van Gisbergen on top in Tassie

Sunday 27 March, 2022
Photo: Edge Photographics

Shane van Gisbergen completed a clean sweep at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint, collecting two race wins on Sunday to add to Saturday’s opening race victory.

van Gisbergen didn’t have things all his own way throughout the weekend, but showed his Championship winning experience to make it three from three at Symmons Plains.

Sunday’s final race saw the number 97 convert his third place start into yet another first place, extending his lead at the top of the Supercars Championship table.

Shell V-Power teammates Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale finished second and third respectively in the final 44 lap outing of the weekend.

David Reynolds finished fourth to complete a strong return to form for the Ford Mustang pilot, while Todd Hazelwood rounded out the top five on Sunday afternoon.

van Gisbergen was understandably thrilled with his dominant performance, the first driver to secure a clean sweep in Tasmania since Garth Tander in 2005.

“It’s pretty awesome and I can’t thank Red Bull Ampol Racing enough,” the Kiwi said.

“The car has been really good all weekend and Broc (Feeney) has been up here (in the podium placings) as well.

“Each race we had to work for it, some more good passes then which I hope were good to watch, so yeah I’m pumped.”

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After the race van Gisbergen also admitted to playing his own mind games over his opposition during the race.

“I was screaming on the radio pretending I had no rear, they (opponents) then pitted early and I just went, so sucked in,” van Gisbergen added with a smile in the post-race interview.

Earlier in the day, the drivers battled hard in the second race of the weekend, with Triple Eight collecting a historic one-two finish.

Young gun Broc Feeney scored his maiden podium in just his second round of his full time Supercars career, while van Gisbergen added more points to his Championship tally as he defends his 2021 crown.

Feeney had led the race on two separate occasions throughout the day’s early race, jumping his more experienced teammate on the start line. While he impressed out front, van Gisbergen was able to get past Feeney after the compulsory pit stops and led the field for the rest of the race.

Reynolds also enjoyed a return to the podium in the Grove Racing Mustang, finishing behind the two Triple Eight Commodores.

Several incidents took place in the Championship’s fourth race of the season, with an early red flag called following a heavy clash between Jack Le Brocq and Andre Heimgartner on the final corner. Later in the race, Tim Slade narrowly avoided a significant incident after a coming together with Cameron Waters. Waters was deemed to have forced Slade off track and received a pit lane penalty, after Slade flew across the grass before regaining control and continuing, ultimately finishing in the back half of the field.

It’s a busy time for Championship leader van Gibsergen, who next week makes his RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship debut at the Netier National Capital Rally. The following week, van Gisbergen and the entire Supercars field then heads to the Formula 1 Heineken Australian Grand Prix on 7-10 April at Albert Park for the series’ third round.

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