Darwin Supercars: Van Gisbergen doubles up in finale

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