V8 Supercars: Shane van Gisbergen gets back to winning ways in Townsville
After a slight hiccup on Saturday, Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup got back to business in Townsville on Sunday by flogging the field in an emphatic one-two finish.
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V8 order was restored in Townsville when Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup put Red Bull Ampol Racing back on top with an emphatic one-two.
Bouncing back after a race one horror show, the Holden heroes resumed their relentless championship assault by flogging the field as they showed their true might.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
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In a heartstopping exchange that is rarely seen when it comes to teammates, the pair pulled no punches as they decided to war for the win.
A bruising battle that could have ended in disaster, van Gisbergen gave his teammate no quarter as Whincup attempted to take the lead mid-race.
The pair came together on lap 26 in a paint exchange that left the Red Bull garage holding their breath.
Team boss Rolan Dane even feared his championship leading driver would be penalised for blocking.
But Van Gisbergen’s win at all costs attitude delivered him yet another win with Kiwi enforcer holding off Whincup to extend his championship lead.
The one two win came just a day after Whincup and van Gisbergen were both cut down by 15 seconds penalties in a Red Bull horror show.
Queensland ticks off big coup as controversy cripples SVG
Cameron Waters ended Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning streak with the Mustang man putting Ford back on top after the series leader was crippled by a series of controversies.
On a bruising day where a “shit call”, a side-swipe and a 15-second penalty dented van Gisbergen’s championship charge, Waters kept it clean to deliver Ford a much-needed win.
The result came ahead of news that Sydney’s loss would be Queensland’s gain with Ipswich set to host the next round of the Supercars in a Covid-forced switch.
Set to be with-out an event following a calendar snub, Queensland Raceway will now host a round next month amid fears Sydney will remain a no-go zone following a surge in Covid.
News Corp Australia can exclusively reveal details of the Queensland coup, which is expected to be announced in Townsville on Sunday.
It is understood the two-day event will begin on August 21 and be a three race SuperSprint event.
Supercars officials are hopeful of holding a rescheduled Sydney event later in the year but the Queensland round will replace either the Sydney SuperSprint or the New Zealand round.
Waters set up the Townsville SuperSprint win on Saturday when he ran down Anton De Pasquale after Jamie Whincup copped a penalty of his own in Red Bull double blow.
“I did the old over and under to pass Anton and I am so pumped,” Waters said.
“To bounce back after last week is awesome. I am stoked. We threw at lot at it this week but we still have a long way to go.”
While Waters won the race, Red Bull’s day of horror stole the show.
The championship-denting drama began in the top-ten shootout when van Gisbergen described a call that cost him a qualifying win as “shit”.
Told he would be forced to pit with the proceeding car still on the track, van Gisbergen was then told to commence his hot-lap with a late “go” call coming by way of radio.
The Holden hero made a first second blunder which he blamed on cold tyres caused by the confusion.
“It was shit wasn’t it?” van Gisbergen said.
“There was no information from race control. I got told to pit and then I was told to go. I had no tyre temp. It was very confusing and not very good.”
Triple Eight boss Roland Dane revealed he approached race officials following the controversial call.
“I wanted to know what they were thinking because they told him to slow up,” Dane said.
“It compromised his lap. He would have been three or four positions up and in my opinion race control got it wrong. It is meant to be a fair competition. It just wasn’t a good call and they should have put their hand up and given him another shot.”
With Whincup failing to set a scorcher after van Gisbergen’s stumble, Ford hit-back following a last start flogging with Anton De Pasquale leading the charge in the DJR Mustang.
“It‘s quite cool to come back to the same racetrack,” De Pasquale said.
“It’s kind of like a two-day test. You get to think about it and debrief all week.”
Cameron Waters and Will Davison followed De Pasquale home to make it a rare 1-2-3 qualifying win for Ford.
But the front runners were put on notice when van Gisbergen declared he was “angry” and ready to race.
And the championship favourite did not disappoint.
On a mission to make up spots after his qualifying woes were compounded when he broke to avoid a dangerous dive bomb by Brodie Kostecki, van Gisbergen attacked and made two aggressive passes to work his way back into contention.
But the controversy continued when van Gisbergen was slapped with a 15-second for making contact with Kostecki while exacting his revenge for the first lap dive-bomb.
“Brodie had what was coming to him after that move at turn two,” said Dane as his war with the officials continued. “He could have wiped out the whole field.”
SvG hits out after ‘surprise’ costs another win
Shane van Gisbergen has hit out at Supercars officials after an alleged “shit” miscommunication cost him another top-ten shootout win.
Beaten to pole by Anton De Pasquale after a mistimed start to his hot lap ruined his flyer, van Gisbergen revealed he was on his way to pit before a last minute instruction started his surprise lap.
“It was shit wasn’t it?” van Gisbergen said.
“There was no information from race control. I got told to pit and then I was told to go. I had no tyre temp. It was very confusing and not very good.”
Both van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup were denied a front row start with Ford striking back in qualifying to give themselves a chance.
SVG BLITZ HAS RIVALS WONDERING ABOUT SECRET PARTS
Teams paying up to $300,000 a year to have access to Triple Eight Race Engineering parts and data have asked the all-conquering team whether they are holding back a “magic part” after Shane van Gisbergen blitzed the field by a staggering 60 seconds in Townsville.
News Corp Australia can reveal at least one Triple Eight customer inquired about a “magic part” during an engineering briefing in an attempt to work out why they were so far behind a car that is meant to be a replica of their own.
In a never before seen display of dominance, the Red Bull Ampol Racing cars finished the Townsville 500 a combined 50 seconds in front of the rest of the field as Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup dominated with a one-two double.
“They were extremely impressive I must admit,” said Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt.
“They were just at another level. Incredible really. It left our engineers scratching their heads.”
So much so that a Team 18 engineer sent an SOS to Triple Eight and asked the team if they were using a mystery part that was responsible for the stunning speed of both Red Bull cars.
Team 18 are one of three teams who pay up to $300,000 to both use Triple Eight parts and access confidential race data.
“They had a big engineering meeting on Thursday and Phil Keed, our genius, prodded them to find out, but we think we have everything they have,” Schwerkolt said.
“If there is a magic part, we must have it and not know how to use it unless they are hiding something, but I don’t think they are. I don’t think they have a magic part but I have certainly been scratching my head and asking my staff what is going on. We are so far behind.”
Schwerkolt’s team has spent the week studying data from van Gisbergen’s perfect drive in a bid to make up the gap ahead of the second leg of a Townsville double header, which starts today.
“We get their data and they are really good to us,” Schwerkolt said.
“We can’t find too much different. The only thing we don’t get off them is tyre pressure but it can’t be all there. We have their full race-set-ups and our guys are working big hours in an attempt to close the gap. The thing is every driver is different and we could set Mark Winterbottom’s car up exactly the same as Shane’s but that might not suit Mark. None of them drive the car the same. We are working through all the options and scenarios.”
Winterbottom was at a loss to work out how he was lapped in both Townsville races while driving a fully backed Triple Eight customer car.
“It was as bad as it gets,” Winterbottom said.
“But we have worked hard this week trying to come up with our setups. You have to trust the relationship we have with Triple Eight and the system. But getting lap is completely demoralising. Whatever is going in my car isn’t working. It may work for them but it isn’t working for us.”
The Townsville SuperSprint continues today with the first of three races.
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