Red Bull Racing Austrlia driver Shane van Gisbergen has become the first New Zealander to take the coveted Jason Richards Memorial Trophy after a solid second place finish in the final race at the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.
“I choked a few tears back knowing I had won the trophy,” commented van Gisbergen. “I am the first Kiwi to do so, I have such fond memories of JR (Jason Richards), and to do it in front of my home crowd was pretty special.
“We increased the championship lead, which is a bonus, but we have a fair bit of a break between here and Homebush, which is boring, to be honest. The first race today had its moments, a few mistakes made, but I made up for it and managed to grab third, the car was great. I am in a pretty special place with the car and the team at the moment, I am very lucky.”
Despite finishing behind teammate Jamie Whincup in the fourth race, Van Gisbergen maintains his championship lead, now holding a 191 point advantage over the six-time Supercars champ.
Whincup and van Gisbergen clashed in the day’s first race after a clumsy passing attempt from the #88, though Whincup was the one who lost out with his teammate able to drive up to third.
He bounced back to claim the final win by 8.7 seconds, but was out of the running for the Jason Richards Trophy after finishing 25th earlier today.
Van Gisbergen becomes the fourth different winner in four years of the JR Trophy, which was presented by Richards’ former boss and close friend Kim Jones.
Another Kiwi stood on the podium for the final race, with Scott McLaughlin coming home ahead of Prodrive pair Chaz Mostert and Mark Winterbottom.
It was a tough start for David Reynolds who speared off track and damaged the front of his Erebus Commodore, while another New Zealander, Andre Heimgartner, had to retire with damage.
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship heads to the finale, the Coates Hire Sydney 500, from December 2-4.
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