VAN GISBERGEN ‘THE COMEBACK KID’ IN ADELAIDE
After the disappointment of missing out on what could have been a third place finish in Saturday's first Clipsal 500 meeting race in Adelaide, SP Tools-backed Stone Brothers Racing Ford driver Shane van Gisbergen stormed back on Sunday to finish a fighting fourth.
In stark contrast to Saturday's incident-packed 78 lap/250km race, Sunday's ran without major incident, but was interrupted by a Safety Car period when the curb at Turn 8 broke up in the final quarter.
The subsequent laps under the Safety Car were just what van Gisbergen and Stone Brothers Racing teammate Tim Slade needed because of their two-stop fuel strategy with both able to finish the race without the need of a last-minute top-up.
Young gun van Gisbergen's drive was the talk of the meeting, the 20-year-old spending the closing laps once the track was clear trying to find a way past Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom for fifth before being elevated to fourth with just three laps to go when one of the drivers in front of him, championship points leader Jamie Whincup, was forced to serve a pit lane penalty for loose panel work.
The result saw van Gisbergen claw his way back up to eighth place for the round (after finishing the first race in 22nd position) and he is now fourth place in the series points standings behind Whincup, Winterbottom and James Courtney.
Shane van Gisbergen – Driver, SP Tools Racing Car #9
"We were a bit up and down throughout the race in positions, the strategy we were running we needed a Safety Car in order to make it with fuel so when the track began to break up at turn 8 that definitely helped us and allowed us to race to end.
"Under Safety Car I was told to conserve as much fuel as possible which is what I did. When the race restarted I was trying to go fast but use less fuel so I was backing off a bit earlier than I normally would. Under Safety Car I was in sixth gear (2,000 revs) doing 40kms just trying to save fuel.
"At the end there I really pushed hard, it started to rain a bit which made it interesting and I had a little bit of pace over the guys in front, but Winterbottom got away from me when it started to dry out so I couldn’t quite catch him.
"Fourth is a great comeback from yesterday, I wanted to get a podium for the guys but we didn’t quite get there, we are really happy with the points haul."
The Stone Brothers Racing Team will now head back to the Gold Coast to begin preparations for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne (March 25 – 28).
Ends
RESULTS
Clipsal 500, Race 2
1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander
2 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney
3 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom
4 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen
5 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell
6 15 Jack Daniel's Racing/Rick Kelly
7 3 Centaur Racing/Tony D'Alberto
8 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson
9 8 Team BOC/Jason Richards
10 34 Fujitsu Racing /GRM/Michael Caruso
17 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade
23 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison
Qualifying (20 mins) Race 2
1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander 1:20.9560
2 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:21.0513
3 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom 1:21.1788
4 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson 1:21.2616
5 34 Fujitsu Racing /GRM/Michael Caruso 1:21.4465
6 15 Jack Daniel's Racing/Rick Kelly 1:21.4698
7 22 Toll Holden Racing Team/Will Davison 1:21.4946
8 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane Van Gisbergen 1:21.5496
9 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney 1:21.5701
10 3 Centaur Racing/Tony D'Alberto 1:21.5992
20 4 IRWIN Racing/Alex Davison 1:22.0832
23 47 Wilson Security Racing/Tim Slade 1:22.3026
V8 Supercars Championship Series Points
1 Jamie Whincup 771
2 Mark Winterbottom 714
3 James Courtney 696
4 Shane Van Gisbergen 630
5 Lee Holdsworth 573
6 Craig Lowndes 552
7 Rick Kelly 530
8 Paul Dumbrell 489
9 Michael Caruso 462
10 Steven Johnson 455
18 Alex Davison 321
22 Tim Slade 276
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