Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images
Shane van Gisbergen claimed his 12th win of the season in Saturday’s OTR SuperSprint at The Bend.
Kiwi ace Shane van Gisbergen is one step closer to a third Supercars title, after banking his 12th victory of the season on Saturday.
Van Gisbergen’s win in race 21 – the first of three for the weekend at the OTR SuperSprint at The Bend in South Australia – was centred on a long run while all other competitors opted to enter pit lane early.
With what was the 66th win of his career, the Red Bull supremo now holds a 323-point lead over Anton de Pasquale heading into Sunday’s two races.
Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images
Shane van Gisbergen takes the chequered flag for what was his 66th career win.
Will Davison finished behind van Gisbergen in second, with Chaz Mostert third, while wildcard entry Zak Best, who shocked all by taking pole position for the race, finished fifth after leading his much-fancied rivals through the early stages.
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Van Gisbergen started from second, dropped back to third early and then forced his way back to the lead, hitting the front when he overtook 20-year-old Best on lap 11.
From there, the championship leader set his own pace as his rivals peeled into the lane. He was eventually brought in at the end of lap 20, then emerged ahead of Davison to cruise home.
“The car was magic, thanks so much to the team,” van Gisbergen told the host broadcaster afterwards.
“I’ve been struggling with my driving, but the car’s been really good.
“Had a great battle at the start with Cam [Waters, who finished fourth], and Zak, he was driving really well as well. But it cost us a bit of time, so then we had to run long to get clear air.
“Will [Davison] had passed us so we needed to make that speed to get back in front of him, and came out in front. Would have loved to have battled on track, but the guys did a great job and the pit stop was awesome too, so yeah, really stoked.”
Adding to his excellent day was that van Gisbergen, thanks to a flying final lap, secured the fastest lap bonus points as well, the eighth time in 17 attempts he has done so this year.
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