Shane van Gisbergen. Picture: InSyde Media
Shane van Gisbergen has hailed his Red Bull Ampol Racing crew after driving a hastily-repaired Chevrolet Camaro to fourth position in Race 12 of the Repco Supercars Championship in Tasmania.
The 2022 champion was bumped off the road and into the tyre wall with race-ending damage in the day’s earlier encounter, which ended two hours before the next one started.
Nevertheless, van Gisbergen would still take up ninth position on the grid for the final session of the Symmons Plains weekend and would just miss out on a podium in his late battle with Brodie Kostecki.
“For how my car looked after [the day’s] first race – watching the guys put it back together to get me out on the grid, and noticing how much of the car still wasn’t right…” he said.
“It wasn’t straight and was obviously pretty bent, but to get it mechanically sound and safe and to be able to go out on track and get a decent haul of points is unreal, so a huge thanks to the guys there.
“The crew also did an amazing pit stop again – we came in early and jumped a few people and hung on to the end, so that was great.
“You certainly have to look at those positives.”
Van Gisbergen retained position on the opening lap and passed Mark Winterbottom on Lap 3.
Unusually, he was the first of the top 10 to take his compulsory pit stop, on Lap 14, rather than running long as is usually the case for Car #97.
Van Gisbergen was an effective fifth during the pit stop cycle before overtaking Jack Le Brocq at the end of the back straight on Lap 22, immediately after contact exiting Brambles Hairpin.
Matt Stone Racing requested an investigation but officials decided neither driver was wholly or predominately to blame.
SVG went underneath Kostecki with seven laps to go but the championship leader fought back, reclaiming third place on Lap 38.
In the other Triple Eight Race Engineering entry, Broc Feeney got home in second place, splitting the Erebus Motorsport duo of Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki on the podium.
It had been David Reynolds who made contact with van Gisbergen in Race 11 but, on that matter also, officials opted against any action.
In the drivers’ championship, Kostecki is now 87 points clear of Brown at the top, with van Gisbergen 172 points off the pace in fourth and Feeney another 19 points back in fifth.
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