SVG good as Goldie to wrap up the title
I’m super pumped to get back up to the Goldie. I love street tracks and it’s one of the coolest ones. Cam Waters
Shane van Gisbergen is set to clinch his third Supercars crown at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast this weekend with a round to spare.
The Kiwi tops the standings with 3082 points, 567 ahead of secondplaced Cam Waters.
With a maximum of 600 points available across the season’s final four races — two this weekend and two in the final round at Adelaide on December 3-4 — van Gisbergen needs merely to finish 24th or better in one race to secure the title.
The 33-year-old Red Bull Ampol Racing driver has dominated the season, winning 19 of the 30 races. Waters, Chaz Mostert and Will Davison are next best with three.
Waters is the only driver with a mathematical chance of overhauling van Gisbergen, and despite facing an almost insurmountable gap, the Tickford driver is intent on making the Kiwi work for his championship.
“I’m super pumped to get back up to the Goldie,” Waters said. “I love street tracks and it’s one of the coolest ones out there, so it’s awesome to be heading back.
“We’ve been pretty quick there most years, but it’s been a few years since we’ve raced there, so it’ll be a bit of a reset for everyone. We want to get on top of the car early and set ourselves up for a really strong weekend.
“We’ve got a bit of a chip on our shoulder after Bathurst. It was a tough week for the team, and although it was nice to get third [van Gisbergen won], we didn’t achieve what we set out to do there, so we’re working hard to put it all together and come out of this weekend with really strong results.”
There are still some intriguing contests for the minor placings, with third up for grabs.
Only 231 points separate thirdplaced Anton De Pasquale (2305), Mostert (2280), Davison (2180) and van Gisbergen’s teammate Broc Feeney (2074) in the race for the final step on the podium.
Davison’s tilt at the title ended when he crashed out at Bathurst, allowing Mostert and Feeney to take advantage.
Another Kiwi in the field, Andre Heimgartner, is on course for his best finish in a Supercars season since he started in 2016.
He sits ninth on 1592 points and good results in the final two rounds could see him leapfrog Brodie Kostecki and David Reynolds to nab seventh in the championship.
He will have to keep a wary eye on Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade and Lee Holdsworth, all within 80 points of the 27-year-old Kiwi.
Last time the teams were at Surfers Paradise, it was an endurance event with co-drivers. This year, there are a pair of 250km single-driver races over the weekend, and if the weather is hot, driver fatigue will play a big part.
The track has limited run off, multiple chicanes and at times is like a concrete shute where the smallest of mistakes will result in plenty of damage and pain. Just ask former Supercars driver Scott McLaughlin how much the place can hurt you after he put his car on its roof in 2019.
Qualifying will be vital for all drivers, as only once has a winner come from outside the top 10 grid.