V8 Supercars Symmons Plains: Chaz Mostert breaks Triple Eight’s perfect start to Supercars season
Chaz Mostert has became the first driver outside the Red Bull garage to triumph in 2021 and breathe competition into the Supercars championship fight with a win at Symmons Plains.
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Chaz Mostert broke a two-year drought to put the brakes on Triple Eight’s dominant start to the Supercars championship as Shane van Gisbergen’s unbeaten charge came to an end at Symmons Plains.
After Triple Eight stormed to victory in the opening seven races of the year — the first six by van Gisbergen — Mostert became the first driver outside the Red Bull garage to triumph in 2021 and breathe competition into the championship fight.
The 2014 Bathurst winner claimed his first race win since the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in 2019 — and his first for Walkinshaw Andretti United — to edge closer in the title fight to leaders van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup.
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In a clinical drive after getting the jump on pole sitter Cameron Waters off the start line, Mostert finished more than 10 seconds clear of second-placed Anton De Pasquale with his Dick Johnson Racing teammate Will Davison finishing third.
Van Gisbergen and Whincup finished sixth and seventh, while Waters was fourth in the third sprint race of the weekend in Tasmania.
Mostert said the win with WAU had been a long time coming.
“I was starting to believe that I couldn’t do it for a long time, so I’m super stoked for the team,” Mostert said.
“We were there or thereabouts with pace all weekend but that car in the last race was a lot of fun so thanks to the WAU guys.
“I’m so happy to finally get that win and get that monkey off the back for the team.”
Mostert banked an extra five points for the fastest lap in the race and now sits 26 points behind second-placed Whincup in the championship standings, but still 165 behind van Gisbergen.
Earlier, van Gisbergen’s unbeaten start the Supercars season came to an end when Whincup claimed the second sprint race of the weekend.
Sealing the second one-two finish for Triple Eight this weekend, Whincup led home van Gisbergen and Davison in the first of the two sprint races on Sunday to bring up his 13th win at the Tasmanian circuit.
Van Gisbergen had dominated to win the opening six races of the year and on Saturday had equalled the most successful start to a Supercars season.
But after qualifying in sixth position, van Gisbergen was unable to reel in his teammate in the 44-lap race after a faultless drive from Whincup in what will be his final year as a full-time driver in Supercars.
Whincup said he now treated every race win as if it was his last.
“The car was great, I didn’t quite get the start I would have liked but we had slightly better tyre life than Cam,” Whincup said.
“So we were able to get past and SVG was coming there at the end but I just had enough to hang on.
“I’m not sure how many wins I can establish this year but I can guarantee you one thing, I will treat everyone like it's the last, so I will certainly embrace this.”
Van Gisbergen was happy to bank the point for the team.
“It’s another team one-two for Red Bull Racing, that’s awesome,” van Gisbergen said.
“And it’s great for Jamie to get his first win of the year … we’ve got to keep it rolling and score, the next two tracks are tough ones for us so we’ll score points while we can.”
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Shane van Gisbergen has vowed to “keep the run going” after continuing his unbeaten charge to equal the most successful start to a Supercars season with another dominant display at Symmons Plains.
Stretching his winning streak to six races this year, the Triple Eight star torched his rivals to lead home a Red Bull one-two with Jamie Whincup and extend his championship lead to 153 points with another two races in this round to fight.
So comfortable was van Gisbergen’s win, he finished close to five seconds ahead of Whincup and almost 10 on their next rival, third-placed Dick Johnson Racing driver Anton de Pasquale.
Following his stunning comeback from a mountain biking accident to claim a clean sweep at Sandown last month with a surgically repaired collarbone and broken ribs, van Gisbergen joined elite company with his victory in the opening sprint race in Tasmania.
The 2016 Supercars champion joined Allan Moffat (1977) and Mark Skaife (1994) as the only drivers to have won the opening six races of the Supercars season.
He can make history as the first driver to win the first seven races of the season if he can triumph in one of the two sprint races on Sunday.
Including his victory in the season-ending Bathurst 1000 last year, van Gisbergen has now claimed seven straight races and he can match former teammate Craig Lowndes’ 1996 record of eight consecutive wins with another victory this round.
After starting on pole, van Gisbergen’s Ford rival Cameron Waters got the jump off the line and led the race early before the New Zealand racer found a gap on the inside to pass last year’s championship runner-up on lap nine.
From there, van Gisbergen streaked away in the 44-lap race to continue the Red Bull team’s impressive record at the Tasmanian track.
“At the moment I’m not thinking about records or any of that stuff,” van Gisbergen said.
“I don’t think about that stuff, I just try and drive as fast as I can.
“I’m just in the moment. Our car’s good, team’s awesome … we are in a good place at the moment, I’ve just got to keep the run going.
“And if I don’t win, hopefully Jamie is up the front winning. It’s really cool to be a part of this team at the moment.
“We have obviously got some momentum on our side of the garage and seeing (car No.) 88 up there.”
Earlier, van Gisbergen set the scene for a Tassie attack with a lap record in a new split qualifying format, which he described as “overly complicated and silly”, to claim his fourth pole position of the year.
Smashing the qualifying lap record set by Lowndes in 2018 to again put his rivals on notice.
Van Gisbergen’s perfect start to his 2021 Supercars campaign has been more remarkable as he continues to recover from the serious injuries which required a metal plate and screws to be inserted into his fractured collarbone last month.
“I’m pretty sore,” van Gisbergen said. “I haven’t taken any painkillers this week and I can feel it, but I’m fine.”
Van Gisbergen leads the championship ahead of Whincup and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert, who was fourth on Saturday.
Whincup lauded his teammate’s start to the season.
“SVG to win the first six – that’s pretty impressive,” the seven-time Supercars champion said.
“Considering just how close the cars are now, it’s never been as even as it has been.
“It just keeps getting closer and closer and more competitive, so to win the first six … is pretty impressive.”
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Originally published as V8 Supercars Symmons Plains: Chaz Mostert breaks Triple Eight’s perfect start to Supercars season
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