Townsville fun in the sun: 2020 doubleheader recap
Townsville will host a Supercars doubleheader for the second time in as many seasons following Thursday’s confirmation.
The Reid Park Street Circuit will stage this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500, before backing it up next weekend with the newly-announced WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint.
The North Queensland city put on a show in August 2020 amid a tweaked calendar in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two SuperSprint rounds at the popular venue helped shape the 2020 title fight, with a host of big names putting their names on the Townsville honour roll.
Ahead of the upcoming dual Townsville events, Supercars.com looks back at the races which made for a memorable doubleheader at Reid Park.
2020 NTI Townsville SuperSprint, Race 19
Jamie Whincup claimed emphatic victory in the opening race of the 2020 Townsville doubleheader.
Whincup scored a record 11th Townsville win, having started from ARMOR ALL Pole Position.
The seven-time series champion controlled the race from the start, only losing the lead during the pit cycle.
The race began with Turn 2 drama on the opening lap; Shane van Gisbergen was forced into the back of Anton De Pasquale, turning the Penrite Holden around.
Macauley Jones, Todd Hazelwood, Andre Heimgartner, Rick Kelly, Jack Le Brocq and Zane Goddard were also caught up.
Chaz Mostert was Whincup's closest challenger early on; Mostert took on four tyres on lap 16 of 39 four-tyre pitstop on lap 16 of 39, triggering Whincup in the following lap.
On four fresh tyres, Cameron Waters charged down Mostert and took second with four laps remaining.
Whincup’s only blip was in the form of a radio malfunction, resulting in the Red Bull Holden driver initially being confused if the race had finished.
2020 NTI Townsville SuperSprint, Race 20
Whincup took a second win from as many starts, dominating the first of two Sunday sprint races.
He again led away from ARMOR ALL Pole and had built a near seven-second lead by the time Mostert pitted.
Mostert again had to battle Waters, and was three seconds behind Whincup at the flag.
A charging van Gisbergen, who started seventh, carved his way from eighth on rejoin to third by the chequered flag, a stark improvement on his Saturday result.
2020 NTI Townsville SuperSprint, Race 21
After two lowly finishes, Scott McLaughlin defied Waters to win the final race of the weekend.
The series leader effectively led the whole race to take the flag by over four seconds, but a racy Waters kept him guessing.
It was McLaughlin's 10th win of the 2020 season.
"It was an awesome battle with Cam, he was fast," said McLaughlin, who had a 123-point championship lead over Whincup.
"I’m proud of everyone at Shell V-Power Racing for continually working hard and to get a win on a tough weekend is a great thing."
2020 Robson Civil Projects Townsville SuperSprint, Race 22
McLaughlin made it two wins in as many starts the following Saturday.
The series leader headed Waters to the chequered flag by 3.5s, with Mostert completing the podium at another 7.3s further back.
Whincup was fourth, and the news wasn't much better on the other side of the garage, with van Gisbergen retiring with a power steering failure.
"We had a great qualifying car, which we worked on all this morning," McLaughlin said.
"We didn’t touch the race car at all from last week so it bodes well for us."
2020 Robson Civil Projects Townsville SuperSprint, Race 23
Nonplussed by his Race 22 retirement, van Gisbergen bounced back to score a breakthrough win in the second race.
The Kiwi made a strong start from fourth on the grid, taking Waters off the start and McLaughlin around the outside at Turn 2.
Nick Percat, who started from a maiden pole position, was then cleared by van Gisbergen on lap 7.
Van Gisbergen ended up 8.4s clear of McLaughlin at the flag, marking the 2016 champion’s first race win since Newcastle last year.
It is also the 200th Supercars Championship race victory for Triple Eight.
"It feels good. The weeks we’ve had, my crew has never given up and to get a win like that, we smoked them, it was awesome," an elated van Gisbergen said.
"We put the [tyre] pressures up a little bit so we were strong at the start and I just knew I had to get him [Percat] before everything overheated.
"It was pretty aggressive, but we got it done. It was a really cool race. 200 wins for Triple Eight, what a great feeling."
2020 Robson Civil Projects Townsville SuperSprint, Race 24
The final race of the six was Townsville's most spicy, with van Gisbergen charging to a second victory in as many races.
Van Gisbergen won from 12th, which was the lowest grid spot for a Townsville winner in the Reid park venue's history.
The Kiwi sat just ninth in the order upon a Safety Car restart with nine laps to go.
Armed with the freshest tyres of anyone after running a long first stint, he made it to third in just three laps.
With four laps to go, Whincup let him through with four to go to attack leader McLaughlin, whose tyres were fading after an early stop.
Van Gisbergen made his chance count at Turn 11, and ran McLaughlin wide to aid Whincup safe passage into second.
"What an awesome race," van Gisbergen said.
"We had a great car. I got stuck in the first stint and it was going to be interesting trying to get back to the podium but the Safety Car worked out perfectly.
"Big battle at the end, I tried to do the team thing to help Jamie, but awesome result."
McLaughlin, who had started 10th, was left wanting after van Gisbergen’s late-race move: "I had nothing left, I was trying my best.
"Shane was playing the team game there, he’s made plenty of clean passes there over the years and that was pretty average, just a big push-off there.
"I get that he’s playing the team game but it would have nice to have a bit more of a fair battle."
The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship season will resume this weekend at the NTI Townsville 500. 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.
