Shane fits the bill in Scott’s absence
With Scott McLaughlin gone, Holden’s Shane van Gisbergen has made an early statement he will be the dominant driver in the Supercars championship in 2021.
The New Zealander made a strong start to this year’s campaign yesterday with victory in the opening race of the year at Bathurst.
In the first race since three-time defending champion McLaughlin’s decision to move to the United States to pursue an IndyCar career, van Gisbergen made the most of rivals’ misfortunes to back up his win in last year’s Bathurst 1000 with another Mount Panorama victory.
With early drama taking out McLaughlin’s heir apparent at Dick Johnson Racing in Anton De Pasquale, and a mechanical gremlin wrecking pole-sitter Cameron Waters’ day, van Gisbergen always had an element of control as he held off Holden’s Chaz Mostert to win by just more than a second.
‘‘What an awesome way to start . . . great car and awesome day,’’ van Gisbergen told Fox Sports.
‘‘I don’t know what happened to Cam, he sort of started struggling and slowing down so I caught him and then not sure what his problem was, but yeah, I had clear air and a light car and support as well.’’
Mostert, who had finished on top of the timesheets in Friday’s two practice sessions, was second with Will Davison marking his return to Dick Johnson Racing with a third placing.
While the top trio were all smiles, the race had its share of heartbreak.
De Pasquale crashed out on lap seven to end the day with a DNF next to his name.
Waters was also shattered after he started from pole and opened an early lead before a powersteering failure sent him spiralling to a 20th-place finish.
Tim Slade’s fairytale return to fulltime racing turned into a horror story with five laps to go as well, with the 35-year-old crashing out as he was challenging for a podium finish.
Today’s action resumes with qualifying and top 10 shootout before the second and final 250km race. –