Analysis: SVG's charge from 23rd to the podium
Shane van Gisbergen pulled off the recovery drive of the weekend to retain his points lead.
Van Gisbergen’s Albert Park weekend seemed to have been struck down at the very first attempt.
However, he turned it around, scored two wins and took home the Larry Perkins Perpetual Trophy.
The points leader was forced to start 23rd for the opening 20-lap sprint. In any case, a top five seemed unlikely.
With three laps remaining, van Gisbergen was in a podium position. How did he do it?
Up to 12th after lap 2
Van Gisbergen passed 19 cars in the race, and benefited from diverging pit strategies.
The Soft tyre couldn’t handle the rigours of the high-speed circuit; those who started on Hards were forced to make a second stop.
Even then, van Gisbergen was a net seventh before the tyre dramas reared its head.
On one lap alone, both Shell Mustangs hit trouble; Anton De Pasquale suffered a puncture and ran long at Turn 1.
Later on the lap, Will Davison fell into the clutches of van Gisbergen and Nick Percat, and ran long at Turn 9.
That freed van Gisbergen into third, who needed 17 laps to get onto the podium.
Crossing the line third
A key to van Gisbergen’s charge was his brilliant first lap; he passed seven cars, and was up to 16th.
He passed three more cars on lap 2, and was 12th after two more cars stopped.
He was already into the top 10 after four laps.
There was no doubt van Gisbergen’s race pace was superior all weekend, exemplified by his rampant runs to victory on Saturday.
However, the driver himself admitted his pace advantage caught him off-guard.
“It’s unreal. It’s a jet. Not so much on the Soft, but on the Hard,” he said after Saturday’s races.
The post-race podium debrief
"I have never had such a pace advantage, it’s very cool.
"Obviously everyone will try to get quicker so there’s some little balance tweaks we could do, but pretty happy.”
Van Gisbergen’s charge was one of nine of drivers who gained 10 or more positions in a race.
Garry Jacobson wildly impressed, gaining a combined 29 positions in Saturday’s two races.
Van Gisbergen was joined in the overtake stakes in Race 6 by Scott Pye, who moved from 24th to 11th.
The Kiwi will carry a 144-point championship lead to Perth later this month.
Shane van Gisbergen’s lap-by-lap charge in Race 6
16th after lap 1: passes Feeney, Hazelwood, Fullwood, Pye, Pither, Heimgartner, Smith12th after lap 2: passes Brown, Courtney; B.Kostecki, Randle pit11th after lap 3: Davison pits10th after lap 4: De Pasquale pits8th after lap 5: passes Winterbottom, Jacobson6th after lap 6: Waters, Holdsworth pit4th after lap 7: Mostert, Reynolds pit17th after lap 9: makes pit stop13th after lap 10: passes Randle; Winterbottom, Fullwood, Feeney pit10th after lap 11: passes Courtney, Brown, Slade9th after lap 12: passes Waters7th after lap 13: passes Holdsworth; B.Kostecki pits6th after lap 14: passes Jones3rd after lap 17: passes Percat; De Pasquale puncture, Davison off and pits3rd at chequered flag: 9.473s behind winner Mostert
Biggest gains of the weekend
20 positions: Shane van Gisbergen (23rd to 3rd in Race 6)15 positions: Garry Jacobson (21st to 6th, Race 7)14 positions: Garry Jacobson (24th to 10th, Race 8)13 positions: Scott Pye (24th to 11th, Race 6)12 positions: Lee Holdsworth (15th to 3rd, Race 7)12 positions: Tim Slade (20th to 8th, Race 7)12 positions: Jake Kostecki (25th to 13th, Race 7)11 positions: Todd Hazelwood (25th to 14th, Race 9)10 positions: Jack Le Brocq (22nd to 12th, Race 8)
