Supercars: Sydney Super Night Eastern Creek race results
Shane van Gisbergen pulled off a championship-defining save when he stopped his sliding Commodore just before a wall in a wet and wild end to the Sydney Super Night.
Shane van Gisbergen almost ended up in the wall in what would have been a championship changing crash in a wet and wild conclusion to the Sydney Super Night.
During an edge of your seat race on Sunday night that was won under red-flag by Jamie Whincup, van Gisbergen stopped his Commodore just metres from a concrete wall following a high-speed slide across grass and gravel.
Heading into the race with a 418-point lead, van Gisbergen avoided disaster by stopping his car with a spin in what could prove a championship-winning save.
“I thought I was going into the fence hard,” van Gisbergen said.
“I just broke and the car locked up. I thought I was off. It was super lucky to get it stopped.”
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With his teammate still on the track but out of contention, Whincup survived the conditions to be leading when the race was red flagged on lap 27 because of the weather.
The seven-time champion was declared the winner when conditions were deemed too dangerous to resume.
“It is a bit of a weird one to celebrate,” Whincup said.
“I am pumped to win, but Supercars did a good job to stop it because we have to be back here next week. We can’t be tearing cars up. The racer in me wanted to go on, but it was the right call.”
Earlier, Anton De Pasquale held off Shane van Gisbergen to deliver the series leader a rare defeat in the first of Sunday’s two races.
Hitting back after the Holden star flogged the field on Saturday night, De Pasquale put Ford back on top by leading from start to finish to claim the Sydney Motorsport Park win.
“I think we were blessed with the rain holding back,” De Pasquale said.
“And the car was a gem. It was good to get one back after last night. We are lucky that the car was fast.”
De Pasquale set up the win by winning his eighth pole of the year.
The Dick Johnson Racing driver clocked a 1.41.59 on a wet track to deliver van Gisbergen a one-lap defeat.
De Pasquale surrendered his advantage by losing the start to van Gisbergen, who blasted his way to the front.
Starting on the hard tyre in what was a reverse strategy to the majority, the Red Bull driver was forced to concede when the soft tyre wearing de Pasquale erased his start line advantage.
De Pasquale had a 13-second lead when he pitted on lap 24 to make his compulsory tyre change and went on to claim as hit-back victory after van Gisbergen played it safe.
With rain lashing the track for the third and final race of the round, Jamie Whincup fired out of the blocks to steal the lead from his pole-sitting teammate van Gisbergen.
Van Gisbergen booked his front row spot by claiming his 6th pole of the season when he went quicker than both Chaz Mostert and De Pasquale in the final qualifying session.
“It was tough (in those conditions),” van Gisbergen said.
“I had a huge moment at turn one and Waters followed me off there. It was tough but I managed to get some grip out there after making a couple tweaks.
“We weren’t as quick as Anton in the first one but it ended up working out.”
Whincup’s lightning start was cruelled on the first lap when a two car crash brought out the safety car.
In a wild ride that paused the race, James Courtney and Brodie Kostecki ended up in the wall after bashing and barging in a lap one biff.
“I don’t really know what happened,” Courtney said.
“I had a blinding start and maybe he didn’t like it. I was just squeezed out and off.”
Van Gisbergen tightens grip on Supercars championship
Shane van Gisbergen put one hand on the Supercars trophy by winning the latest instalment of the Sydney Super Night to extend his championship lead.
On a night of heartbreak for rookie Will Brown, who was robbed of a win for the second week in a row, van Gisbergen beat Jamie Whincup to continue his title charge.
With only eight races left this season, the Holden star extended his championship lead to almost 350 points as he went on to flog the field by 17 seconds.
“I can’t thank the team enough,” van Gisbergen said. “We did it tough last week but they have done a great job in turning it around.”
With Dave Reynolds in Melbourne after being extradited from NSW when his vaccination exemption was revoked, van Gisbergen swamped Whincup mid-race and was never challenged as Red Bull scored a one-two to celebrate their 250th round.
