New Zealand’s Shane van Gisbergen remains firmly in title contention despite a tactical mistake that saw him finish mid-pack in the second race at the Ipswich SuperSprint Supercars race in Queensland.
Van Gisbergen, who produced a stunning drive to win Saturday’s race, made a pre-emptive move to pit when Team Penske driver Scott Pye speared off the track into the gravel trap.
“I assumed a safety car would follow which it didn’t,” van Gisbergen said. “That saw us double stack which screwed us up in a major way.”
He fought his way back to 12th but remains second in the championship behind Jamie Whincup, who finished runner-up in both races this weekend.
It was Triple Eight Racing’s third driver who starred today with Craig Lowndes equalling Mark Skaife’s record as the most successful Holden driver of all time with his victory. He also brought up his 105th career win and denied teammate Whincup his 100th Supercars win.
Lowndes bettered Whincup from the front row of the grid today and was never seriously threatened from that point with his teammate finishing second to extend his lead in the championship to 90 points from van Gisbergen.
Ford’s Chaz Mostert zoomed home late on fresh tyres to grab third ahead of Nissan’s Michael Caruso with reigning champion Mark Winterbottom fifth.
Kiwi Scott McLaughlin improved significantly from Saturday’s showing to be the leading New Zealand driver in sixth place in the Volvo and he remains fifth in the championship.
Super Black Racing had arguably their best weekend in the championship with Chris Pither guiding the team to eighth place today, after their pole position and 12th placing on the first day. It saw them jump to 20th in the championship.
Van Gisbergen was 12th with Andrew Heimgartner 15th and replacement Craig Baird in 22nd.
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship continues on August 26-28 at the Sydney Motorsport Park.
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