Melbourne V8s: Shane van Gisbergen claims F1 support hat-trick
Shane van Gisbergen continued his domination of the non-championship V8 Supercars event supporting the Australian Grand Prix with his third win in three races
The Tekno Autosports Holden driver started from pole position and comfortably held the lead at the start.
Despite a first-lap safety car period, caused by Dale Wood's stricken Holden after it collected Chaz Mostert's spun car at Turn 7, van Gisbergen never looked like being beaten.
Fabian Coulthard was never more than 1.5 seconds behind, but was unable to mount a serious challenge for the lead.
He also came close to losing second place on the final lap to a charging Craig Lowndes, who was close behind as the field picked its way through a light late-race sprinkling of rain.
Lowndes had held second place at the start, but on the first lap after the safety car locked his rear brakes heading into Turn 9 and ran off the track, letting Coulthard past.
He did well to keep the pack, headed by Scott McLaughlin's Volvo S60, at bay after that mistake, and set the fastest lap on his recovery charge.
McLaughlin held off pressure from former V8 Supercars champion Garth Tander to take fourth place.
Jason Bright briefly held the position after climbing from eight on the grid to fourth on the first lap before being passed by McLaughlin and later retiring.
Michael Caruso was the lead Nissan driver in sixth ahead of Jamie Whincup, who held off Mark Winterbottom, with David Reynolds prevailing in a tight battle for ninth ahead of the Kelly brothers.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Shane van Gisbergen Tekno Holden 27m53.0754s
2. Fabian Coulthard Brad Jones Holden +0.500s
3. Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden +0.972s
4. Scott McLaughlin GRM Volvo +5.310s
5. Garth Tander HRT Holden +5.985s
6. Michael Caruso Nissan +6.434s
7. Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden +9.377s
8. Mark Winterbottom FPR Ford +10.236s
9. David Reynolds Rod Nash/FPR Ford +12.465s
10. Todd Kelly Nissan +12.739s
11. Rick Kelly Nissan +13.027s
12. James Moffat Nissan +14.077s
13. Tim Slade Rosenberg/HRT Holden +14.413s
14. Nick Percat Walkinshaw/HRT Holden +15.959s
15. David Wall Dick Johnson Ford +16.876s
16. Jack Perkins Schwerkolt/FPR Ford +17.111s
17. Lee Holdsworth Erebus Mercedes +17.630s
18. Russell Ingall Dumbrell Holden +17.905s
19. Robert Dahlgren GRM Volvo +19.442s
20. James Courtney HRT Holden +26.630s
21. Will Davison Erebus Mercedes +47.922s
Retirements:
Jason Bright Brad Jones Holden 4 laps
Scott Pye Dick Johnson Ford 3 laps
Chaz Mostart FPR Ford 0 laps
Dale Wood Britek/BJR Holden 0 laps
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