“It is awesome,” van Gisbergen said. “We had a little cake yesterday and we are all pretty excited. The history of this team is second to none and I am just stoked to be a part of it.”
Earlier, Brown stunned the sport when he beat Whincup in qualifying to score his first pole.
A week after he announced himself as a future contender by landing a race podium, the Toowoomba product continued his meteoric rise by flooring a V8 immortal with a chart-topping display of one-lap speed.
“It’s bloody awesome,” Brown said.
“The guys have done a fantastic job. I’m just pumped. It’s awesome for the team. The boys have a bit of beer money after that one so they will be happy.”
After a pit stop error cost him a chance of a win at the season restarting SMP round, Brown was intent on going one better than last week when he finished second.
“I’ll be going for that win,” Brown said. “It’s bloody awesome to get another front row, that’s three in two weeks. We’ll be having a big crack in the race, and we’ll see how we end up.”
But it was heartbreak again for Brown as another pit-stop shocker cost him his first Supercars win.
In contention to win a race as a rookie after beating Whincup through turn one, Brown was forced to relive last week’s horror when another tyre-change drama kept him stopped for a race-ruining 26 seconds.
“We got pole but we didn’t get it right tonight,” Erebus Motorsport team manager Barry Ryan. “We are proud of where we are at but we just have to do a bit better and we will win races this year.”
Even Whincup, who took the effective lead, would have been feeling for the first-year driver after he was again robbed of a star-making win. Whincup was forced to surrender his lead on lap 18 when van Gisbergen emerged in his mirror.
“Our one rule is not to run into each other,” Whincup said.
“It is bittersweet for me because the team won but I was so close to a win myself. I just didn’t have enough after fighting Brown before the pit stop.”
On fresher tyres and with an opponent that did not fight, van Gisbergen easily passed his time before flogging him by 17 seconds. Will Davison finished third.
Will leads the way after confirming future star status
Supercars rookie Will Brown has proven his own team boss wrong as the Erebus Motorsport young gun looks to build upon an impressive podium breakthrough with more success in Sydney on Saturday.
Proving himself a future star by almost winning a race in his rookie year, Brown finished his star making weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park last Sunday by claiming second place in the final race.
The performance of both Brown and fellow Sydney podium winner Brodie Kostecki has forced team owner Betty Klimenko to make the admission that she “got it wrong” by pushing for a more experienced driver to replace new DJR driver Anton De Pasqaule.
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“These boys are showing an old lady new tricks,” Klimenko said.
“At the beginning I was really wondering if we had gotten it right. I was thinking that maybe we need someone that was a little more seasoned. I am happy to say I was wrong. I was lucky I listened to Barry (Ryan) because he knows better than me.”
Brown proved himself to be a star of the future as the Supercars season resumed last week by challenging the driver he replaced for a race wins.
After showing he had one lap speed by starring in qualifying, Brown then proved himself to also be a racer when he was beaten only by De Pasquale.
The podium win came just a day after Kostecki finished in third.
It’s also helped Brown land a new sponsorship deal, with the youngster set to unveil new livery on his No.9 Commodore at Saturday's Sydney Night Sprint.
“It was an awesome weekend last weekend for the team as a whole to get two podiums, I believe we could have even gotten more than that if everything had gone to plan,” Brown said. “We’re aiming to get a good run heading into Bathurst and hopefully we can back it up this weekend.
“I think the awesome vibe within the team is evident. We’re all confident in the cars and we’re continuing to work on making them better. We’re having a lot of fun and working as a team to keep pushing.”
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Brown will be out to go one better and become a winner on Saturday when the Supercars resume racing at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Both Brown and Kostecki will line up in a Western Sydney night race with the Eastern Creek based venue to be lit up for the second week in a row.
“They are having a ball,” Klimenko said. “And that is part of a reason for the success. They are just happy kids, smiling and having a good time. They have found their niche.”
Originally published as Supercars: Sydney Super Night Eastern Creek race results
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