V8 Supercars results: Latest race result and news from Sydney SuperSprint
A madcap dog-eat-dog battle between Red Bull teammates Shane van Gisbergen and Shane Whincup has handed an accepting ice-cool Will Brown his first Supercars triumph.
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Erebus Motorsport young gun Will Brown has broken through for his first Supercars win after holding off a pair of raging Red Bulls as teammates Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen waged a “dog eat dog” battle that is certain to spark a heated team debrief.
Announcing his arrival as a Supercars star of the future, 23-year-old Brown capitalised on the jostling behind him between seven-time champion Whincup and his championship leading teammate, which Triple Eight conceded cost them a chance at the win.
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After claiming his first pole position last round and a pair of podiums already this year, Brown turned giant killer as he took down two of the heavyweights of the sport at the Sydney SuperSprint with his maiden win.
But it was the heated battle between the Red Bull teammates in their pursuit of Brown which headlined the second sprint race at Sydney Motorsport Park on Sunday with Whincup — who will retire from full-time racing at the end of the year — refusing to concede his position to van Gisbergen despite orders from the garage to let the series leader pass.
It all played into the hands of Brown and Erebus.
“I just thought it was going to be a dogfight and I am going to make this hard for them,” Brown said after the race.
“I just made it a little bit hard for them. I’m a bit exhausted after that. It was nerve-racking at the end but it’s bloody awesome.
“Everyone is pumped … I think one beer and I’m going to bed, I’m knackered.”
It was a front-row lockout for Triple Eight for the second Sunday sprint race with Whincup starting on pole alongside van Gisbergen.
But as van Gisbergen made his late charge with fresh tyres in a bid to chase down Brown, he encountered more resistance than he expected from Whincup, who wasn’t going to give up his position behind the Erebus rookie without a fight.
The message from Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton came through on the radio to “let Shane through, he has a better chance of catching Brown”.
But Whincup fiercely defended his position with van Gisbergen running off into the dirt at one stage as the duo jostled.
Whincup said he was not going to give any positions away with just three races left in his full-time racing career before he takes over as team manager.
“We were good for the win there, we pitted late and we were on the charge to catch Will but SVG wanted to have a bit of a battle so I thought we would battle together,” Whincup said.
“I’ve got a couple of races left, so I am not going to give any away.
“We raced hard right until the end, it was a good opportunity for the win for us but unfortunately it didn’t happen because we fought each other
“As I said, I’ve only got a few left so dog eat dog.”
Van Gisbergen holds a 337-point margin over Whincup in the Supercars championship.
The defending Bathurst 1000 champion enjoyed the battle with Whincup — to a point — but felt it cost them the win.
“It’s a tough one, it was obviously a good battle, probably entertaining but I felt like we lost the chance at a race win,” van Gisbergen said.
“At one point I was enjoying the battle but I was also thinking we have got to win the race. It is what it is, had a fun battle but felt like we could have been upfront.”
There are now just three races left in the Supercars championship — two 250km races at the fourth and final leg of the SMP swing next weekend and the Bathurst 1000 on December 5.
Ford flyer says bring on mountain after another blitz
Ford’s Anton De Pasquale’s Sydney hot streak continued, charging to another win in his late-season form surge for Dick Johnson Racing as series leader Shane van Gisbergen staged a stunning late-race assault to sneak onto the podium.
After starting on pole, De Pasquale claimed his second win for the weekend in the Sydney SuperSprint on Sunday ahead of Triple Eight rivals Jamie Whincup and van Gisbergen.
In the first of two Sunday sprint battles at Sydney Motorsport Park, De Pasquale claimed his fifth win from eight races since the Supercars championship resumed after a three-month Covid-enforced hiatus.
DJR looked to be headed for a one-two finish with De Pasquale and Will Davison before Whincup — and then Chaz Mostert — edged past Davison with four laps to go.
Fighting back from a grid penalty which forced him to start the race from eighth place, series leader van Gisbergen also charged past Davison, who he was locked in a war of words with last week, before running down Mostert right on the finish line to steal third place.
Out of contention for the championship, De Pasquale is now hoping his stunning Sydney form can translate to success at the Bathurst 1000 in the season-finale at Mount Panorama in three weeks.
“Our car was really good in that race so I had fun,” De Pasquale said.
