New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen was left downcast after a seeming victory was ruined by an oil spill in the V8 Supercars event at Symmons Plains, Tasmania, on Sunday.
Van Gisbergen looked to have done enough to claim a second win in as many days, only to crash spill four laps from the chequered flag.
The New Zealander lost control in the slick that came Cam Waters’ Ford and beached his Red Bull Commodore in the gravel, allowing Will Davison and the fellow Holden driver Craig Lowndes to swoop past.
Mark Winterbottom, who was second, recovered from a near-miss to fill out the podium in Sunday’s 200km race.]
It was oil from Cam Waters’ Ford that wreaked havoc, sending van Gisbergen into the gravel and spinning out Mark Winterbottom, who did well to recover.
Van Gisbergen was dejected with the DNF.
“One hundred and fifty points down the toilet,” he said.
“We had fast cars all weekend, we were the quickest, it’s a real shame that it ended that way.”
The Kiwi said he would be able to take a strong qualifying effort and race speed to the next meet at Phillip Island in a fortnight.
“We qualified well in third, close to the front again,” he said.
“(It was) awesome racing at the start … at the end, we had really great pace and pulled away, but I just mucked up at the hairpin where the oil was and I just couldn’t stop and got stuck.”
Van Gisbergen now sits seventh in the championship standings, 70 points behind new leader Davison.
Perhaps it was meant to be for Davison, who secured his first win since returning to Holden with Tekno Autosports after he was earlier stripped of a pole and demoted two spots on the grid by race officials for inadvertently blocking James Courtney’s fast lap.
As the race wound down he turned fourth placing into a victory, watching the front two spin out and manoeuvring past Lowndes on a fateful corner to steal a memorable win.
“It’s funny the way things work,” said Davison said after spraying the champagne.
“Blown away by the way that finished.
“I was driving around thinking a podium would be great.
“It’s never over until it’s over. The car came alive.”
Davison’s win ended three years of Red Bull victories in Tasmania and he took the championship lead.
Even without the late antics, the hairpin turn synonymous with the circuit threw up plenty of curve balls.
The bruising contest began from the line when van Gisbergen and Winterbottom started a battle that would last 80 laps.
Chris Pither’s dangerous crash changed the race, the Ford driver spearing off the track from the hairpin turn after tagging the wall and wearing a bump from Nick Percat.
Had the accident occurred slightly closer to turn, three marshals with minimal protection would have been in harm’s way.
Whincup was forced to double stack under the yellow flag; the start of a disastrous run for the six-time champion.
He would understeer into the gravel at the hairpin, bringing another safety car.
The slick that ruined van Gisbergen’s day also claimed Whincup’s Commodore as he careered into Andrew Heimgartner’s already-stranded Holden.
“That hairpin wasn’t kind to me,” Whincup said.
“The first was one a rookie error. I should give myself an uppercut.
“To have two quick cars … and to have no result. It’s unbelievable.”
