Supercars championship Townsville 500: Shane van Gisbergen snubs rival after crazy finish
In an insane finish in Townsville, rivals Shane van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale traded paint on the final turn — and at the finish line — leaving the Supercars leader “angry”.
V8
Don't miss out on the headlines from V8. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Shane van Gisbergen said there is no bad blood between himself and V8 Supercars rival Anton De Pasquale, despite being taken out on the final corner of race 20 at yesterday’s NTI Townsville 500.
The Repco Supercars Championship leader was being chased down on the last lap by the Shell V-Power Racing driver after seemingly struggling on super-soft tyres in the final stages at Reid Park.
De Pasquale, who is second behind the New Zealander on the championship standings, made a move on the final corner but dramatically ploughed into the side of van Gisbergen’s Holden Commodore, spinning him around.
Realising his error, De Pasquale tried to redress and allow van Gisbergen to retake the lead, but the Kiwi driver did not take up the offer.
Race officials stepped in, however, and handed De Pasquale a five-second time penalty, meaning van Gisbergen held on to the race lead and the 150 points.
Watch every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship Live & Ad-Break Free During Racing on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
The New Zealander said there were no hard feelings, despite initially not shaking his rival’s hand straight after the race.
“I was angry, and I wanted to celebrate with my guys,” van Gisbergen said.
“I knew he made a mistake. It was obvious that he messed up. Watching the on-board, he locked up the left front straightaway and just missiled into me.
“I know he had to have a go, I got spun out but I have no problem with that and I shook his hand on the podium, so it’s all good.”
Before the last-lap dramas, van Gisbergen had appeared to be cruising to his second win of the weekend in Townsville and his 10th of his career in North Queensland.
But as the race finish approached, van Gisbergen said it became a struggle to keep pace, something he has not been used to this season.
“It’s not something I have felt for a while, not being strong at the end of a race,” he said.
“That’s normally our strength. And yeah, I could see he was pushing and not sliding a lot and pretty consistent on his lap times.
“So I tried to react, but my left rear was pretty much done.
“I came out of turn 11 and saw the gap and didn’t look in the mirror. So yeah, it was a surprise getting pushed, But yeah, as I said it’s all good. Someone has to have a go and it’s exciting for the fans and I have no problem with that.”
Cameron Waters held off James Courtney to make the podium for the second day running with Chaz Mostert finishing in fifth.
It was an amazing finish to what had been a relatively uneventful race, which appeared to be heading van Gisbergen’s way
It could have been different for the Kiwi, who just managed to avoid damage on an incident-packed first lap.
The race got off to a shocking start with Scott Pye spinning out after contact with Will Davison on turn two.
Somehow van Gisbergen and Waters also missed contact before Davison went into the wall at turn three as the safety car was employed.
The Shell V-Power driver was forced to pit to fix his left front tyre and had to re-join at the back of the field.
He produced a stunning fightback, however, to storm back through the field to end up seventh.
SvG claims Townsville 500 win after De Pasquale penalty
Shane van Gisbergen has survived a remarkable finish to race 20 at the NTI Townsville 500 to make it two wins from two at Reid Park this weekend.
The Repco Supercars Championship leader was being pressured by Anton De Pasquale and on the final corner of the last lap was turned around by the Shell V-Power Racing Team car.
De Pasquale did appear to try to redress the situation, by allowing van Gisbergen to retake the lead, but van Gisbergen pushed his rival across the line.
Race officials stepped in and handed De Pasquale a five-second racing penalty, which meant van Gisbergen picked up the 150 points for the race win, a 10th success at Reid Park.
Cameron Waters held off James Courtney to make the podium for the second day running with Chaz Mostert finishing in fifth.
It was an amazing finish to what had been a relatively uneventful race, which appeared to be heading van Gisbergen’s way.
It could have been different for the Kiwi, who just managed to avoid damage on an incident-packed first lap.
The race got off to a shocking start with Scott Pye spinning out after contact with Will Davison on turn two.
Somehow van Gisbergen and Waters also missed contact before Davison went into the wall at turn three as the safety car was employed.
