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Tasmania Supercars: Van Gisbergen takes seventh straight win

Shane van Gisbergen dominated the opening heat of the Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains.

Race winner Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering

Race winner Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering

Edge Photographics

It wasn't quite a lights-to-flag win for the Kiwi thanks to a sluggish start from pole position. He was out-dragged to the first corner by Cam Waters, before Jamie Whincup went around the outside on the way into Turn 2.

Van Gisbergen had an immediate answer for his team-mate, easing down the inside of Whincup at the second last corner on the first lap.

He then swiftly ran down Waters, sitting under the lead Mustang's rear wing before a textbook dive into Turn 6 on Lap 9.

Once in front there was no stopping van Gisbergen as he pulled three seconds on the leaders before they started the first round of stops.

He took his own mandatory service on Lap 23 before stretching his advantage to 4.7s by the finish.

Van Gisbergen continues to be unbeaten in 2021 with six straight wins, while that was his seventh on the bounce including last year's Bathurst 1000.

He's just the third driver to win seven consecutive races alongside Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

"It was a bad [start] and then Jamie pulled a nice move and got me," said van Gisbergen.

"I did some big bombs at the end of the straight and got them back. That was fun racing at the start. Then I just tried to build a gap so I could manage it. 

"We've burnt up our rears, which puts us in a bit of a spot for tomorrow. We'll be fine, just one of the stints tomorrow we'll struggle. We'll have to pick which one."

Whincup got through on Waters at Turn 6 on Lap 13 in a hairy move that saw Chaz Mostert follow him through with his front tyres locked. 

Once in front he had to pace to ease away from the rest of the pack and set up a comfortable Triple Eight one-two.

Mostert and Waters were both jumped by Dick Johnson Racing pair Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison in the stops, the Shell Mustangs pitting early to get an undercut.

Mostert was able to get one of those spots back, passing Davison in the second stint, but had no answer for De Pasquale who looked after his tyres and took a well-deserved first podium in DJR colours. 

"The deg was quite good," he said. "I think we pitted at the perfect time for that race with the cloud cover coming at the end. I'm happy to be on the podium, the first one with the Shell V-Power Racing guys."

Mostert was fourth ahead of Davison and Waters, followed by Team 18 pair Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye. 

Erebus rookies Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki rounded out the Top 10.

Van Gisbergen's series lead is now 153 points over Whincup, while he has a full round up his sleeve over everyone up to seventh place. 

Race results:

Pos # Driver Car Gap
1 97 NZL Shane van Gisbergen Holden Commodore ZB  
2 88 AUS Jamie Whincup Holden Commodore ZB 4.7420
3 11 AUS Anton de Pasquale Ford Mustang GT 9.7099
4 25 AUS Chaz Mostert Holden Commodore ZB 10.2019
5 17 AUS Will Davison Ford Mustang GT 10.9043
6 6 AUS Cameron Waters Ford Mustang GT 12.9397
7 18 AUS Mark Winterbottom Holden Commodore ZB 14.3755
8 20 AUS Scott Pye Holden Commodore ZB 14.5285
9 9 AUS Will Brown Holden Commodore ZB 19.0593
10 99 AUS Brodie Kostecki Holden Commodore ZB 22.6285
11 44 AUS James Courtney Ford Mustang GT 22.9817
12 5 AUS Jack Le Brocq Ford Mustang GT 24.8565
13 34 AUS Jake Kostecki Holden Commodore ZB 25.4946
14 14 AUS Todd Hazelwood Holden Commodore ZB 29.6693
15 4 AUS Jack Smith Holden Commodore ZB 34.4436
16 26 AUS David Reynolds Ford Mustang GT 35.1936
17 3 AUS Timothy Slade Ford Mustang GT 37.0984
18 35 AUS Zane Goddard Holden Commodore ZB 38.1940
19 96 AUS Macauley Jones Holden Commodore ZB 38.5965
20 22 AUS Garry Jacobson Holden Commodore ZB 41.4134
21 19 NZL Fabian Coulthard Holden Commodore ZB 41.6867
22 7 NZL Andre Heimgartner Ford Mustang GT 1 lap
23 2 AUS Bryce Fullwood Holden Commodore ZB 1 lap
24 8 AUS Nicholas Percat Holden Commodore ZB 8 laps

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