Van Gisbergen evades fire and rain for Supercars win

IT started in rain and ended with a flaming car driving down pit-lane.

Yesterday’s 200km Supercars race in Townsville certainly didn’t lack drama.

Holden’s Shane van Gisbergen outlasted the conditions and his rivals to win the race from Ford’s Fabian Coulthard with pole-sitter Cameron Waters in third. It is just Holden’s second win of the year and ends championship leader Scott McLaughlin’s sixrace winning streak.

“That was one of the craziest races I’ve had for a while,” van Gisbergen said. “That was won in the pits … we had no way the fastest car … awesome — lot of action but pretty cool.”

The victory lifts the Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver up to third in the championship standings.

McLaughlin limped home in 11th place after an openinglap tangle with David Reynolds left him with a puncture and at the back of the field. Coulthard’s second-placed finish in his 400th race start means the gap between the two DJR Team Penske drivers is 292 points in the standings.

Van Gisbergen is third, a further 207 points behind Coulthard.

Penrite Racing’s Anton de Pasquale enjoyed a great day, finishing fourth after a clever strategic play by his pit crew. De Pasquale pitted to be the first car to put on wet tyres as the rain intensified on the Reid Park street circuit, after Holden star Jamie Whincup had crashed out in the 20th lap.

When the rest of the field was forced to change to wets a few laps later, de Pasquale was the beneficiary, charging to a 30-second lead.

He had to pit late to meet the race’s mandatory 120-litre fuel load, allowing van Gisbergen, Coulthard and Waters to secure the podium but he was still pleased with his fourthplaced finish.

The race ended in dramatic fashion with Garry Jacobson’s Nissan Altima bursting into flames on the track after an engine mishap.

That brought the safety car out onto the field and, when Percat pitted to meet his fuel load, a mishap with the fuel line caused a fireball to erupt in his pit bay with staff from several garages rushing to put out the flames.

Remarkably, Percat climbed back into his car after it was extinguished and finished 19th.