The Shell V-Power driver was forced to pit to fix his left front tyre and had to re-join at the back of the field.
Name a single time SVG turned someone like this and wasn't penalized.
— Robert Clancy (@robboclancy) July 10, 2022
.@shanevg97 clean sweeps the Townsville races ðŸ†ðŸ†
— Supercars (@supercars) July 10, 2022
He wins Race 20 at the @ntiAustralia Townsville 500 after De Pasquale gets penalised for contact at the final corner! #RepcoSCpic.twitter.com/iwq91DfCIW
As a Red Bull fan, very disappointing to see Shane acting like that. Mistakes happens and Anton tried to make up for it. Which is more than a lot of other guys do.
— Marcus (@Marcusthyman) July 10, 2022
Well that Race had it all. What a bonkers ending to the NTI 500. #Supercars
— Fraser Barton (@FraserBartonAAP) July 10, 2022
Great sportsmanship shown by SVG at the end. Reminds me the time he parked next to Scott so he couldn’t get out.
— Tim (@timmimak) July 10, 2022
Poor form by SVG? no. He’s just playing the game.
— ARM (@13arm13arm) July 10, 2022
Racing incident. r/V8Supercars is split between SVG is a sore loser and ADP was unjustly penalised because SVG refused the redress.
— Johnnosk (@Johnnosk1) July 10, 2022
He produced a stunning fightback, however to storm back through the field to end up seventh.
In a replica of Saturday’s race a driver who picked the super-soft tyres took an early advantage, this time Thomas Randle, in the Castrol Racing Ford Mustang, pulled clear in the opening laps.
Waters had powered to pole in the Top 10 Shootout courtesy of a sparkling lap on fresh tyres.
Davison finished second fastest but was dropped to third because of a penalty for impeding James Courtney in qualifying.
Davison’s teammate De Pasquale moved up to second on the grid. Race 19 winner van Gisbergen finished fourth fastest to start from the second row on the grid.
Earlier in the day, Davison secured provisional pole in qualifying ahead of his Shell V-Power Racing teammate Anton De Pasquale, who showed more pace than he had done in race 19 on Saturday.
Jack Le Brocq finished with a best lap of 1:13.4831 seconds to finish in a shock third place ahead of Waters and van Gisbergen, who was off the pace in fifth.
David Reynolds scraped into final spot in the Top 10 Shootout after missing out on the top 10 on Saturday.
Andre Heimgartner surprisingly missed out on the shootout, with his fastest lap only good enough for 12th.
SvG dominates on Saturday
Shane van Gisbergen says his Red Bull Ampol Racing team’s strategy for race 20 at the NTI Townsville 500 will not change much on Sunday, despite leaving it late to defeat Will Davison in a thrilling race at Reid Park.
The Repco Supercars Championship leader won for the ninth time in Townsville to stretch his championship lead to 262 points, with Anton de Pasquale, who is second on the championship leaderboard, only able to finish sixth in race one of the weekend.
Van Gisbergen’s team decided to begin the race on hard tyres along with Davison, while three of the 25-strong field went for the super-soft compound to try and steal a march on others.
The New Zealander lost time to both Tim Slade and David Reynolds in the early stages as they went for the super-soft option.
Davison had stormed into an early lead as van Gisbergen missed the start, with Slade and Reynolds soon moving to first and second for a number of the early laps.
Then towards the end of the race, with drivers pitting at different times for fuel and tyre changes, van Gisbergen was left with 17 seconds to make up on Davison with laps running out as both switched to the super-soft compound.
Van Gisbergen chased down his rival with four laps remaining and while it might have appeared to be a tight-run thing, the Kiwi believed his team would be not changing much in race 20.
“It’s all about hard, hard soft,” he said of the choice of tyres.
“I was getting messages from the team about the gap being about 18 seconds and then telling me it was going down, so that was what I needed.
“I just wanted to know the lap time every lap. I just wanted to get there with five laps to go and it was four, so it was pretty perfect.”
Despite the win, van Gisbergen said there was still plenty to work to do ahead of the second race in Townsville.
