SVG wins, Coulthard title bid takes a hit

Shane van Gisbergen triumphed in an eventful Race 23 that saw title contender Fabian Coulthard end the race on his roof after a multi-car incident at the ITM Auckland Super Sprint.

The Triple Eight driver drove a faultless race from sixth on the grid to take the win having held his nerve after two late Safety Car periods, the last involving a dramatic crash for Coulthard.

Van Gisbergen found himself third in the early stages before emerging in the lead after the second round of pit stops.

The New Zealander scored a popular home round victory after 66 laps from Prodrive’s Mark Winterbottom, who shadowed van Gisbergen’s strategy.

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Scott McLaughlin (Shell V-Power Racing) managed to come home in third despite smoke coming from his Shell Ford in the closing stages, while early leader Jamie Whincup was fourth.

However, the race delivered a championship hammer blow for Coulthard as contact with Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds pitched the pair into the Turn 10 barriers on lap 57.

The incident was initially triggered by Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert, who tried to redress a position after pushing Reynolds wide at Turn 8 while squabbling over fifth.

At the time Coulthard, who was sitting behind the pair, tried to jump ahead of the slowing Mostert before contact saw him upside down in the barriers.

The retirement has seen Coulthard, who was climbed from the wreckage, drop to third in the standings, while Whincup holds an 18 point lead over McLaughlin with Van Gisbergen fourth just 159 behind.

Mostert copped a drive-through penalty for the driving infringement which set off the incident, dropping him to 23rd position and fifth in the championship.

At the start, Whincup leapt into the lead but it was team-mate van Gisbergen who enjoyed the best getaway to claim third from sixth after a dive on Winterbottom at the first corner.

Despite the damp and slippery track conditions the field completed the opening laps unscathed.

The top three of Whincup, Cameron Waters and van Gisbergen soon broke away from Winterbottom in fourth, while McLaughlin dropped a spot to fifth.

Fellow title contenders Mostert and Coulthard both lost two positions on the start as they slid to seventh and ninth.

It wasn’t long until the first round of pit stops began as teams looked to complete the prescribed 120 litre fuel drop.

Van Gisbergen was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 10 which triggered a flurry of stops.

Whincup retained the lead once the field had taken service for the first time but soon faced a challenge from a charging McLaughlin, who took on slightly less fuel, to emerge in second.

Van Gisbergen held third ahead of the Prodrive Ford trio of Winterbottom, Waters and Mostert.

At the front, McLaughlin soon latched onto the rear wing of Whincup and managed to get alongside on the run through Turn 10.

McLaughlin was forced onto the grass after slight contact from Whincup but the former held a slide and continued to shadow the leader until the race was neutralised lap 32.

The stoppage was caused by Mobil 1 HSV Racing’s James Courtney, who found himself buried in the barriers at Turn 4.

The Safety Car prompted the second round of stops with Whincup and McLaughlin pitting immediately.

Whincup just sneaked out ahead of the Ford but the pair were caught behind the Safety Car which allowed van Gisbergen to take the lead from Winterbottom following their respective stops.

The Whincup/McLaughlin battle continued after the restart as the latter finally found a way by Whincup at Turn 8 to move into third spot.

Meanwhile, Winterbottom applied pressure on van Gisbergen for the lead before they were joined in the fight by McLaughlin.

Dark clouds had threatened through the race before delivering sprinkles of rain with 20 laps remaining.

The damp conditions almost caught out Whincup before claiming its first victim when Dale Wood (Erebus Motorsport) found the wall at Turn 4 which caused a second Safety Car two laps later.

Van Gisbergen made a strong restart to gap Winterbottom but it was short-lived as the Safety Car was deployed again for multi-car incident involving Mostert, Reynolds and Coulthard.

Once the action resumed van Gisbergen took the win from Winterbottom, McLaughlin and Whincup.

Jason Bright came home in an impressive fifth from Brad Jones Racing’s Tim Slade and Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Garth Tander.

The top 10 was rounded out by Craig Lowndes, Waters, who suffered an off at Turn 4 at half distance, and Lee Holdsworth (Preston Hire Racing).

Supercars Race 23 Highlights

Results: Virgin Australian Supercars Championship ITM Auckland Super Sprint Race 23

Position	Team	Driver	Car	Laps	Time
1	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:23:58.812
2	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	66	1:23:59.629
3	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	66	1:24:00.236
4	Red Bull Holden Racing Aust	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:00.691
5	MEGA Racing	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG/X	66	1:24:01.365
6	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:01.972
7	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:02.763
8	TeamVortex	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:03.126
9	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	66	1:24:03.569
10	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:04.092
11	Sengled Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	66	1:24:05.286
12	TEKNO Woodstock Racing	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:05.568
13	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:06.308
14	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:06.885
15	carsales Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	66	1:24:07.331
16	Harley-Davidson Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:08.193
17	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	66	1:24:08.754
18	Team Harvey Norman	Simona De Silvestro	Nissan Altima	66	1:24:09.095
19	Team CoolDrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:09.666
20	Erebus GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:11.615
21	Plus Fitness Racing	Aaren Russell	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:12.583
22	TrailLite Racing	Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore VF	66	1:24:12.864
23	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	66	1:24:49.053
24	Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	63	1:24:13.246
25	Mobil 1 HSV Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	63	1:24:13.801
DNF	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	56	1:06:42.055

Championship Standings

Position	Driver	Total
1	Jamie Whincup	2700
2	Scott McLaughlin	2682
3	Fabian Coulthard	2563
4	Shane Van Gisbergen	2541
5	Chaz Mostert	2490
6	Craig Lowndes	2040
7	Mark Winterbottom	2010
8	Cameron Waters	1942
9	Garth Tander	1926
10	David Reynolds	1890
11	Scott Pye	1567
12	Tim Slade	1551
13	Michael Caruso	1530
14	Rick Kelly	1506
15	Will Davison	1455
16	Lee Holdsworth	1437
17	Jason Bright	1395
18	James Moffat	1392
19	James Courtney	1350
20	Todd Kelly	1347
21	Nick Percat	1272
22	Tim Blanchard	1119
23	Dale Wood	1080
24	Simona De Silvestro	978
25	Steve Owen	660
26	James Golding	624
27	Tony D’Alberto	612
28	Richie Stanaway	594
29	Alex Rullo	594
30	Matthew Campbell	591
31	Paul Dumbrell	534
32	Steven Richards	504
33	Warren Luff	498
34	Alexandre Premat	495
35	Jack Le Brocq	485
36	Dean Fiore	465
37	Luke Youlden	462
38	Chris Pither	462
39	Jack Perkins	456
40	Garry Jacobson	417
41	David Wall	408
42	Jonathon Webb	372
43	Dean Canto	369
44	Macauley Jones	345
45	Andre Heimgartner	336
46	Todd Hazelwood	333
47	Taz Douglas	306
48	Alex Davison	297
49	Richard Muscat	291
50	Karl Reindler	270
51	Aaren Russell	219
52	David Russell	195
53	Shae Davies	153
54	Cameron McConville	81
55	Matthew Brabham	57
56	Ashley Walsh	0