Van Gisbergen double Sunday winner

The New Zealand giant scored its 13th and 14th successes of the season on “The Bend” circuit. The Triple Eight driver won in two races marked by the spectacular accident of Thomas Randle and Andre Heimgartner and torrential rain in the next. Shane Van Gisbergen is now on his way to winning his third Supercars Australia title.

Published on 31/07/2022 à 11:07

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Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing) started on the front row alongside his teammate Cameron Waters. The Ford driver experienced the worst nightmare for a racing driver. The car stalls on the starting grid at the green light, inevitably his Mustang will be hit violently by the Holden Commodore of Andre Heimgartner (Brad Jones racing). The two men emerged unscathed from this spectacular collision but with great fear. When the race resumed, Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United) surprised everyone and took the lead of the race. In the first laps, Shane Van Gisbergen got rid of Cameron Waters, Anton De Pasquale (Dick Johnson Racing) and James Courtney (Tickford Racing). Once again, he is the last to observe his pit stop (on the 17th lap). He takes the lead again and is no longer threatened until the checkered flag. It's a new success for the Kiwi (his 67th) who surpasses Scott McLaughlin in number of career victories (his counter remains stuck at 56 victories). He won ahead of Chaz Mostert and James Courtney.

A frightening crash off the starting grid of Race 22 between Randle and Heimgartner.

Fortunately, both drivers have walked out of the cars #RepcoSC pic.twitter.com/MHSCbAKiWI

— Supercars (@supercars) July 31, 2022

Holden wins manufacturers' title in final season

But it's not a little drizzle that falls on “The Bend”, it was a real deluge which forced the race direction to start behind the safety car. Van Gisbergen wasted no time in taking control of the race, showing total control on a wet track. The last few rallies he took part in have certainly given SvG the little extra confidence to drive in such tricky track conditions. He quickly got rid of Anton de Pasquale and Cameron Waters (in the 7th round). If the Tickford Racing driver maintains the pace of Van Gisbergen's Commodore, the championship leader flies to victory. Broc Feeney, his teammate at Triple Eight, passing under the checkerboard in 5th position, allowed Holden to win its fifteenth manufacturer's title (compared to 8 for Ford since 1999). From a personal point of view, Van Gisbergen has already equaled his record from last year with 11 races remaining. It is very likely that he will set a new record that will be difficult to beat in the future. Supercars Australia will return in 3 weeks to the famous Sandown track from August 19 to 21.