Victory in the opening OTR SuperSprint race (Race 22) at the new Bend Motorsport Park has seen Shane van Gisbergen trim Scott McLaughlin’s Virgin Australia Supercars Championship lead from 89 to 41 points.
“It was a good race today, we got an okay start and slotted into second,” commented van Gisbergen. “We had really good speed at the start and we were able to pass Jamie (Whincup).
“We started to get away but then the safety car came out, so we pitted. A great pit stop by the crew so we were able to keep the lead which was awesome. It is a shame that Jamie had to double stack – we did that on purpose hoping for a mid-race pit stop because we didn’t know what the tyres were like. We were so unsure, so we picked a mid-race stop which unfortunately lead to a mid-race stack. We both had quick cars although mine seemed a little bit better at the start.
“Rick (Kelly) was fast and put some pressure on, but we managed to keep the gap to the end. Although the last few rounds have been pretty good for us, it’s great to see how fast our cars have come. It could all change tomorrow, we just need to keep accumulating, keep having good days, make no mistakes and stay focused.”
Van Gisbergen moved ahead of team-mate Jamie Whincup just before an early Safety Car period and, crucially, avoided having to double-stack in the pitstops. He controlled the race from there, a 6.2602-second victory his sixth of 2018. Nissan pair Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso rounded out the podium, while McLaughlin finished sixth.
“We have work to do tonight,” commented McLaughlin. “I think at the end of the day, we’ve taken steps in the right direction today, we just need to find another big chunk of time. We’re strong in some areas, they’re just not the right areas we need to make moves and get through the field. The team did an amazing stop for me, but we got stuck with the line of traffic in the lane and had to wait. We’ll take a good look at everything tonight and have another go tomorrow.”
With those results, McLaughlin’s points lead over van Gisbergen is trimmed from 89 points to 41.
Drivers’ Championship Points
1. Scott McLaughlin 2681
2. Shane Van Gisbergen 2640 -41
3. Jamie Whincup 2266 -415
4. Craig Lowndes 2139 -542
5. David Reynolds 2084 -597
6. Rick Kelly 1864 -817
7. Fabian Coulthard 1859 -822
8. Chaz Mostert 1823 -858
9. Tim Slade 1622 -1059
10. Scott Pye 1600 -1081
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