“My car is so fast but it’s hard to drive,” he said.
“I probably need to detune it, so I can be smoother and more accurate tomorrow and hopefully still be at the front.”
The win was van Gisbergen’s ninth in Townsville, leaving him three victories behind former teammate and Triple Eight Race Engineering boss Jamie Whincup.
Cameron Waters flew home in the Monster Energy Racing Ford Mustang GT to snatch third from Andre Heimgartner with two laps remaining.
Slade in the CoolDrive Auto Parts Ford Mustang made a march through the field to control the early stages but when he switched back to hard tyres, he dropped back through the field to eventually finish eighth.
Reynolds also went for super-soft tyres from the start and made his way alongside Slade from midfield to the head of the race, but he too dropped back, ending up 18th.
Meanwhile, van Gisbergen used his post-win press conference following Race 19 of the Supercars championship to send his best wishes to injured Triple Eight team owner Tony Quinn.
Quinn, who bought into the team at the end of last year, was transported to hospital in a stable condition following a scary single car crash in the Porsche Carrera Cup.
Quinn, driving the Local Legends Porsche, came unstuck at Turn 11 of the Reid Park street circuit and ploughed into the safety wall.
He had to be extracted from the car, with the race eventually brought to a premature close after seven laps with most of those run behind the safety car.
Quinn’s crash had followed a wild multi-car concertina pileup at turn two of the opening lap of the Carrera Cup.
“I hope he’s OK, I think we will get a report later,” van Gisbergen said.
“I tried not to think about it (during the race), but it is definitely sad to see that.
“It’s pretty awesome to see he is evergreen about (racing), and hopefully we see him back in the car soon.”
Kiwis rule roost over Aussies at Townsville 500
Andre Heimgartner will not be resting on his laurels, despite topping the second practice on day one at the NTI Townsville 500.
The 27-year-old New Zealander backed up his second place on the lap times in the morning session at Reid Park yesterday to post 1:13.419 seconds to top the times ahead of Cameron Waters and Repco Supercars Series leader Shane van Gisbergen.
But while he was happy with how his car performed on the hard tyres on the first day in North Queensland, Heimgartner said there was plenty for the Brad Jones Racing team to work on ahead of today’s Top Ten Shootout if they are to secure a victory in the two races in Townsville this afternoon and tomorrow.
“It’s too early to tell,” Heimgartner said of the Holden Commodore’s pace over the first two sessions.
“You need to have more than just a fast car over one lap.
“That’s been our weakness, especially in the last two rounds.
“We just haven’t been able to hang on to podium positions because of the race pace and that’s something we must work on.”
Waters, who won at Reid Park last year, said crowds might not get too excited in the early stages of the two 88-lap race, with race teams only allowed one set of soft tyres.
Both practices were carried out on hard-tyre compounds yesterday and Waters said the races could be predictable until the later stages.
“I don’t think we will see a lot of passing on the hard tyres,” he said.
“It’s pretty sketchy on the brakes and hard to ask a lot more from it, the car’s not going to give it to you.
“It is what is but then when you get the softs on then that’s when you will see the race probably come alive.”
Kiwi star van Gisbergen agreed, adding: “I think it will be a bit boring until someone puts on the soft tyres at the end.
“It will be about whoever is brave enough to put them on early.”
Van Gisbergen looked good in the first practice session.
There was a delay, with officials forced to make repairs to manhole damage at turn two.
But after the 20-minute hiatus, the van Gisbergen, who has won eight times in North Queensland, carried on his love affair with the Reid Park circuit to post the fastest time.
The Kiwi set the benchmark early in the 20-minute session on a perfect day in North Queensland.
On his third lap, van Gisbergen posted a lap time of 1:13.6883s which held firm for the entire session.
Fellow New Zealander Baumgartner did put in a late challenge, but his time of 1:13.7857 could only take him into second spot after the first session.
Scott Pye also put in a good first session, finishing with a time of 1:13.8927 to end up third in the timings.
Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale rounded out the top five in the morning practice, with Mark Winterbottom down in 10th and Mostert outside the top 10 in 11th spot in his Holden Commodore ZB.
