Hard-charging drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Fabian Coulthard maintained the Kiwi presence at the front of the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship in Townsville today.
Van Gisbergen finished second behind his Red Bull Racing teammate Jamie Whincup in the first of two 200km races in Townsville, while Coulthard enjoyed a solid eighth placing for Team Penske Ford.
Whincup was in command today, overcoming a late safety car restart to win today’s 200km Supercars race.
Whincup, who claimed his first pole position of the year earlier in the day, dominated the race to stretch to a significant eight-second lead at one stage but had to negotiate a late safety car period with a final two-lap dash to hold off his Kiwi teammate van Gisbergen.
It continued Whincup’s love affair with Townsville, with his eighth win in the Queensland city, and the 99th of his illustrious career.
It also strengthened his lead in the championship, while van Gisbergen remains second overall after a strong drive, ahead of defending champion Mark Winterbottom.
“My second stint wasn’t so good, the tyres went off,” said van Gisbergen. “So I decided to save them at the start of the third stint and Chaz (Mostert) came flying past and I thought I was in trouble,” van Gisbergen said. “We had an awesome battle – a clean, hard fight and I enjoyed it. To come home in second and have a one-two for the team, then thanks to Red Bull Racing for amazing cars.”
Coulthard started 10th on the grid and worked his way to eighth, and while he pushed hard with a log-jamb in the frantic final safety car period, he could not make any late gains.
The Team Penske driver heads to New Zealand next week to help launch the ITM Auckland SuperSprint event, which is the penultimate stop in the Supercars Championship on 4-6 November.
It was not such a good day for Scott McLaughlin in the Volvo who was 24th after an ordinary qualifying effort, after being on pole at Townsville last year, although he remains in fifth place in the championship.
Of the other New Zealand drivers Chris Pither (Super Black Racing) qualified 20th and finished 25th, while Andre Heimgartner could not take advantage of a competitive 15th qualifying spot, finishing 25th.
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