12th to victory: Townsville's unlikeliest winners
In 29 races since Townsville’s debut in 2009, only twice has a Reid Park race winner come from outside the top 10.
There’s a marriage of sorts between the two names: Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander, the reigning Bathurst 1000 winners.
Pole position may have produced the most winners in Townsville, but in 17 races, the winner has come from third or lower.
In the second sprint of the 2014 event, Holden Racing Team veteran Tander won from 11th, become the first winner from outside the top 10.
Tander broke a 24-race winless streak and led James Courtney in a HRT one-two.
It came after both drivers failed to turn a front-row lockout into a victory in Race 20.
Tander and Courtney rose from 11th and eighth on the Race 21 grid respectively, with Tander moving to eighth on the opening lap.
It may have been a sprint race, but Tander gained much of his track position by running a longer first stint than his rivals.
The 2007 champion rejoined after his stop alongside pole-sitter Fabian Coulthard, who gifted Tander the lead with an error.
It wasn’t the only standout performance; Mark Winterbottom salvaged eighth from his 19th place grid position.
Last year, however, van Gisbergen went one better from one starting spot worse.
Van Gisbergen launched from 12th in last year’s Townsville finale, and was ninth when a late Safety Car was called when Anton De Pasquale found the wall at Turn 6.
It all came down to a nine-lap sprint to the finish; Scott McLaughlin led pole-sitter and early leader Todd Hazelwood, with Whincup third.
Earlier, McLaughlin had opted for an undercut by pitting from eighth on Lap 7 for a three-tyre change.
On worn rubber, McLaughlin had to play defensive; by lap 33, a charging van Gisbergen, on much fresher rubber, was up to third.
Van Gisbergen set the fastest lap next time around; Whincup let his teammate through at Turn 2 of lap 36.
At Turn 11 on the same lap, van Gisbergen lunged on McLaughlin, held him wide, and allowed Whincup easy passage into second.
The 2016 champion went on to win by 0.9s, while Whincup took the chequered flag 1.9s clear of McLaughlin.
A post-race yarn was enough to prove McLaughlin's disapproval of van Gisbergen's move: "For me, I knew I didn’t have the pace for Shane, he had the fresher tyres and obviously the Safety Car at the end really hurt us.
"I think we did an awesome job holding on that far, but I would have just loved to have a one-to-one battle with Jamie.
"In my eyes it would have been awesome. I get the team game, [but] I feel like it’s a bit early for those silly games.
"For me, whether I agree with that sportsmanship or not, that’s fair game. They’re a top team, they set a precedent, so let’s go."
The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to North Queensland for the NTI Townsville 500 across July 9-11. Tickets are available here.
The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.
