Shane van Gisbergen takes second career win

Shane van Gisbergen has won a tyre strategy determined Race 13 of the V8 Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway today, marking the Kiwi’s second career win.

The SP Tools-backed Falcon driver executed a late move on Craig Lowndes (TeamVodafone) to win the 69 lap race.

Van Gisbergen celebrated with a victory burnout and has moved up to third in the title race behind Jamie Whincup and Lowndes.

Mark Winterbottom (Orrcon Steel FPR) finished today’s race in third place, making up for a disappointing result yesterday.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
GO ALL IN AT THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500, CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Tim Slade (Lucky 7 Racing) and Russell Ingall (Supercheap Auto Racing) rounded out the top five.

Jamie Whincup and Lee Holdsworth were the only drivers who elected to start the race on Dunlop’s soft compound Sprint tyre. Whincup recovered for a slow start to lead the majority of the event until a late Saftey Car (when Karl Reindler crashed into a tyre wall) tipped the race on its head.

Whincup, trapped at the front on the hard tyres at the restart with less than 10 laps to go, was helpless against the soft tyre runners, eventually taking sixth place, while Holdsworth was worse off, finishing 15th.

The first Safety Car of the race also played its part in the outcome of the event. Will Davison was one of few who didn’t pit during the first Safety Car, which resulted in a long opening stint for the Trading Post Ford.

At the end of the race, Davison was left with the freshest soft tyres, moving from 14th place at the final restart to take seventh by the flag, one sport ahead of his IRWIN Racing brother Alex Davsion.

Yesterday’s podium finisher Steve Johnson (Jim Beam Racing) finished ninth, ahead of Jason Bargwanna (Jana Living Racing), giving the 2000 Bathurst winner two top 10 places over the weekend.

Jason Bright (Team BOC) suffered his second DNF of the weekend, with a massive engine failure at the end of the front-straight causing his demise. Bright’s horror event dropped him from fourth to 10th in the title fight.

Toll Holden Racing Team endured another shocker. Garth Tander had a bent steering arm on Lap 22, bowing out of the race. His team-mate James Courtney spun on Bright’s oil, dropping down the order. He finished 24th after a another delay later in the going, this time due to a broken left-rear damper mount.

Kelly Racing also had a frought day, with Saturday race winner Rick Kelly once again the squad’s highest finishing entry, despite finishing down in 20th position. Kelly went off on Bright’s oil early in the race, and later lost out badly when his fuel strategy forced the early use of his Sprint tyres.

The next event of the V8 Supercars Championship will be held at Townsville for the Sucrogen Townsville 400.

See below for the Race 13 result

1	SP Tools Racing	Shane Van Gisbergen	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:04.3716
2	TeamVodafone	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:05.2655
3	Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:06.1017
4	Lucky 7 Racing	Tim Slade	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:06.5474
5	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:09.4492
6	TeamVodafone	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:11.5742
7	Trading Post FPR Falcon	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:12.1848
8	Irwin Racing	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:15.0812
9	Jim Beam Racing	Steven Johnson	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:15.6765
10	Jana Living Racing	Jason Bargwanna	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:17.3615
11	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Paul Dumbrell	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:17.5202
12	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Michael Caruso	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:19.1062
13	Jim Beam Racing	James Moffat	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:20.4378
14	VIP Petfoods	Steve Owen	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:20.4652
15	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:22.5310
16	Mother Energy Racing Team	Jonathon Webb	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:24.9813
17	Wilson Security Racing	Tony D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:29.1436
18	Bundaberg Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:32.2109
19	Triple F Racing	Dean Fiore	Ford Falcon FG	69	01:27:33.4502
20	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:44.0197
21	Stratco Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VE2	69	01:27:49.8758
22	Pepsi Max Crew	Greg Murphy	Holden Commodore VE2	68	01:27:36.1328
23	Gulf Western Oil Racing	Warren Luff	Holden Commodore VE2	68	01:28:05.6452
24	Toll Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VE2	63	01:27:40.5068
25	Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing	Karl Reindler	Holden Commodore VE2	63	01:28:05.2757
26	Toll Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VE2	56	01:27:37.5319
DNF	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Holden Commodore VE2	45	58:23.7959
DNF	Team Boc	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VE2	10	12:17.4783

See below for the championship points after 13 races

1	Jamie Whincup	1395
2	Craig Lowndes	1239
3	Shane Van Gisbergen	1134
4	Rick Kelly	1082
5	Steven Johnson	1030
6	Will Davison	1020
7	Garth Tander	1013
8	Alex Davison	963
9	Mark Winterbottom	961
10	Jason Bright	920
11	Fabian Coulthard	838
12	Lee Holdsworth	801
13	Tim Slade	711
14	Michael Caruso	696
15	Jason Bargwanna	686
16	James Courtney	679
17	Greg Murphy	635
18	Jonathon Webb	618
19	Paul Dumbrell	616
20	Steve Owen	576
21	James Moffat	568
22	David Reynolds	564
23	Russell Ingall	539
24	Todd Kelly	517
25	Dean Fiore	517
26	Tony D’Alberto	493
27	Karl Reindler	444
28	Warren Luff	355