Shane van Gisbergen takes Supercars win in Albert Park, Melbourne, after crash during practice
Dramatic moment Shane van Gisbergen spins out and slams into a concrete wall – before coming back to claim a shock victory at Albert Park
- Shane van Gisbergen won Race Three in Melbourne
- He spun-out during practice but was on track for qualifying
- Chaz Mostert maintains the championship lead
Shane van Gisbergen has claimed his second official win for the 2023 season in the first Thursday race in V8 Supercars’ 63-year history.
The reigning Supercars Champion took claimed victory for Race Three at Melbourne’s Albert Park following a dramatic spin-out in practice.
The Triple Eight driver lost control of his Red Bull Camaro after his left rear wheel caught the grass, sending him whirling down the track and into a concrete wall.
Gisbergen appeared shaken after the crash but quickly recovered for qualifying sessions three and four.
He praised his team for repairing the damage to the rear of his car and spoiler in time for qualifying.
Shane van Gisbergen won Race Three of the V8 Supercars 2023 season at Melbourne’s Albert Park on Thursday (pictured, Gisbergen on the podium alongside Erebus Coca-Cola’s Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown)
‘Thanks to my team. After what I did to the car this morning, tried to write the car off,’ he joked.
‘Patched it up like they did, then two good qualis (sic) and a race win. Stoked.’
Gisbergen started Race Three in third position behind Erebus Coca-Cola’s Brodie Kostecki in second and Shell V-Power’s De Pasquale in pole position.
The victory means Gisbergen has finished first on track in every race this season but he was stripped of his Race One win for running an illegal cooling system.
Kostecki and his Coca-Cola Racing teammate Will Brown filled the remaining spots on Thursday’s podium.
In fourth was Red Bull’s Brock Feeney resulting in Camaros claiming the four top spots.
Feeney has also scored five bonus championship points for driving the fastest lap of the race.
Chaz Mostert broke the Camaro streak in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang by taking out fifth place. He’s maintained his championship lead by just 31 points.
The race was divided in two by pit stops with half the cars only stopping at the end of Lap 17 of 19.
Race Three marked the first time in Supercars history a race has run on a Thursday (pictured, turn one of Race Three)
Shane van Gisbergen managed to claim victory on Thursday following a dramatic crash (above) that damaged the rear of his car during practice
De Pasquale was one of the late-pitting cars and missed a chance at the podium after a slow stop, finishing in sixth.
Van Gisbergen also suffered a sluggish pit stop with the team fumbling the right rear tyre, costing the Kiwi his two-second margin over Kostecki just one lap before the race’s end.
Number 23 driver Tim Slade climbed five places to finish in 20th following a crash at turn five during practice.
His car suffered significant rear and left-corner damage after hitting the concrete barrier with the Nulon Racing V8’s left-rear wheel left hanging loose.
Slade’s team managed to fix the car just five minutes before the flag dropped for Race Three but his absence from qualifying resulted in a pit lane start.
A strategic tyre move by the Triple Eight and Erebus teams caught the eye of officials in the last lap of the race.
Teams were told they would be required to use two differing tyre compound sets for the Melbourne race but the track was declared wet at the beginning, nullifying the rule.
Chaz Mostert in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang (above) has retained his 2023 championship lead by 31 points
Instead, teams were only required to switch out two of the car’s tyres over the course of the race but the loophole was only fully realised on Lap 18.
Erebus and Red Bull both swapped just two tyres on their cars, giving them a significant advantage over the rest of the track.
Thursday’s 19-lap race was first of four this week set to run on the same track as Sunday’s Australian F1 Grand Prix.
V8 Supercars will return to the track for a 15-lap race at 2.55pm on Friday.
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