Shane van Gisbergen lights up the Sydney night

Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Holden Racing – Holden Commodore) won the Sydney night race in Supercars and at the same time reduced the championship gap to his rival Scott McLaughlin.

The start of the race saw the driver of the DJR Team Penske Ford Falcon, author of the pole, take advantage of his position advantage to beat Shane van Gisbergen in the first laps of the race. Followed by Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Holden Racing) and Fabian Coulthard (DJR Team Penske).

The two leaders stopped shortly after the 17th lap, leaving Whincup in the lead for a few moments. Once the latter had passed through the pits, McLaughlin had to get rid of Scott Pye (Walkinshaw Andretti United – Holden) to regain first place, followed like his shadow by van Gisbergen.

The start of the last 50 laps saw McLaughlin ahead of van Gisbergen, Lowndes, Pye and Whincup for the top 5. The leader of the race and the championship then widened the gap on his pursuers to have a lead of almost 6″ before the second round of arrests. 

Passages in the pit lane which allowed Craig Lowndes (Red Bull Holden Racing) to take control of the race, with an offbeat strategy on his second stop. The order remained the same until the third stops, with McLaughlin and Lowndes choosing to stop at the same time.

But due to the different strategies, McLaughlin regained the advantage against Lowndes, at the moment when the safety car was deployed after the incident involving Todd Hazelwood's Ford Falcon, which lost its rear wing before going off-line.

A scary ride for Hazelwood.

The Vodafone Safety Car is out on track.#VASC pic.twitter.com/2hZP7B4La9

— Supercars (@supercars) August 4

Van Gisbergen and Whincup took the opportunity to observe their last stop and came out 3rd and 4th. A gap compared to the two leading cars which will prove decisive. 

Van Gisbergen quickly overtakes Lowndes and sets off to attack the leader McLaughlin, who cannot resist with more worn tires. Former Blancpain GT Series champion Endurance Cup takes control of the race and heads towards an important victory in terms of the championship, the gap between van Gisbergen and McLaughlin now standing at 89 points.

What an exchange.

Class motor racing#VASC pic.twitter.com/r0CzJbtehw

— Supercars (@supercars) August 4

McLaughlin only finished 3rd, passed at the end of the race by Jamie Whincup. The top 5 is completed by Craig Lowndes and Chaz Mostert (Tickford Racing – Ford Falcon).

Race ranking

Discover the report of the Sydney Supercars event, in issue 2177 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version and from next Wednesday on newsstands.