Homebush V8 Supercars: Shane van Gisbergen wins as rain hits again

Shane van Gisbergen grabbed second in the 2014 V8 Supercars championship with victory in another rain-shortened Homebush race

In a repeat of Saturday's race two conditions, a dramatic storm hit the Sydney street track and rapidly flooded the circuit.

Van Gisbergen's Tekno Holden was the car to beat regardless of the weather.

He quickly charged forward from third to first in the damp opening laps, and once the field had made an early switch to slicks he was able to pull out a six-second gap over Holden Racing Team driver Garth Tander, who had vaulted past poleman Scott McLaughlin at the start.

The rain returned with vengeance precisely halfway through the planned 74-lap distance, but with half the circuit staying dry initially, Tander was able to gain ground by running longer on slicks.

When he did pit for wets, he emerged just ahead of van Gisbergen and then withstood several laps of huge pressure from his rival.

But Tander ultimately made a slight slip, locking up and running into an escape road, just moments before the safety car was called out.

That handed van Gisbergen the lead and, with the safety car being eventually followed by the race being abandoned as the storm got worse, victory in the season finale.

James Courtney made it two HRT cars on the podium in third ahead of champion Jamie Whincup.

McLaughlin lost ground in the pits and finished eighth behind Chaz Mostert, Tim Slade and Rick Kelly.

Van Gisbergen had only been fourth in the points heading into the weekend, but benefited from disasters for Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes.

A heavy crash in first qualifying on Saturday ruined Lowndes's weekend. Still in great discomfort, he qualified badly for race three, had a trip off the road early on, and finished 17th.

Winterbottom dropped to the tail of the field in a first-corner clash with Courtney and later hit the wall by himself, limping home 19th.

Marcos Ambrose edged closer to the pace on his return from NASCAR and finished in 16th.

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 1h14m50.0418s
2 Garth Tander HRT Holden 1.8157s
3 James Courtney HRT Holden 5.2885s
4 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 6.2461s
5 Chaz Mostert FPR Ford 7.5986s
6 Tim Slade Rosenberg/HRT Holden 9.2735s
7 Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 10.6142s
8 Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 12.0904s
9 Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 12.8027s
10 Will Davison Erebus Mercedes 13.7002s
11 Nick Percat Walkinshaw/HRT Holden 15.6805s
12 Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 16.4685s
13 David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford 17.1253s
14 Todd Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 18.9055s
15 James Moffat Nissan Motorsport Nissan 19.7980s
16 Marcos Ambrose Dick Johnson Ford 20.8166s
17 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 23.3652s
18 Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes 24.0968s
19 Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford 24.6563s
20 Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden 26.6639s
21 Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford 27.7119s
22 David Wall Dick Johnson Ford 1 Lap
23 Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford 1 Lap
24 Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden 1 Lap
- Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo Retirement
- Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan Retirement

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