Darwin Supercars: Van Gisbergen doubles up in finale
Shane van Gisbergen completed a Sunday sweep at Hidden Valley with a second dominant performance in as many races.
As was the case in today's earlier race, the start proved critical, with van Gisbergen able to comfortably out-drag polesitter Will Davison down to Turn 1.
From there he was able to control the race, keeping Davison at bay across the first stint before taking his mandatory service on lap 17.
The second stint was much the same, the gap between van Gisbergen and Davison 2.3 seconds at the finish.
"Awesome. I don't know what's happened [with starts] this weekend but I've got three beauties," said van Gisbergen.
"I've got to thanks Red Bull Ampol Racing. Our car wasn't very good and we just chipped away and it's been good in the races."
The podium was identical to Race 2, with Jamie Whincup holding off Chaz Mostert to finish third. The seven-time series champion was left unimpressed with James Courtney, though, after contact between the pair on the first lap ran him wide.
"I was fuming after the start," said Whincup. "I got absolutely cleaned up at Turn 1. I can't remember the last time someone opened the wheel up like that and just fend me off.
"But I had a good car and I was able to get a few spots at the start. Once we got to third we just had to hang on."
Race winner Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering
Photo by: Edge Photographics
Courtney finished fifth, a decision to run long not working for the Tickford driver, followed by Nick Percat, Mark Winterbottom and Cam Waters. Tim Slade and Will Brown rounded out the top 10.
The win leaves van Gisbergen a formidable 221 points clear of Whincup in the championship, with the season set to continue in Townsville in three weeks.
Van Gisbergen dominates Race 2
Van Gisbergen had dominated the second race after beating Davison to Turn 1.
Once in front it was a straightforward affair for van Gisbergen, who took his mandatory service on lap 14 before cruising to a 1.5s win over Davison.
The battle for third boiled down to two very different strategies from Whincup and Mostert. The latter went for an undercut, pitting on lap 9 and using some clean air to filter up to third from his eighth spot on the grid.
Whincup, who ran fifth in the early stages, went for an overcut, not stopping until lap 20.
That gave the seven-time series champion the better tyre condition for the run home, he and Mostert staging a tense battle over a number of laps before Whincup finally got past with a bold outside move at Turn 1 four laps from the finish.
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering
Photo by: Edge Photographics
Winterbottom joined in on that battle too, although couldn't find a way past Mostert.
Anton De Pasquale fell back to sixth after starting third, followed by Waters, Brown, Percat and Courtney.
Darwin Supercars - Race 3 results:
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 97 |  Shane van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore ZB | |
| 2 | 17 |  Will Davison |
Ford Mustang GT | 2.320 |
| 3 | 88 | Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore ZB | 3.030 |
| 4 | 25 | Chaz Mostert |
Holden Commodore ZB | 4.018 |
| 5 | 44 | James Courtney |
Ford Mustang GT | 5.729 |
| 6 | 8 | Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore ZB | 11.928 |
| 7 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom |
Holden Commodore ZB | 12.659 |
| 8 | 6 | Cameron Waters |
Ford Mustang GT | 13.205 |
| 9 | 3 | Tim Slade |
Ford Mustang GT | 17.695 |
| 10 | 9 | Will Brown |
Holden Commodore ZB | 22.046 |
| 11 | 55 | Thomas Randle |
Ford Mustang GT | 22.302 |
| 12 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale |
Ford Mustang GT | 22.750 |
| 13 | 19 | Fabian Coulthard |
Holden Commodore ZB | 26.551 |
| 14 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood |
Holden Commodore ZB | 27.596 |
| 15 | 5 | Jack Le Brocq |
Ford Mustang GT | 27.901 |
| 16 | 20 | Scott Pye |
Holden Commodore ZB | 30.262 |
| 17 | 27 | Kurt Kostecki |
Holden Commodore ZB | 35.413 |
| 18 | 22 | Garry Jacobson |
Holden Commodore ZB | 38.401 |
| 19 | 26 | David Reynolds |
Ford Mustang GT | 39.654 |
| 20 | 96 | Macauley Jones |
Holden Commodore ZB | 40.469 |
| 21 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood |
Holden Commodore ZB | 41.849 |
| 22 | 4 | Jack Smith |
Holden Commodore ZB | 43.692 |
| 23 | 35 | Zane Goddard |
Holden Commodore ZB | 46.718 |
| 24 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 57.619 |
| 25 | 34 | Jake Kostecki |
Holden Commodore ZB | 58.395 |
| 7 | Andre Heimgartner |
Ford Mustang GT | 34 Laps | |
| View full results | ||||
Darwin Supercars - Race 2 results:
| Cla | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore ZB | |
| 2 | Will Davison |
Ford Mustang GT | 1.532 |
| 3 | Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore ZB | 6.679 |
| 4 | Chaz Mostert |
Holden Commodore ZB | 9.042 |
| 5 | Mark Winterbottom |
Holden Commodore ZB | 9.532 |
| 6 | Anton De Pasquale |
Ford Mustang GT | 9.810 |
| 7 | Cameron Waters |
Ford Mustang GT | 12.342 |
| 8 | Will Brown |
Holden Commodore ZB | 16.617 |
| 9 | Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore ZB | 17.145 |
| 10 | James Courtney |
Ford Mustang GT | 21.681 |
| 11 | Jack Le Brocq |
Ford Mustang GT | 22.401 |
| 12 | Bryce Fullwood |
Holden Commodore ZB | 24.995 |
| 13 | Scott Pye |
Holden Commodore ZB | 25.506 |
| 14 | Todd Hazelwood |
Holden Commodore ZB | 28.507 |
| 15 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 29.681 |
| 16 | Fabian Coulthard |
Holden Commodore ZB | 30.108 |
| 17 | Andre Heimgartner |
Ford Mustang GT | 30.395 |
| 18 | David Reynolds |
Ford Mustang GT | 30.908 |
| 19 | Tim Slade |
Ford Mustang GT | 31.376 |
| 20 | Macauley Jones |
Holden Commodore ZB | 37.623 |
| 21 | Zane Goddard |
Holden Commodore ZB | 40.619 |
| 22 | Jack Smith |
Holden Commodore ZB | 48.870 |
| 23 | Kurt Kostecki |
Holden Commodore ZB | 55.455 |
| 24 | Jake Kostecki |
Holden Commodore ZB | 1 lap |
| 25 | Thomas Randle |
Ford Mustang GT | 7 laps |
| Garry Jacobson |
Holden Commodore ZB | ||
| View full results | |||
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