‘Angry’ Shane van Gisbergen snubs rival’s handshake after Supercars drama
Supercars championship leader Shane van Gisbergen brutally snubbed a handshake from his closest rival after their tense battle.
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Shane van Gisbergen has extended his lead in the Supercars championship, claiming a sweep of the NTI Townsville 500 in a dramatic finish to race 20.
Van Gisbergen’s closest rival, Anton de Pasquale, was chasing him down in the final stint and bumped van Gisbergen, sending him into a spin while attempting an ambitious overtake.
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Realising his mistake, de Pasquale attempted a redress to let van Gisbergen back in front before the chequered flag, but the Kiwi was having none of it, virtually pushing de Pasquale over the line.
Race officials deemed de Pasquale had committed an act of careless driving and gave him a five-second time penalty, handing the victory to van Gisbergen, while Cam Waters rounded out the podium.
It was van Gisbergen’s 11th win of the season, his 10th in Townsville and 65th of his career.
De Pasquale approached van Gisbergen immediately after the race to apologise for bumping into him, but the two-time Supercars champion completely brushed him, rejecting the offer of a handshake.
WATCH THE AWKWARD EXCHANGE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
“He had a go, you have to respect that,” van Gisbergen said of the incident.
“Car was good, but his was better, he ran me down … we’ll have a chat later, I’m angry at the moment.”
Van Gisbergen said by rejecting the redress, he was hoping de Pasquale would be given a bigger penalty.
“Yeah, I probably thought that at the time,” he said, per Speedcafe.com.
The 33-year-old was fuming at the time but said he later cleared the air with de Pasquale, and there were no hard feelings between the two drivers.
“I was angry at the time and I wanted to celebrate with my guys,” van Gisbergen said.
“Then after the interviews, I went and saw him and said pretty much what I said to Jess (Yates, Fox Motorsports host).
“I don’t mind that he had a go, I’m angry that I got spun out but I’m happy we’re having a battle and I’ve got no problem with that.
“Maybe he could have done it better but I was angry.”
De Pasquale said: “I was catching him, had a dip, locked the fronts, he spun around.
“I tried to give him the position, but he was trying to be a bit smarter than that.
“So, it’s no concern for me.
“Obviously, I spun him and he was leading the race, so he deserves to win.
“I tried to give him a position back (but if) he doesn’t want to take it, that’s on him, but I’m not going to start inventing rules.
“The results I think, as we sit here, is sort of what it deserves to be for today’s race, so it all works out.”
The Supercars season will resume at the OTR SuperSprint at The Bend in Adelaide on July 29 -31.
Originally published as ‘Angry’ Shane van Gisbergen snubs rival’s handshake after Supercars drama
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