Waters, who sits third on the points ladder championship, finished a disappointing 13th after session one with a fastest lap time of 1:14.2071 in his Ford Mustang.
There was good news for Heimgartner’s BJR teammate Macauley Jones, who rounded out the top five in the second practice session with a time of 1:13.7902.
Jones has not had a good time at the Reid Park circuit, having failed to finish in his past four races at the Townsville track.
The Top 10 Shootout Qualifying will be at 9.50am this morning, with the first of the weekend’s two races due to start at 2.45pm.
SKAIFE: DE PASQUALE MOST LIKELY TO TAKE DOWN THE CHAMP
—Rebecca Williams
Supercars great Mark Skaife has warned Anton De Pasquale needs to “fight fire with fire” in his championship battle with series leader Shane van Gisbergen if the Ford star is to hunt down his Triple Eight rival.
Declaring De Pasquale as the driver most likely to deny van Gisbergen’s bid for consecutive Supercars crowns, Skaife said the Dick Johnson Racing pilot needed to match the Holden star’s “gamesmanship” on track.
De Pasquale sits second in the Supercars standings behind van Gisbergen after closing the gap significantly at last month’s round in Darwin.
Van Gisbergen commanded a 281-point lead over his rivals before the Hidden Valley round, but now sits 214 points ahead of De Pasquale leading into this week’s racing in Townsville.
De Pasquale broke through for his first win of the season in the opening race in Darwin and finished second in the final race when van Gisbergen had his worst result of the season, finishing 21st after copping a penalty in an incident with Will Davison.
Skaife said De Pasquale’s strong qualifying — he has matched van Gisbergen for poles this year — would likely put him in the best position to challenge the Red Bull star.
But the five-time Supercars champion said De Pasquale needed to turn up the pressure on the two-time series champion.
“You have got to fight fire with fire, don’t you?,” Skaife said.
“That’s the way that you have to go about it.
“(Van Gisbergen) is a very robust and resilient racing driver. I think from a gamesmanship perspective, he plays hard ball and he plays a pretty fierce battle most weekends and for Anton, the only thing that you can genuinely do is put the pressure on him.
“That comes from two things, you have to out-qualify him, so you have got to start from the front and you have got to race particularly hard and I think so far for me, Cam Waters has basically demonstrated that he is capable of doing that. Townsville last year was a really good example of it and Anton has got to do the same thing.
“I think Anton, from straight-up qualifying, if he continues to park it near or at the front of the grid, that is probably the biggest part of his …. checklist of what you have to do.
“His qualifying performance or outright speed is probably good enough to park himself at the front and if he does that, he has probably got the biggest chance of knocking him off.”
Van Gisbergen is the only Holden driver sitting in the top five in the championship, leading De Pasquale, Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters, DJR’s Will Davison and Grove Racing’s David Reynolds.
While Skaife felt it was possible for van Gisbergen’s rivals to reel in his lead, he backed the Triple Eight driver to defend his crown this year.
“He is going to take a power of beating,” Skaife said.
“You’ve got to say right now, mid-season with the 214-point lead, the team is very professional, they don’t make mistakes, he is probably driving at a career-high. He is driving the best I have ever seen him.
“If they just continue to make the least amount of mistakes and keep on doing what they are doing they are going to take some beating.”
Van Gisbergen has scored nine race wins this year – five more than the next best, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert.
De Pasquale, meanwhile, has pushed himself up into second place in the standings off the back of just one race win.
“His consistency has proved to be a big part of his act,” Skaife said.
“He hasn’t wowed everybody in terms of wins, he has only had one win.
“But again, in terms of podiums, he has had eight. That level of consistency serves you well.”
‘Can’t find a negative’: Drivers rally behind Supercars finals format
Supercars drivers have thrown their support behind the major format revamp that is set to kick off in 2025 where the championship will be decided in a cut-throat finals series.
Supercars confirms finals shake up for 2025 season
Supercars has officially unveiled ambitious plans to conduct a NASCAR-style finals format in 2025 that will ensure the championship battle goes down to the last chequered flag.