Van Gisbergen continues his Repco Supercars Championship lead with back-to-back wins on Sunday at the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown, but Chaz Mostert took the most points home from the weekend.
Shane Van Gisbergen
Supplied by Red Bull Ampol Racing
The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver qualified second for both Race 13 and 14, on both occasions Van Gisbergen got the jump on pole-sitter Will Davison at the start and effectively led from lights-to-flag claiming the victory for both Race 13 and 14. Jamie Whincup took the final place on the podium for both races.
“We didn’t quite have the speed of Will (Davison) in qualifying, but I knew our car would be good during the race. The racing was all about the start and I got three good starts all weekend which is surprising for me – it’s something I need to keep up,” Van Gisbergen said.
Sunday helped ease the pain of Saturdays pit-lane wounds for the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver.
Shell V-Power Racing
Supplied by Shell V-Power Racing
Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Will Davison continued DJR’s one lap domination qualifying pole for Race 12 and 13. Davison dropped behind Van Gisbergen on both starts of Race 12 and 13, going on to finish second behind the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team driver on both occasions.
Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Anton De Pasquale was on route for a promising weekend of results, but De Pasquale didn’t see the podium in any of the three Repco Supercars Championship races.
De Pasquale was involved in a Turn 1 a six car pileup on Saturday. Scott Pye went into the back of the number 11 Shell V-Power Racing Mustang. Pyes team-mate Mark Winterbottom started the race in second but also found himself tangled in the carnage. The pileup also involved Brad Jones Racing team-mates Jack Smith and Todd Hazelwood, the Team Sydney drivers were also caught up in the carnage.
De Pasquale bad luck continued into Sunday. In Race 12, De Pasquale started from pole position but was taken out in the first corner.
Race 13 saw the Shell V-Power Racing Team driver in contention for a podium starting from third on the grid however, one of the team’s rattle guns had a trigger failure which resulted in a slow pit stop. De Pasquale managed to cross the finish line in sixth.
The drama in pit lane continued for the Ford Mustang driver stalling in pit lane, losing valuable time. De Pasquale went on to finish 12th after making a mistake trying to pass Mark Winterbottom into Turn 1.
Scott Pye
Supplied by Team 18
DEWALT Racing driver Scott Pye had a quick car but wasn’t able to get a solid result.
“It was a really tough weekend, we had a fast car but didn’t manage to get a result with it,” said Scott Pye.
“I’m gutted about this weekend, the team worked their backsides off and we have nothing for it, our only three sessions out of the top ten were the three races, but that’s racing and it just wasn’t our weekend this time.
Pye shifts his focus too Townsville, a place where the DEWALT Racing driver was strong last year.
Will Brown
Supplied by Erebus Motorsport
The Erebus young gun was one of only five drivers to finish inside the top 10 for all three races at Hidden Valley Raceway. Browns consistent weekend has moved him into 10th overall for the Repco Supercars Championship
Thomas Randle
Supplied by Tickford Racing
Two days after Thomas Randle was confirmed for a full-time drive with Tickford Racing in 2022, Randle finished inside the top 10 on Saturday, proving why he was offered the full-time driver with Tickford Racing.
Randled pulled off the move of the weekend on Anton De Pasquale on Sunday, but finished seven laps down due to mechanical repairs in the garage in Race 13.
Repco Supercars Championship
Van Gisbergen leaves the Merlin Triple Crown now leading the Repco Supercars Championship by 221 points over his Red Bull Ampol Racing team-mate, with Chaz Mostert sitting in third overall only nine points shy of Whincup. Will Davison and Cam Waters round out the top five.
The next event of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship heads to North Queensland for the NTI Townsville 500 on 9-11 July.
