Mission to better Whincup off to a good start
SHANE van Gisbergen’s mission to dethrone teammate Jamie Whincup and reclaim the Supercars crown continued yesterday when the Red Bull Holden Racing Team star claimed another Adelaide 500 win.
On a day of hits and heartbreak in a season-starting spectacular, van Gisbergen won the 250km race on the streets of Adelaide to declare himself Whincup’s biggest championship threat.
Van Gisbergen won every session of the three-day event to make it four consecutive wins at the championship opener.
“I love Adelaide,’’ van Gisbergen said.
“It was just a great race. It is a great way to start the year. Now we just need to carry on the momentum. I am already looking forward to the next round.’’
In front of a record sellout crowd of 90,000, van Gisbergen held off a fast-finishing Dave Reynolds after disaster wiped out Whincup and DJR Team Penske heavyweight Scott McLaughlin.
Suffering his first “did not finish” result since 2013, Whincup had a 10-second lead before a transmission fault ended his race.
“It was a shame for Jamie,’’ Van Gisbergen said.
“He had a faster car. We went the wrong way with the set-up of our car.
At the end I expected Dave to battle me back after I passed because he had a really quick car. But we got there and it was an awesome job for them.’’
McLaughlin also suffered a crippling blow when he had a tyre failure on lap 26.
Resuming his bitter war with the Red Bull pair, McLaughlin was attacking van Gisbergen for second place when his race was ruined.