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Shane van Gisbergen won the second race of the 2018 Supercars championship season opener in Adelaide to head the championship by a perfect 300 points. The Triple Eight Race Engineering driver won the race ahead of fellow Holden ZB Commodore drivers David Reynolds and Garth Tander.
“I love Adelaide, that was just awesome,” said van Gisbergen. “We went the wrong way with our set-up and had to battle it out there. Davey was really quick and I expected him to battle me back. I can’t thank the team enough, it’s an awesome debut for the new Commodore.”
Van Gisbergen’s team-mate Jamie Whincup claimed the lead at the start of the race and pulled up a big gap in the first part of the race before disaster struck and he had to retire due to a gearbox issue, his first retirement in 137 races.
DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin was close to van Gisbergen before his race was ruined on lap 26 due to a front-right puncture, dropping him down to finish tenth.
Erebus Motorsport’s Reynolds claimed the lead of the race after his final pit stop but could not resist a challenge from van Gisbergen who had the advantage of having warm tyres as he had made his final stop earlier.
Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Tander kept close to the leading duo but was never close enough to challenge and finished third.
Mark Winterbottom looked set to become the best Ford driver of the race but was handed a drive-through penalty for excessive kerb use, dropping him to finish 13th.
Instead it was his Tickford Racing team-mate Chaz Mostert who finished fourth as the top Ford driver ahead of team-mate Cameron Waters.
James Courtney crossed the line in sixth position for Walkinshaw Andretti United, with fellow Holden ZB Commodore driver Craig Lowndes in seventh and team-mate Scott Pye rounding off the top eight.
Michael Caruso finished ninth for Nissan Motorsport in a rather anonymous opening race weekend for the Japanese manufacturer.
Van Gisbergen heads the championship on 300 points with Reynolds second on 258 and Courtney third on 240. Title contenders McLaughlin and Whincup are further down the order in fifth and 15th respectively.
The Supercars championship resumes on March 23-25th in Melbourne.
Round 1 and a perfect score for "The Giz".
“I love Adelaide, that was just awesome,” said van Gisbergen. “We went the wrong way with our set-up and had to battle it out there. Davey was really quick and I expected him to battle me back. I can’t thank the team enough, it’s an awesome debut for the new Commodore.”
Van Gisbergen’s team-mate Jamie Whincup claimed the lead at the start of the race and pulled up a big gap in the first part of the race before disaster struck and he had to retire due to a gearbox issue, his first retirement in 137 races.
DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin was close to van Gisbergen before his race was ruined on lap 26 due to a front-right puncture, dropping him down to finish tenth.
Erebus Motorsport’s Reynolds claimed the lead of the race after his final pit stop but could not resist a challenge from van Gisbergen who had the advantage of having warm tyres as he had made his final stop earlier.
Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Tander kept close to the leading duo but was never close enough to challenge and finished third.
Mark Winterbottom looked set to become the best Ford driver of the race but was handed a drive-through penalty for excessive kerb use, dropping him to finish 13th.
Instead it was his Tickford Racing team-mate Chaz Mostert who finished fourth as the top Ford driver ahead of team-mate Cameron Waters.
James Courtney crossed the line in sixth position for Walkinshaw Andretti United, with fellow Holden ZB Commodore driver Craig Lowndes in seventh and team-mate Scott Pye rounding off the top eight.
Michael Caruso finished ninth for Nissan Motorsport in a rather anonymous opening race weekend for the Japanese manufacturer.
Van Gisbergen heads the championship on 300 points with Reynolds second on 258 and Courtney third on 240. Title contenders McLaughlin and Whincup are further down the order in fifth and 15th respectively.
The Supercars championship resumes on March 23-25th in Melbourne.
Round 1 and a perfect score for "The Giz".
