Red Bull breaks Ford Mustang’s stranglehold to claim first win of season

Shane van Gisbergen has broken through to end the Ford Mustang’s unbeaten run and give Holden its first win of the season in at Symmons Plains.

Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin battle for the lead in Tasmania. Picture: Getty

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Shane van Gisbergen broke through to halt the Ford Mustang’s unbeaten charge and give Holden its first victory of the season in a championship rebound at Symmons Plains.

After the Mustang claimed the opening seven races of the season, van Gisbergen mounted a Holden fightback to take the second race in the Tasmania Supersprint ahead of DJR Team Penske rival Fabian Coulthard and Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver converted after starting the race in pole position as the win delivered a massive boost for the New Zealander in the championship standings.

Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin battle for the lead in Tasmania. Picture: Getty

Van Gisbergen shot up to fourth position from eighth, trailing series leader McLaughlin by 166 points.

After his victory on Saturday, McLaughlin finished fourth in the 84-lap race - only the second time he has finished off the podium aside from his aberration in the third race at Albert Park.

Van Gisbergen said it was a relief to bounce back after a luckless round at the Australian Grand Prix and declared his car had taken a big step forward.

“It’s just awesome to finally get one on the board,” van Gisbergen said.

“I knew this would be a good opportunity ... the team have put in so much hard work. Thanks to the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, our cars have gotten a lot better.

SvG took out race two. Picture: Getty

“It’s still a long way to go (in the championship) ... but it’s good to get some confidence back.

“We have just got to keep that performance going and the momentum going and the most important thing, no mistakes, we have got to be on the top of our game every week.”

The win continued Triple Eight’s strong record at Symmons Plains, giving the team its 20th win from 29 races since 2007.

While relieved to deliver Holden a breakthrough win, van Gisbergen said this week’s round at Phillip Island would provide the true test for how the Holdens compared to the dominant Mustangs.

“I think that will be the real telling point for the special P (parity) word we keep talking about,’’ van Gisbergen said. “I’m confident that we’ll be better.”

Coulthard’s result gave him a pair of podiums in Tasmania and also pushed him up to second in the championship behind teammate McLaughlin, who he trails by 124 points.

Shane van Gisbergen in his Red Bull. Picture: Chris Kidd

“It has been awesome. We came here in sixth and leaving in second so I will take that any day of the week,’’ Coulthard said.

“We were consistent in both races, I feel like we (car No.12) are starting to show the speed that we had at the start of the year. We just don’t have much silverware to show for it.

“(I’m) happy, getting more and more happier. I’m looking forward to going to Phillip Island.”

Earlier, van Gisbergen claimed his - and the team’s - first pole position of the year in qualifying and he maximised his position at the front of the grid with a strong start off the line.

Van Gisbergen was the last of the frontrunners to make his first pit stop on lap 28 and when he re-joined the race found himself sandwiched between Coulthard and McLaughlin.

His wheel-to-wheel battle with McLaughlin over the next lap or two delivered some of the best combative racing of the weekend.

“Those next few laps were hard, awesome, clean racing, it was fun,’’ van Gisbergen said.

TASSIE PIT STOP WITH REBECCA WILLIAMS

JAMIE’S JUMP

It was a day to forget for Jamie Whincup on Saturday when he finished last and the picture didn’t look bright yesterday when he qualified mid-pack.

After failing to progress past Q2, Whincup was forced to start from 13th on the grid - but he was one of the big movers in the race.

Fighting his way through the field, Whincup made up eight places in the race to finish in fifth position.

FROSTY FAST

After his strong qualifying performance to claim pole on Saturday, new Holden driver Mark Winterbottom kept his speed alive to set a race lap record at Symmons Plains yesterday.

Winterbottom bettered the benchmark lap set by Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Scott Pye last year with his 51.2276 lap early in the 84-lap race.

The Team 18 driver finished the race in sixth position after starting from fourth on the grid. Winterbottom sits seventh in the championship.

POLE POSITION

Shane van Gisbergen claimed his - and the team’s - first pole of 2019 to continue Triple Eight’s strong qualifying record at Symmons Plains.

The 2016 series champion’s effort to put his car at the front of the grid for the second race was the team’s 10th pole at the track since 2014.

Van Gisbergen also nabbed a pole at the Tasmanian track last year.

ROOKIE’S WRETCHED RUN

It hasn’t been a great start to his debut Supercars season for Brad Jones Racing rookie Macauley Jones.

The son of team owner Brad, Jones was lucky to walk away unhurt from a horror smash at the opening round in Adelaide after his car suffered brake failure.

This was followed by another race-ending incident in the finale of the second round at Albert Park after a clash with Garry Jacobson.

Jones’ luck didn’t improve yesterday when he spun out in qualifying at the turn four hairpin, prompting a six-car pile-up.

His Commodore was collected by Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner and the damage forced him to limp back to the garage and start the race from the back of the grid. He finished 20th in the race.