Shane van Gisbergen made it two Repco Supercars Championship race wins from three starts in Western Australia this weekend. In doing so, he denied James Courtney a first win in six years after a late overtaking move in the final race of the Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight.
“Apart from our incident with (Mark) Winterbottom during qualifying this morning, it would have been a great weekend for us,” commented van Gisbergen. “The first qualifying session was really frustrating, but in the second qualifying session, we showed what we could really do.
“Although it was an awesome weekend, we still have some weaknesses. My race starts haven’t been great – I keep getting shockers, and our pit stops maybe aren’t quick enough to put the pressure on some of the other guys.
“Normally, it’s not a very strong track for myself, so it’s good to get a couple of wins here in Perth. I misread today’s last race a bit. After eight laps, daylight was third, and Will (Davison) and I were cruising along, not knowing that James (Courtney) had pitted.
Van Gisbergen overhauled Courtney with six laps remaining to score win No. 8 of 2022 and victory 62 of his career.
Courtney played himself into contention with an early pit stop, but was unable to deny the championship leader late in the race.
“The team told me James was the leader, but I thought he still had to pit, so I stayed back and made sure I had clear air, and then they told me he had already pitted. I passed James at Turn 7 and then the safety car came out at Turn 3, so I was relieved to get that pass done.”
The result means van Gisbergen extended his championship lead to 164 points over Shell Ford’s Anton De Pasquale.
Earlier in the day Will Davison secured Ford’s first win since November 2021 and ended Holden’s winning run this season. The Shell V-Power Racing Team driver scored his 20th career win, and first since Bathurst 2016.
Davison crossed the line second behind Cam Waters, who was penalised for an unsafe re-entry. DJR team mate Anton De Pasquale came home second with Kiwi Andre Heimgartner securing third, his first podium for Brad Jones Racing.
A horror weekend for Chaz Mostert saw the defending Bathurst 1000 Champion slide from third back to fifth in Championship standings with Davison and Cam Waters moving into 3rd and 4th respectively.
The teams’ championship margin between Red Bull Ampol Racing and the Shell V-Power Racing Team is 13 points.
Championship standings (Top 10)
Pos , Driver, Team, Pts
1/ Shane van Gisbergen Red Bull Ampol Racing 982
2/ Anton De Pasquale Shell V-Power Racing Team 843
3/ Will Davison Shell V-Power Racing Team 790
4/ Chaz Mostert Mobil 1 Optus Racing 713
5/ Cameron Waters Monster Energy Racing 687
6/ Brodie Kostecki Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus 681
7/ Broc Feeney Red Bull Ampol Racing 677
8/ David Reynolds Penrite Racing 641
9/ Tim Slade CoolDrive Racing 607
10/ Todd Hazelwood Truck Assist Racing 558
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