Shane van Gisbergen holds off Scott McLaughlin to win Gold Coast 600
The V8 championship alive and Scott McLaughlin’s party is on hold after Shane van Gisbergen shot past the DJR/Team Penske on lap 88 to claim the Gold Coast 600.
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Shane van Gisbergen will live to fight another day after the Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver beat Scott McLaughlin to keep the V8 championship alive.
Locked in a one-on-one title war with the DJR/Team Penske star, van Gisbergen floored his way past McLaughlin on lap 88 to deny the Ford flyer an early championship party as Jamie Whincup powered his way to his latest Surfers Paradise win.
McLaughlin only had to finish in front of van Gisbergen in both races this weekend to become the first driver to wrap up the championship on the Gold Coast.
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“It was a great day for the team,’’ van Gisbergen said.
“We got smoked in qualifying so it was good to get one back. We still have some qualifying speed to find but it is great to get a one-two for the team.’’
Whincup made it nine victories on the Gold Coast by holding off a fast finishing van Gisbergen to make it a double celebration for Red Bull.
Leading from start to finish after his co-driver Craig Lowndes handed their Commodore over with a five second lead, Whincup beat his teammate by just over half-a-second in the Red Bull racing one-two.
“SVG was very quick at the end,’’ Whincup said.
“I wasn’t sure if we were going to get there with that safety car but we held on. But a big thanks to CL for getting us the lead of the race and doing such a good job. The car was good, we had some pace, so it was happy days.’’
McLaughlin went all out earlier to show his intent to win the crown this weekend by cutting an inch perfect lap of the famous Surfers Paradise Street track to win the top-ten shootout.
In a dramatic session that was headlined by a 150km/h shunt that ended Chaz Mostert’s day, McLaughlin posted a 1:10.0787s to seal his 16th Pole Position of the year and the 62nd of his career.
McLaughlin topped both Whincup and van Gisbergen to seal the top-spot after finding his form following a up-and-down day of practice on Friday.
“I just had to have a big think about it and realised I needed to stop overdriving it,” McLaughlin said.
“I’m glad Chaz is all right, that was a big lick, I hope his team can get back out there.
“But stoked for our team, the car has been good all weekend, I’ve just been driving really badly.”
Mostert dramatically crashed out of the top 10 shootout while chasing McLaughlin’s benchmark time.
Going out last after winning the earlier qualifying session, Mostert slammed into a concrete wall near turn 11 after losing control of his Mustang.
Mostert’s team was unable to repair his car in time for the first of the 300km Gold Coast street races.
The carnage continued in the race with Andre Heimgartner also finding the notorious Gold Coast concrete during a crash with just four laps left to run.
The Whincup and Lowndes win see one of V8s great partnerships revived.
“We didn’t get out the\ old logbook,’’ Whincup said.
“And replicate what we used to do. None of that works now. It has moved forward since then.’’
Originally published as Shane van Gisbergen holds off Scott McLaughlin to win Gold Coast 600