Van Gisbergen dominates wet SMP opener

V8 Supercars

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

Van Gisbergen dominates wet SMP opener

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