Repco Supercars Championship leader Shane van Gisbergen has enjoyed a strong day behind the wheel with two wins from two races during Sunday’s Merlin Darwin Triple Crown action.
After a horrid day yesterday where he had a disastrous pit stop which cost him vital points, van Gisbergen bounced back to win both races over Will Davison and extend his lead at the top of the standings.
Both victories came off the back of brilliant starts as the Kiwi managed to beat polesitter Davison off the line into the first corner, before leading the field to the chequered flag in each race.
“Again at the start, I don’t know what’s happened, I got three beauties," van Gisbergan said post Race 14.
"Just managed the pace and drove away when tyres were nice.
“Man, I’ve got to thank Red Bull Ampol Racing; our car wasn’t very good and we just chipped away.
“All weekend it’s been really good from the races, so just stoked, it’s awesome.”
The two results saw van Gisbergen notch up his seventh and eighth wins of the season and re-establish a commanding lead over teammate Jamie Whincup, who finished Sunday with two podiums himself.
Whincup’s two podiums came at the expense of yesterday’s race winner Chaz Mostert who had a superb weekend himself – having to work hard for both fourth place finishes.
Although he had average qualifying sessions in the morning, the Queenslander produced two fantastic performances in each of Sunday’s race, charging through the field to move up four and six places respectively.
Although he didn’t secure a podium on Sunday, Mostert’s race win and two top-fives, coupled with van Gisbergen’s difficult Saturday saw him celebrate his recent contract extensions with Walkinshaw Andretti in style – by winning the round outright.
Like van Gisbergen, Mark Winterbottom was another driver to overcome a difficult Saturday, rounding out the top five in Sunday’s first race and finishing P7 in the second race behind James Courtney and Nick Percat.
Young guns Cameron Waters and Will Brown also finished in the top 10 twice on Sunday – the latter enjoying the best weekend of his short Supercars career thus far, finishing fourth yesterday.
In the standings, van Gisbergen now has a 221-point lead over Whincup, while Mostert is just a further nine points behind the 2017 champion.
The Repco Supercars Championship now heads to Northern Queensland in three weeks for the NTI Townsville 500 on 9-11 June.