Shane van Gisbergen has closed the gap to his Championship rivals, claiming victory on Sunday at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight.
 
With plenty to prove after a penalty saw him drop off the podium on Saturday night, van Gisbergen qualified on pole and led the vast majority of the race to claim an important win in his 2023 title bid.
 
Starting on pole on what was considered the dirty side of the track, van Gisbergen lost out to second-place sitter Andre Heimgartner on the race to turn one. Despite that, it only took a few laps for van Gisbergen to get by his fellow Kiwi, as he went on to build a gap and dominate the rest of the race from then on.


 
There was a fascinating battle to determine the final podium position, with Anton De Pasquale and Broc Feeney enjoying a last lap tussle. De Pasquale would ultimately prevail, as his return to form continues following his race win in Townsville.
 
“I have to thank my team,” van Gisbergen said.
 
“They haven't given up on me, I've been struggling, but they've rebuilt this car, changed chassis, they've done so much work. it's so cool to be back here.
 
“Kiwi one-two (with Heimgartner) which is awesome. We're back on the right track.”
 
 It was a difficult afternoon for van Gisbergen’s Championship rivals, including Will Brown who spun off the track at turn one on the opening lap in a clash involving a number of other cars. Ultimately, no driver would be wholly or predominantly to blame and Brown was forced to make his way through the field, eventually finishing in 14th.


 
Brodie Kostecki’s Sunday was not as impressive as his race win on Saturday, the Erebus driver struggling for pace in his final stint and falling to eighth – but doing more than enough across the weekend to maintain his Championship lead.
 
While van Gisbergen closed the gap on Kostecki, the Coca-Cola Camaro pilot still leads the way ahead of teammate Brown by 41 points. van Gisbergen sits third just 59 points behind Kostecki, with Feeney in fourth 67 points adrift of the leader. Chaz Mostert rounds out the top five in the Championship as the leading Ford pilot.


 
Supercars will return to action in late-August in South Australia, with competitors heading to The Bend Motorsport Park on 25-27 August.