Van Gisbergen takes commanding Race 1 victory

Shane van Gisbergen took victory in the opening V8 Supercars race at Albert Park, streaking away from a squabbling pack in the 10 lap encounter.

The Kiwi had ducked to the inside of pole-sitter Michael Caruso to snatch the lead into Turn 1 after the double-file rolling start.

Fourth-placed qualifier Jamie Whincup made it to second by Turn 3, looking to have the fastest car over the opening laps.

A battle between Whincup and Scott McLaughlin however soon allowed Van Gisbergen to pull away, with the Tekno Holden going on to win by a commanding 6.2s.

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“It was a good start and we got to the lead but we didn’t have any grip and Whincup was all over me,” said Van Gisbergen afterward.

“Then the car came on and we left them.

“We’ve tried some stuff this weekend that seems to be working but I think Volvo and Caruso were pretty quick cars so it would have been interesting to see what pace they had if they were right behind us.

“We’ll see how we go in the hotter conditions this afternoon.”

Whincup received a bad sportsmanship flag early in the second place battle having squeezed McLaughlin onto the grass on the inside of the main straight.

The Red Bull Holden eventually steadied the ship to take second from McLaughlin and Caruso.

Fabian Coulthard and Garth Tander completed the top six, with the latter taking Craig Lowndes on the penultimate lap.

Second through 11th ran in a tight pack for the entire 10 laps, although passes proved few and far between.

Further back in the pack, Mark Winterbottom drove through from 18th on the grid to finish 13th in his Ford Performance Racing Falcon.

Jason Bright was 14th having lost three places with an off at Turn 3 during the early going.

David Reynolds was the only real victim of the tight racing in the early laps, spinning at Turn 3 and rejoining to finish last.

Race 2, to be contested over 12 laps, will take place at 1425.

See below for the full Race 1 result 

Pos	Team	Driver	Car	Laps	Time
1	Team TEKNO VIP Petfoods	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	10	19:48.4102
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	10	19:54.5905
3	Valvoline Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	10	19:55.5983
4	Norton Hornets	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	10	19:55.8951
5	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	10	19:56.4490
6	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	10	19:57.9238
7	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	10	19:59.4993
8	Norton Hornets	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	10	19:59.8856
9	Pepsi Max Crew	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG	10	20:00.3702
10	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	10	20:00.8776
11	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	10	20:01.1223
12	Erebus Motorsport V8	Will Davison	Mercedes E63 AMG	10	20:01.6129
13	Pepsi Max Crew	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	10	20:04.5908
14	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	10	20:04.8231
15	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	10	20:09.2897
16	Supercheap Auto Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	10	20:09.6230
17	Walkinshaw Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	10	20:10.9881
18	Valvoline Racing GRM	Robert Dahlgren	Volvo S60	10	20:11.9065
19	Repair Management Aust Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF	10	20:14.2367
20	Erebus Motorsport V8	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG	10	20:14.8133
21	Wilson Security Racing	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG	10	20:17.5196
22	Jeld-wen	Jack Perkins	Ford Falcon FG	10	20:19.0300
23	Team ADVAM / GB	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	10	20:19.3878
24	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Ford Falcon FG	10	20:19.6596
25	The Bottle-O Racing Team	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG	10	20:24.7287