A slippery Race 26 went to Shane Van Gisbergen today.
Jamie Whincup led at the start in wet conditions before disaster struck on the exit of turn three. David Reynolds spun and got clipped by Tim Slade, whose car momentarily went airborne and up onto its side. The safety car was immediately deployed.
When the team asked Reynolds why he couldn’t get back going after the wreck, he dryly responded, “It’s missing a wheel for starters…”
On lap five, Shane Van Gisbergen took command of the race and never looked back. At the halfway point of the 26 lapper, the safety car was needed once again after Scott McLaughlin’s Volvo expired and he was left stranded. On the restart, Gis checked out and won the race with an impressive margin of nine seconds over his closest competition.
The race was shortened by a single lap due to the extra time added on by the safety car interventions. In the closing moments, Nick Percat got turned by Scott Pye as they battled for the final spot inside the top ten.
Gisbergen was followed by Garth Tander, who started 13th and ran nearly the entire race with no wipers. The Red Bull duo of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup came home third and fourth, with Michael Caruso filling out the top five.
The remainder of the top ten was made up of Rick Kelly, Will Davison, James Courtney, Jason Bright, and Scott Pye.
Results - 25 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 47m54.8944s
2. Garth Tander HRT Holden +9.1565s
3. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden +16.7233s
4. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden +20.4712s
5. Michael Caruso Nissan +20.7873s
6. Rick Kelly Nissan +21.9875s
7. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes +22.2081s
8. James Courtney HRT Holden +23.8344s
9. Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden +25.1749s
10. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes +33.0974s
11. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford +35.8268s
12. James Moffat Nissan +35.8519s
13. Chaz Mostert FPR Ford +36.7295s
14. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden +37.1051s
15. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford +37.3019s
16. Nick Percat Walkinshaw/HRT Holden +38.6013s
17. Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden +38.8581s
18. David Wall Dick Johnson Ford +39.3558s
19. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo +39.5558s
20. Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford +1m03.0877s
Retirements:
Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden 16 laps
Todd Kelly Nissan 16 laps
Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo 11 laps
Tim Slade Rosenberg/HRT Holden 1 lap
David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford 1 lap
