Red Bull score Supercars 1-2 in Townsville
Red Bull Ampol Racing have claimed another one-two finish with Shane Van Gisbergen prevailing from teammate Jamie Whincup in Townsville for his 11th Supercars win of the season.
It was Bulls on parade on Sunday afternoon as the pair started on the front row and Van Gisbergen delivered a defensive driving masterclass, holding off sustained pressure, bumps and overtaking attempts by Whincup to secure his third race win in Townsville across two weekends.
A decision to pit one lap after Whincup paid dividends for the Supercars championship leader as a 4.56 second pit stop and a two-tyre swap put the New Zealander ahead of Whincup as he rounded the back straight.
Whincup's engineers opted for three tyres in his lap 17 stop, giving him fresher wheels to attack his teammate, but he was left facing Van Gisbergen's rear bumper for the remainder of the race.
He had his chance on lap 25 with a beautiful racing move before the straight leaving the cars side by side at 260mkm/h towards turn two, but Van Gisbergen blocked him off and maintained his lead.
Red Bull's engineers were at odds with 10 laps remaining, debating whether to let Whincup pass as the team worried about blocking penalties by race officials.
But the Van Gisbergen streaked away from there and held on to claim his 51st career win after an exciting battle.
"It was awesome, we chose two tyres to try and get in front and all I had to do was keep him behind for three or four laps before his fresh one was toasted," Van Gisbergen said.
"It was a pretty cool battle, pretty intense. I'm sure there were some hard moments in the garage, but yeah, it was good fun."
The fifth and final race of Townsville's double-header will take place at 3.40pm Sunday as Cameron Waters heads the front row with Van Gisbergen second on the grid.
Anton De Pasquale rounds out the top three, but Red Bull Ampol Racing will hope Whincup can go one further in what will be his final race in Townsville.
Whincup holds the record with 12 wins at Reid Park, but Van Gisbergen is hot on his heels after winning his eighth on Sunday.
Repco Supercars Race 18 Results:
1. Shane Van Gisbergen (Red Bull Ampol Racing)
2. Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Ampol Racing)
3. Chaz Mostert (Mobil 1 Appliances Online)
4. Will Davison (Shell V-Power Racing)
5. Todd Hazelwood (Brad Jones Racing)
Repco Supercars Championship standings:
1. Shane Van Gisbergen (Red Bull Ampol Racing) 1834 pts
2. Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Ampol Racing) 1582 pts
3. Chaz Mostert (Mobil 1 Appliances Online) 1450 pts
4. Will Davison (Shell V-Power Racing) 1419 pts
5. Cameron Waters (Monster Energy Racing) 1409 pts
