The defending Adelaide 500 winner Shane van Gisbergen started his 2018 Supercars season by winning the opening race in his new Red Bull Holden Racing Team ZB Commodore. Second home was James Courtney for Walkinshaw Andretti United, while Shell V-Power Racing’s Scott McLaughlin completed the podium.
“We’ve had a pretty good run here the last few years,” commented van Gisbergen. “I really enjoyed myself today and had a really good race.
“I had an average start, but I knew my car was really good. As we expected, the other guys were going to pit early and be aggressive and we thought we’d run with them but my car was feeling like it would get better. I pulled some clean laps while they were all in the pits and we had fresh air and were able to pick how much fuel we were putting into the car.
“I dropped into a nice area and caught up to the front guys and we won through strategy in the end. It was a pretty awesome debut for the new Commodore.”
McLaughlin led from the start until pitting at the end of lap nine, with Courtney able to emerge ahead. Van Gisbergen stayed out until lap 24, and rejoined in the pack but having taken on more fuel. He was let through by team-mate Whincup and passed Mark Winterbottom at Turn 5, before closing on McLaughlin and Courtney. On laps 40, 42 and 43 respectively, leader Courtney, McLaughlin and van Gisbergen pitted for their second stops. Needing a shorter fill based on his longer first stop, van Gisbergen emerged at the front and with a two-second margin and led until the finish.
Erebus Racing’s David Reynolds finished fourth from Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup.
Kiwi drivers Fabian Coulthard and Richie Stanaway tangled several times late in the race. Cameron Waters was turned around amid a concertina at Turn 9 and Coulthard hit Stanaway at the final corner, but all cars were able to continue. (Coulthard and Stanaway had already tangled at Turn 1 earlier in the stint, with Stanaway trying to make a move in that instance).
Stanaway retired on the last lap after he was involved in a three-rookie incident at Turn 5, ending up in the tyre barrier after being tagged by James Golding, with Todd Hazelwood also caught up.
Coulthard finished 21st while the fifth Kiwi driver in Supercars, Andre Heimgartner (Nissan Motorsport) finished ahead in 17th.
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