SVG evens score in Pukekohe battle

Shane van Gisbergen held off a spirited early challenge from Jamie Whincup to make it a win apiece for the Red Bull pair at Pukekohe.

The day’s second 100km sprint race began with a thrilling battle between the duo which again shared the front-row of the grid.

Unlike the early race, Van Gisbergen made the best of the starts to hold off his team-mate across the opening sequence of corners.

Whincup dived down the inside at the Turn 8 hairpin on both of the opening two laps, running side-by-side on the exit before ultimately failing to make the move stick on each occasion.

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Van Gisbergen was able to then gradually edge away before taking the flag 2.2s ahead after 35 laps.

Whincup ran through the Turn 5/6 chicane during his pursuit of Van Gisbergen, who restores his championship lead to the 148 points it was at the start of the day.

“I made a good start but Shane had a better one,” conceded Whincup post-race.

“We had a good old battle and he was pretty ballsy through the second last corner (on the second lap).

“I thought I’d raise him on the last (by trying to hang on around the outside).

“The car is very good and it is good to get a one-two.”

Aside from the opening two laps, the sprint race format provided little in the way of action for the enthusiastic Pukekohe crowd.

Chaz Mostert, Fabian Coulthard, Mark Winterbottom, Will Davison, Scott McLaughlin, David Reynolds and Michael Caruso filled third through ninth for the entire journey.

Garth Tander marched his way forward from 15th to 10th, making his final place in a spirited late-race battle with his 2017 replacement Scott Pye.

Further back, a 15th place finish for Craig Lowndes sees his third place in the standings under increasing threat from McLaughlin.

The gap between the pair sits at just 22 points with four races and 450 points in the season remaining.

Just 25 cars started the race, with Brad Jones Racing working to repair Jason Bright’s Holden for tomorrow following its heavy crash in Race 24.

A further two 100km races take place tomorrow.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship ITM Auckland Super Sprint Race 25

1	Red Bull Racing Australia	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	35	37:36.12
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	35	37:38.30
3	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	35	37:45.41
4	DJR Team Penske	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	35	37:48.47
5	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	35	37:49.98
6	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	35	37:54.24
7	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	35	37:55.99
8	Erebus Motorsport Penrite	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:01.75
9	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	35	38:02.77
10	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:03.94
11	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	35	38:06.13
12	Sengled Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	35	38:06.45
13	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:06.82
14	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Moffat	Volvo S60	35	38:08.05
15	TeamVortex	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:09.04
16	carsales Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	35	38:10.65
17	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	35	38:14.71
18	Clipsal 500 Adelaide Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:15.29
19	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:15.49
20	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:15.94
21	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Nissan Altima	35	38:17.73
22	Plus Fitness Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:18.15
23	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:20.07
24	Super Black Racing	Chris Pither	Ford Falcon FG/X	35	38:24.16
25	Erebus Motorsport	Shae Davies	Holden Commodore VF	35	38:30.06

Championship Standings 

1	Shane Van Gisbergen	2956
2	Jamie Whincup	2808
3	Craig Lowndes	2485
4	Scott McLaughlin	2463
5	Will Davison	2325
6	Mark Winterbottom	2254
7	Chaz Mostert	2124
8	Michael Caruso	2043
9	Tim Slade	2031
10	James Courtney	1892
11	Garth Tander	1889
12	Fabian Coulthard	1864
13	Rick Kelly	1675
14	Todd Kelly	1625
15	Scott Pye	1567
16	Cameron Waters	1357
17	Jason Bright	1356
18	David Reynolds	1315
19	Chris Pither	1281
20	Nick Percat	1267
21	Dale Wood	1252
22	James Moffat	1235
23	Tim Blanchard	1183
24	Lee Holdsworth	936
25	Andre Heimgartner	901
26	Alex Premat	840
27	Jonathon Webb	681
28	Aaren Russell	627
29	David Wall	602
30	Paul Dumbrell	555
31	Steven Richards	516
32	Steve Owen	504
33	Cameron McConville	483
34	Luke Youlden	468
35	Ash Walsh	468
36	Dean Fiore	444
37	Warren Luff	432
38	Tony D’Alberto	429
39	David Russell	405
40	Jack Perkins	374
41	Macauley Jones	360
42	Shae Davies	327
43	Matt Campbell	324
44	Richie Stanaway	324
45	Karl Reindler	309
46	Jack Le Brocq	303
47	Dean Canto	303
48	Russell Ingall	252
49	Chris van der Drift	234
50	Craig Baird	219
51	Andrew Jones	201
52	James Golding	180
53	Simona de Silvestro	126
54	Renee Gracie	126
55	Kurt Kostecki	108