Decade of Darwin delight: SVG's coming of age
Much has unfolded in Supercars across the last decade for Shane van Gisbergen, who will take a 190-point series lead into this weekend’s Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.
However, for a driver who is closing on 50 career wins, van Gisbergen’s second career win remains one of his finest.
In 2011, a 22-year-old van Gisbergen matched Rick Kelly’s feat sat a day earlier to win from 12th on the grid.
In 23 years of racing at Hidden Valley, Kelly and van Gisbergen’s shared marker is only bettered by Russell Ingall’s effort from 12th in 1998, the very first visit to Darwin.
WATCH: SVG’S TOP END CELEBRATIONS
Van Gisbergen, who won again in Darwin in 2016, could have won on Saturday had he survived a late-race restart tangle.
He returned on the Sunday looking to add to his remarkable Hamilton victory, and he required all his guile to get the job done.
Stone Brothers Racing was no stranger to pulling off the unlikely in Darwin; notably, 10 years earlier, Marcos Ambrose won the round despite failing to win a race.
Van Gisbergen claimed only his second race win, aided by fresher soft tyres, with an overtake on veteran Craig Lowndes with three laps remaining in the 200km epic.
As he did a day earlier, Mark Winterbottom had led the race in the early stages, but fell behind first Lee Holdsworth and then points leader Jamie Whincup before the first pit stop sequence.
Whincup loomed to take another win, before teammate Lowndes and van Gisbergen emerged as the two chargers on their soft tyres.
Following a late Safety Car after an accident for Karl Reindler, Lowndes passed Whincup on the restart, with Winterbottom following him through.
Van Gisbergen only needed a lap to clear Whincup, before setting after after the lead duo. On la 64, he overtook Winterbottom.
Lowndes was next on lap 67, followed by the victory two laps later. It was a stunning performance, and one which helped the young Kiwi to third in the standings.
He followed up with an epic burnout, which began from the valley and ended with a spin at the final corner.
While delighted with his tyre management, van Gisbergen was pleased to send them off in style.
“It’s just awesome,” he said.
“We started a long way back in 12th; to come through the way we did sort of a glory strategy and put the softs on at the end.
“We got a lucky Safety Car and came through with the win.
“I definitely saved them a lot more than Craig and Mark did, and that showed after the Safety Car, I had superior grip to them.
“I made some good passes, but we didn’t have good tyres left afterwards, because I killed them during the burnout."
The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to the Northern Territory for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown across June 18-20. 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.
