Shane van Gisbergen has a 338-point advantage over Red Bull Ampol Racing team mate Jamie Whincup after the latest round of the Repco Supercars Championship, the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight.
Van Gisbergen took his 13th win on Saturday evening, becoming the sixth driver to win 13 or more races in a season.
“It was a bloody cool night for us. I was very surprised that we all didn’t pit at the start of the window, and I was very surprised with the hard tyre performance. We were able to keep pushing on and the car felt good. I got gapped a bit but then my car was awesome.
“At the end of the day, we must keep scoring points without making mistakes and really maximise our performance. The result for the team is amazing especially after last week.
“The turnaround from the guys is amazing – the car feels good, and everyone’s just pumped. I definitely feel like we’re more competitive this week compared to last week.”
His fortunes on Sunday evening, Races 24 and 25, were a contrast despite qualifying second and on pole. The championship leader finished second to Anton de Pasquale who sits sixth in the overall standings, 747-points behind van Gisbergen.
“I was a bit surprised, opposite to last night when most people started on softs for today’s first race, but the mixed conditions was probably the right choice. I sort of got a bit lucky because there was a gap behind me and all of the other hard-trye runners got beaten up and I managed to hold second. I didn’t quite have the pace of Anton (De Pasquale) but I think we still did alright to get P2.
The final Race 25 was a reversal of fortunes with Whincup taking victory and van Gisbergen finishing in 23rd position.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t do a very good job in the second race today though. I made an error at the restart, but we recovered to 10th. At the restart I went on the inside line and suffered from both cold tyres and as soon as I braked, I knew I was in trouble.
“I thought I was going off, put it in first, tried dropping the clutch to turn the car and luckily there was a bit of gravel, so I stayed out of the fence. We had good pace, good management, and good strategy but then unfortunately had a pit stop error which put us to the back. “
An unsafe pitstop release resulted in a drive-through penalty for van Gisbergen.
“I thought the last safety car might have given us a chance to make up a few more spots, but then they obviously canned the race. It was a horrible points day, but you get that sometimes. Our aim is to try and eliminate that next week. For the team to get two wins at our 250th event is amazing.”
Sydney Motorsport Park will hold its third consecutive Supercars round this weekend, the BP Ultimate Sydney Superprint.
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