“Obviously this is a happy hunting ground for us at the moment, so we’ll keep that going. We’ve got three more races here.
“But the big race at Bathurst is the one that everyone wants. We are out of contention for the championship but at Bathurst if we can be in contention there it will be really cool.
“Our car is in a good position there but (it’s) obviously a different track and hopefully momentum follows on.”
After qualifying in third position, van Gisbergen was issued a three-place grid penalty for impeding Jack Le Brocq during qualifying and was bumped back to eighth on the grid.
Van Gisbergen admitted he had “stuffed up” and had apologised to Le Brocq, not realising the Tickford Racing driver had still been out on track on a fast qualifying lap.
The Red Bull star, who held a 343-point lead over Whincup in the championship battle after Sunday’s first race, felt he owed the team after his qualifying error.
“The end was awesome … it was a lot of fun, carving through, everyone was racing well,” van Gisbergen said.
“At the last corner with Chaz, I just saw him slide and keep wiggling and I was just head down on the wheel like a go-kart trying to go faster. It was really cool.
“I felt pretty bad for everyone and also Jack for my mistake in qualifying, so I had to make up a few spots then and it was good fun doing it.”
Earlier, De Pasquale continued his one-lap domination to claim his 10th pole position of the year in a front-row lockout for DJR alongside teammate Davison for the first Sunday race.
But he was relegated to third on the grid for the second sprint battle as Whincup seized pole position to secure the front row for Triple Eight alongside van Gisbergen.
Warring drivers: Feisty Ford takes the points to silence SvG
Anton De Pasquale shot down Shane van Gisbergen to claim another win for Ford as the war between Dick Johnson Racing and Red Bull continued in Sydney.
In a race that followed a week-long war of words between Will Davison and Shane van Gisbergen, De Pasquale landed a blow for his teammate by out-blasting the championship leader in the latest Sydney Super Sprint.
Leading from start to finish after taking four tyres in his stop, De Pasquale powered his way to an emphatic two second win
“I am pretty stoked to get the win,” De Pasquale said.
“I had a good day and I am hoping to do the same tomorrow. We had a different tyre strategy to the others but we will take the win. Any weekend where you win a race is a good weekend.”
While he may not have won the race, van Gisbergen extended his championship lead by finishing in front of Jamie Whincup and the other drivers left in the title fight.
“We didn’t qualify well enough but we took home the points,” van Gisbergen said.
“But congrats to them (DJR). Anton is on it and that car is fast.”
De Pasquale continued his one lap domination by clocking a 1min28.63sec to bag yet another SMP pole.
Making it five from seven at the western Sydney track, the DJR driver beat Jamie Whicnup by three-10ths of a second to make it a Ford v Holden start line war.
De Pasquale was pleased to continue his stunning Sydney qualifying run.
“I guess it is a good habit to have,” De Pasquale said.
“I had a good one this morning and hopefully we can keep it going for another week or so. It has been so far so good.”
De Pasquale was looking to better his conversion rate after winning three of five Sydney races from pole.
“The car’s in a pretty good window, it’s obviously a fast car and I enjoy driving it,” De Pasquale said.
“It’s cool when you get to lay it on the line for a lap.
“We’re in a good position for the race, so we’ll try and convert it.”
Whincup finished in front of Will Davison and Shane van Gisbergen as both Red Bull and DJR continued their war.
“I’m really happy, that’s a maximum for us,” Whincup said.
“A geriatric like me to put it on the front row is a good performance.
“Our car was pretty good, we maximised what we had, but the guys next door are a leap ahead.”
Van Gisbergen and Davison went head to head on the second row in a dream billing for fans following a week long war of words.
“I don’t care what he does,” van Gisbergen said.
“He can do what he wants.”
But van Gisbergen did not have to contend with Davison after his teammate pushed him wide and toward the wall.
While he may be his best mate, Whincup showed Davison no quarter as he bumped Davison and sent him back to fight for fourth.
Also winning a battle with van Gisbergen for second, Whincup then went about chasing De Pasqaule, who got away clean to make the most of his pole.
De Pasquale was forced to fight to reclaim the lead following his stop after he emerged behind van Gisbergen.
And after making the fresh rubber pass, the Ford flyer was forced to cool his heels when a Bryce Fullwood failure prompted a lap 26 safety car.
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