laps, the #97 narrowly leading the #88 throughout the first stint before van Gisbergen pitted on Lap 14.

That was the optimum strategy, meaning van Gisbergen stayed in what was the effective lead. Whincup, however, opted to pit three laps later, which dropped him to fourth in the effective order thanks to the undercut from those who had pitted earlier.

Whincup didn’t take long to clear Scott McLaughlin and Craig Lowndes in front of him, though. And within a handful of laps he was right on van Gisbergen’s tail, with tyres that were three laps fresher.

It set up a thrilling 10-lap battle to the finish, the team-mates putting on a brilliant display as Whincup looked to find a way through to his 100th Supercars win. He couldn’t do it, though, van Gisbergen holding on by just a couple of tenths.

“That was really fun,” said the Kiwi. “Jamie was coming quick, I knew that. I just drove my lines, I made one mistake at Turn 1 and had to defend, but other than that it was pretty cool. I definitely enjoyed that one.”

“Good race,” added Whincup. “It all came down to track position at the end of the day. The aero understeer is crazy around this place, I just couldn’t quite get close enough. We didn’t bend any panels, so all good.”

Holden Racing Team driver James Courtney finished third, the result set up on Lap 4 when he made a surprise move on both Mostert and Scott Pye at Turn 2. Like Whincup he had to make up some ground during the second stint after making a relatively late stop (Lap 16), but had the tyres to make up the ground.

The same went for Mostert, who stopped on the identical lap as Courtney and finished right on his bumper in fourth.

McLaughlin and Lowndes, who were some of the earlier of the stoppers, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Pye’s chances of a decent result went up in smoke just eight laps in, meanwhile, the DJR Team Penske driver forced into the lane with a power steering issue that ultimately proved terminal.

“I don’t know, I’m gutted,” said Pye. “It just keeps happening. We had a really fast car, I was on the radio saying we were really comfortable. It’s disappointing, the car is fast.”