Van Gisbergen wins Race 3 in Tasmania, Mostert 23rd

Shane van Gisbergen has won Race 3 of the Repco Supercars Championship at Symmons Plains while Chaz Mostert lost the lead in the standings after a tangle with Mark Winterbottom.

Van Gisbergen won the first race of the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint by almost three seconds, coming from fifth on the grid after some aggressive driving in the #97 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore.

Will Davison started and finished second in the #17 Shell V-Power Racing Team entry, while Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters brought the #6 Monster Energy Mustang home in third.

Mostert began the 44-lapper on the back foot after qualifying only 13th, and was running 10th when he got caught up in an incident between Winterbottom and David Reynolds in the final eight laps.

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The Walkinshaw Andretti United driver had to pit for a new tyre on the mangled right-front corner of his #25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore and eventually got home three laps down in 23rd position.

In the championship, van Gisbergen is back on top with a 17-point margin over Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), who salvaged sixth in Race 3 from well down in the field, while Mostert has dropped to fifth on the table at 49 points off the pace.

Back when the lights went out, Davison (#17 Mustang) made the better launch of the front row starters but got held wide by pole-sitter Waters at Turn 2 and dropped to third, behind Brodie Kostecki (#99 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore).

Davison reclaimed second spot as they ran down the back straight, and Kostecki wore a nudge from a strong-starting van Gisbergen when he covered to prevent the loss of any more positions at Turn 6.

Behind them, Scott Pye (#20 Seiko 5 ZB Commodore) and Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore) were chopping and changing position, with the former prevailing in that battle for fifth after a handful of laps.

Van Gisbergen had a dive at Kostecki on at Turn 6 on Lap 5 and eventually made the move for third stick by the time they got back around to Turn 2, before setting his sights on Davison.

The 2021 champion pulled off the pass of the #17 Mustang when they ran down the back straight on Lap 10, as Waters moved his advantage at the head of the field beyond a full second.

However, van Gisbergen reeled him in over the next few laps, and was soon on the tail of the #6 Mustang.

He gave Waters a bump as they exited the Hairpin on Lap 17, and there was more contact as they dragged down the back straight, before #97 took over the race lead into Turn 6.

Davison was 0.9s from the lead when he pitted from third spot at the end of that lap, and Waters had dropped to 0.8s off the back of van Gisbergen when he stopped on Lap 18, with both taking fresh rears.

Van Gisbergen was into the lane another lap later, also taking rears only, and he got back out just ahead of Davison, who had jumped Waters in the cycle courtesy of possibly the undercut but also a quicker service.

Mostert had clawed his way into the top 10 before the pit cycle was on in earnest, and he went until Lap 25 before stopping for another pair of rear tyres.

Once the cycle was done on Lap 31, van Gisbergen led by almost a second over Davison, with Waters more than three seconds off the lead in third.

Kostecki sat fourth, from Pye, Feeney, and De Pasquale, who had been shuffled back to 20th in the cut and thrust of the opening laps before taking an early pit stop.

Rounding out the top 10 at the time were Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang), Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore), and Mostert.

The latter three were at the centre of major drama on Lap 37 when Winterbottom tried to set up a move on Reynolds down the back straight, but succeeded only in making contact which turned both of them around exiting the Hairpin.

Mostert could not avoid contact with Winterbottom, who would soon be slapped with a 15-second time penalty for his part in the incident, as van Gisbergen continued to stretch his lead.

In the end, the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver took the chequered flag 2.83s up on Davison at the head of the field, and 6.29s clear of Waters.

Kostecki finished fourth, Feeney fifth, and De Pasquale sixth, making his tyres last despite the super soft compound being used for the first time at Symmons Plains this weekend.

Pye slipped to seventh all-told, Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore) managed eighth despite a slow pit stop, Lee Holdsworth (#10 Penrite Mustang) got to ninth from 21st on the grid, and Todd Hazelwood (#35 Truck Assist Mustang) rounded out the top 10.

Winterbottom was officially classified 18th and Reynolds ended up 21st, meaning he misses out also on the five bonus points for setting the fastest lap.

Nick Percat finished six laps down in 24th after incurring steering damage in the #2 Mobil 1 NTI ZB Commodore, with Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist ZB Commodore) the sole DNF after also getting caught up in an early stoush.

The Supercars Championship field is next on-track tomorrow morning for back-to-back qualifying sessions from 10:35 local time/AEDT.

Results: Race 3, Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Laps	Race time
1	97	Red Bull Ampol Racing	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	44	38:54.6722
2	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	44	38:57.5024
3	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:00.9578
4	99	Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:03.5332
5	88	Red Bull Ampol Racing	Broc Feeney	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:06.3698
6	11	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:08.4139
7	20	Team 18 Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:10.7505
8	8	R&J Batteries Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:10.7728
9	10	Penrite Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:13.7262
10	35	Truck Assist Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:14.0240
11	3	CoolDrive Auto Parts	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:14.2354
12	5	Opposite Lock Racing	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:16.7584
13	9	Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus	William Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:19.4066
14	56	Tradie Racing	Jake Kostecki	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:23.8456
15	14	Middy’s Electrical Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:29.7609
16	76	PremiAir Subway Racing	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:31.7391
17	4	SCT Logistics Racing	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:34.6977
18	18	IRWIN Racing	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:38.4557
19	96	Automotive Superstore	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:41.8393
20	22	PremiAir Coca Cola Racing	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	44	39:43.8950
21	26	Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	44	39:45.4189
22	55	Castrol Racing	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	43	39:35.5812
23	25	Mobil 1 Optus Racing	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	41	39:05.8649
24	2	Mobil 1 NTI Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	38	39:29.3139
NC	34	Truck Assist Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	34	37:55.2864

Fastest lap (no bonus): David Reynolds, 0:51.6935s, Lap 12

Drivers’ championship

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	Shane van Gisbergen	352
2	Anton De Pasquale	335
3	Brodie Kostecki	329
4	Will Davison	308
5	Chaz Mostert	303
6	Cameron Waters	278
7	Andre Heimgartner	234
8	Broc Feeney	230
9	William Brown	230
10	Tim Slade	216
11	James Courtney	178
12	Todd Hazelwood	178
13	Nick Percat	160
14	Mark Winterbottom	160
15	Bryce Fullwood	157
16	Lee Holdsworth	155
17	David Reynolds	145
18	Jack Smith	141
19	Thomas Randle	134
20	Scott Pye	124
21	Jake Kostecki	123
22	Macauley Jones	113
23	Chris Pither	111
24	Jack Le Brocq	105
25	Garry Jacobson	89

Teams’ championship

Pos	Car(s)		Team	Pts
1	11	17	Dick Johnson Racing	643
2	88	97	Triple Eight Race Engineering	582
3	9	99	Erebus Motorsport	559
4	2	25	Walkinshaw Andretti United	463
5	5	6	Tickford Racing	456
6	8	14	Brad Jones Racing	391
7	10	26	Grove Racing	300
8	18	20	Team 18	284
9	34	35	Matt Stone Racing	283
10	55	56	Tickford Racing	257
11	4	96	Brad Jones Racing	254
12	3		Blanchard Racing Team	216
13	22	76	PremiAir Racing	200