Van Gisbergen grabs first victory at The Bend

NEW Zealander Shane van Gisbergen’s dominance of toptier racing in South Australia has been extended with the Holden Supercars driver taking out the historic first race at The Bend in clinical fashion.

Van Gisbergen passed teammate and 2017 champion Jamie Whincup on the fifth lap and they didn’t look like catching the cool Kiwi from there: he ended up winning the race – his third in succession – by more than six seconds before a crowd of 15,700.

He cruised to the line ahead of two Nissan drivers, Rick Kelly and Michael Caruso, with Whincup climbing back to fourth after dropping to eight after he had to doublestack in the pit-stops.

It was van Gisbergen’s fifth win in a row in the state: he won both races at the Adelaide 500 this year and in 2017 and is racing here as though it is his own back yard.

“We’ve done some good preparation and the last few rounds have been good for us,” van Gisbergen said. “It was awesome to see how far our car has come on the hard tyre.

“It (his rich vein of form) is part of racing, and evolution of the set-up.

“The car is radically different to the start of the year.

“It's been getting there for the last few rounds and I think the key is good leadership from above and making sure that three cars stick together.

“We’re always working together and that’s the best thing, the teamwork.”

The win also shrunk drivers championship leader Scott McLaughlin’s lead over van Gisbergen from 89 to 41 after fellow Kiwi McLaughlin finished sixth.