Melbourne V8s: Shane van Gisbergen wins again in race two
Shane van Gisbergen made it two wins in a row in the second V8 Supercars Formula 1 support race at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Friday
The Tekno Holden driver led this one from lights-to-flag from pole position (executing a stylish powerslide out of the final corner), but it was still a tense encounter.
The Triple Eight Holden of points leader Craig Lowndes kept van Gisbergen honest throughout the 12-lap race and finished just over half a second shy.
Lowndes shot from sixth on the grid to second by taking to the outside line through the first right-left sequence on the opening lap, squeezing past Fabian Coulthard's Brad Jones Racing Holden and Michael Caruso's Nissan Altima.
Coulthard looked a threat to Lowndes early on and they briefly banged wheels as Coulthard tried to pass down the inside into Turn 13 on lap two.
But he fell back later on, breaking up a seven-car lead pack and fending off Caruso and the Volvo S60 of Scott McLaughlin, who started on the front row but got shuffled back to fifth on the first lap when he ran wide onto the grass coming out of the high-speed right-hander at Turn 12.
Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander just held off the Triple Eight Commodore of reigning champion Jamie Whincup to complete the top six.
Their intense late battle allowed Jason Bright's Brad Jones Holden to finish right in their slipstream, while Chaz Mostert (Ford Performance Racing) and Will Davison (Erebus Mercedes E63) completed the top 10.
Results - 12 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 23m58.7720s 2. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden +0.5519s 3. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden +1.8593s 4. Michael Caruso Nissan +2.6717s 5. Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo +3.6196s 6. Garth Tander HRT Holden +8.6680s 7. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden +9.1034s 8. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden +9.5385s 9. Chaz Mostert FPR Ford +10.1384s 10. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes +12.7170s 11. Rick Kelly Nissan +12.9113s 12. James Moffat Nissan +15.6051s 13. Todd Kelly Nissan +17.1593s 14. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford +17.5110s 15. James Courtney HRT Holden +18.0609s 16. Nick Percat Walkinshaw/HRT Holden +18.6457s 17. Tim Slade Rosenberg/HRT Holden +19.3911s 18. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford +22.5640s 19. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo +23.0936s 20. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes +25.7994s 21. Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden +26.4700s 22. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden +27.0270s 23. David Wall Dick Johnson Ford +28.3673s 24. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford +31.6605s 25. Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford +1 lap
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