After a season characterized by frustrating steering and setup issues, Shane van Gisbergen dominated when it counted, winning Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 for the Supercars Championship series.
In a race that a few seconds often separates the leading drivers, van Gisbergen’s win was emphatic.
The New Zealand driver greeted the checker in his Red Bull Ampol Chev Camaro 20 seconds ahead of Brodie Kostecki in the Coca Cola by Erebus Chev Camaro.
In third placing, a further 13 seconds in arrears, was Anton de Pasquale in the Shell V-Power Ford Mustang.
Van Gisbergen and co-driver Richie Stanaway dominated the second half of the 621-mile race up and down the Mt. Panorama race circuit.
The team was still tweaking the car prior to the Sunday enduro, only scraping into the top ten shootout the day before.
But their concentration was on the next day’s event, in particular ensuring that their car would be fast and durable at the back end of the endurance race.
And succeed they did, effectively leading from lap 113.
As the laps wound down, the last possible chance for the Kostecki/David Russell combination was the final pit stops. Kostecki pitted his Camaro on lap 145, and van Gisbergen did so three laps later.
Van Gisbergen had a 1 min 26 seconds lead as he stopped to refuel and exited pit lane still 23 seconds in advance of his rival. Baring mishaps or a mechanical failure, van Gisbergen would notch up his third victory in Australia’s Great Race.
The New Zealander maintained his lead to claim a decisive victory after 161 laps of the testing circuit, despite having a steering dead spot in the last 10 laps.
He revealed after the race that he was managing a series of issues, including brakes, steering and the clutch in the final laps, saying the car was “falling apart” in the final dash to the checker.
It was Triple Eight Race Engineering’s 10th victory in the Bathurst 1000.
“It is amazing, what a feeling,” van Gisbergen said after winning the 60th edition of the race.
“We were not the fastest car all week, but worked on the race car and Richie and the team did a stellar job all day.
“I am really going to miss it. I love this place . . . I will be back,” said the driver who will join Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR next year.
“I would not say this is my last (full time season) I will be back one day,” he added. “But this is the perfect way to say goodbye (for now).”
After ongoing concerns about parity between the Camaros and Mustangs, the Fords had their best result of the season, filling third to sixth placings.
The race was relatively incident-free. However, Broc Feeney’s Erebus Motorsports Camaro suffered a faulty gear lever housing; while Kostecki’s Coca Cola Chev had steering issues.
There were a number of safety car periods, the most significant when Cameron Waters co-driver James Moffat crashed the Tickford Mustang on the top of the mountain.
Fourth placing was taken by Chaz Mostert and Lee Holsworthy in the Mobile 1 Optus Mustang.
Kostecki still leads the Supercars series, 2,477 points to van Gisbergen’s 2,316.
The race aired live on SPEED SPORT 1.