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Triple Eight Holden driver van Gisbergen wins first Supercars title

Shane van Gisbergen has secured his maiden Supercars title, despite a chaotic run in the opening race of the Australian series' finale at Homebush

Van Gisbergen entered the weekend, the last event at the Sydney 2000 Olympics site, leading Triple Eight team-mate Jamie Whincup by 191 points with 300 up for grabs.

He duly qualified on pole, with Whincup second, but slipped back to sixth place with a slow start, and then turned outgoing champion Mark Winterbottom around at Turn 9 on lap nine of the 74.

That earned van Gisbergen a drive-through penalty that dropped him to 18th place, while Whincup controlled proceedings at the front.

Triple Eight delayed van Gisbergen's second pitstop, which worked out perfectly when the safety car was brought out with 24 laps to go after Dale Wood's Nissan found the wall.

On fresh tyres and with the field compressed ahead of him, van Gisbergen sliced his way from ninth up to third over the remaining laps, including passing James Courtney on the final tour.

While Whincup claimed his seventh win of the season ahead of Garth Tander, third was enough for van Gisbergen to seal the championship with one race to spare.

"We knew we had a job to do today and we started the right way with pole position in qualifying," van Gisbergen said.

"I wasn't as assertive as I should have been at the beginning of the race and after the penalty, we knew we had our work cut out for us.

"When the safety car came out we were back in the running for a good result and we pushed hard to finish in third.

"It's been an awesome few years in the Supercars series and taking the championship has always been a lifetime goal so I'm stoked.

"It's going to take a little time to sink in, I'll have a quiet dinner with the family tonight and then celebrate with the team tomorrow."

Having won seven races amid a total of 17 podium finishes this year, van Gisbergen is the first New Zealander to win the Australian Touring Car Championship since Jim Richards in 1991.

The title goes with the 2016 Blancpain Endurance crown van Gisbergen won with McLaren's Garage 59 alongside Rob Bell and Come Ledogar.

Van Gisbergen made his Supercars debut in 2007 and joined the powerhouse Triple Eight Holden outfit at the start of this year when it added a third car, after winning races with Tekno Autosports and Stone Brothers Racing.

Volvo's Scott McLaughlin finished fourth on Saturday, ahead of Courtney, Nissan's Rick Kelly, Bathurst 1000 winner Will Davison and Craig Lowndes.

The season concludes with a second, 74-lap race on Sunday.

RESULTS - 74 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 1h55m51.3313s
2 Garth Tander HRT Holden 6.8393s
3 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Holden 9.8342s
4 Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 10.3900s
5 James Courtney HRT Holden 10.8347s
6 Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 17.3639s
7 Will Davison Tekno Holden 17.9567s
8 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 23.3167s
9 Tim Slade Brad Jones Holden 25.0335s
10 David Reynolds Erebus Holden 26.5982s
11 Fabian Coulthard DJR Penske Ford 27.8862s
12 Todd Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 31.5859s
13 Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan 32.7867s
14 Scott Pye DJR Penske Ford 33.8954s
15 Nick Percat Dumbrell Holden 34.6610s
16 Lee Holdsworth Schwerkolt Holden 36.1242s
17 Chaz Mostert Rod Nash/PRA Ford 37.0193s
18 Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 38.0343s
19 Tim Blanchard Britek/BJR Holden 39.4606s
20 Andre Heimgartner Dumbrell Holden 40.2480s
21 Cameron Waters Prodrive Ford 46.1946s
22 Shae Davies Erebus Holden 3 Laps
23 Mark Winterbottom Prodrive Ford 5 Laps
24 James Moffat GRM Volvo 9 Laps
- Dale Wood Nissan Motorsport Nissan Retirement
- Chris Pither Super Black/PRA Ford Retirement

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Shane van Gisbergen 3218
2 Jamie Whincup 3048
3 Scott McLaughlin 2695
4 Craig Lowndes 2686
5 Will Davison 2499
6 Mark Winterbottom 2420
7 Chaz Mostert 2289
8 Michael Caruso 2176
9 Tim Slade 2167
10 Garth Tander 2114
11 James Courtney 2060
12 Fabian Coulthard 2036
13 Rick Kelly 1835
14 Todd Kelly 1760
15 Scott Pye 1741
16 Jason Bright 1459
17 David Reynolds 1435
18 Cameron Waters 1423
19 Nick Percat 1373
20 James Moffat 1341
21 Chris Pither 1318
22 Dale Wood 1273
23 Tim Blanchard 1266
24 Lee Holdsworth 1054
25 Andre Heimgartner 965


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