10 laps, 17 seconds: Behind SVG's epic Sydney charge

With 10 laps to go on Saturday, Cameron Waters led Will Brown, Jack Le Brocq, Brodie Kostecki, Chaz Mostert, Shane van Gisbergen, Anton De Pasquale, Jamie Whincup, Scott Pye and Nick Percat.

Not one driver finished the race in the same position.

Van Gisbergen put one hand on the 2021 drivers’ title, and helped Red Bull Ampol Racing claim teams’ honours, in an enthralling Race 29.

Of his 14 victories in 2021, van Gisbergen’s Saturday success at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight may be his most important in the context of the season.

Whincup and van Gisbergen were two of five drivers to start on Super Soft tyres for the 64-lap, 250km race.

However, their advantage was dashed due to an early Safety Car, with van Gisbergen forced to double-stack.

When the second pit stop cycle was completed with 19 laps to go, Whincup emerged in seventh position and van Gisbergen ninth.

When van Gisbergen returned to the race after his lap 44 stop, he was 30.6s behind effective leader Waters.

Therein was van Gisbergen's challenge; 20 laps, 31 seconds to find.

With 10 laps remaining, van Gisbergen was 16.8s from the lead in sixth, having earlier been let through by Whincup - a stark difference to their Race 28 battle six days earlier.

Three laps later, he finally moved up a position past Le Brocq into fifth, but critically, the margin to Waters had been slashed to 11.9s.

On lap 59, with rain increasing, Mostert pushed past Kostecki into third. By lap’s end, van Gisbergen had annihilated the 1.3s margin to Kostecki and completed the overtake down the pit straight.

Within a lap, van Gisbergen caught and cleared Mostert before he came around the final corner.

When Waters commenced lap 61, van Gisbergen was 3.6s from the lead.

When Waters commenced lap 62, van Gisbergen was 0.6s behind Brown, who was 0.4s from the lead.

Waters and Brown had held positions one and two from lap 46 to the time van Gisbergen cleared them both on lap 62.

In eight remarkable laps of racing, van Gisbergen had found five positions and 17 seconds, setting him on course for one of the most remarkable wins of the now 54 to his name.

Van Gisbergen only led three laps of the 64 under lights on Saturday, but the 64th and final tour was the only one that mattered.

Whincup, who was eighth with 10 laps remaining, was second, Waters, who was first, was third. Brown second, seventh.

The only change of the top 10 runners with 10 laps remaining was Will Davison, who was classified ninth with Le Brocq dropping to 11th.

"It was a rollercoaster of emotions, that race," the points leader said.

"Getting the Safety Car and having to stack and coming out where we did, I thought we were all over.

"I had no idea with what was going to happen with the race and how it was going to progress. I was maybe thinking we should have done an extra stop.

"Once the rain came down, the Hard [tyre] guys were stuffed, the [Super] Softs held the temp a bit longer.

"I was sorta tapped out on catching [Mostert and Kostecki] but I could see we were catching the front guys hand over fist."

"I was surprised by how little teams elected to use the Super Soft tyres to start the race,” Whincup added.

"We felt like a couple of lone rangers up the front, but we managed to bolt away early in the race.

"We weren’t sure if the Safety Car was going to help us or hurt us at that stage, but the longevity and tyre life of the Super Soft tyre halfway through the second stint made it pretty obvious that the Safety Car didn’t help us and we were in a bit of trouble.

"Thankfully, the heavens fell out of the sky with ten laps to go and got us back in the race.

"I’m not sure what we would’ve finished if the rain didn’t come, but it certainly wouldn’t have been a one-two.

"Overall, credit to the entire crew at Red Bull Ampol Racing for their tireless work over the past four weeks in Sydney, and to secure the teams’ championship tonight is just fantastic."

Van Gisbergen can clinch the 2021 title on Sunday, with the 2016 series champion holding a 349-point lead over Whincup.

He can also win the Beaurepaires Sydney Cup; van Gisbergen leads Whincup and De Pasquale by 73 points.

Cars will return to the track for ARMOR ALL Qualifying on Sunday at 10:50am AEST. Click here to view the race schedule.

Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.

The Seven Network will provide live free to air coverage of the event. Tickets for the event are on sale now.