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Follow the leader: laps led in season 2021

06 Aug 2021
Just three drivers have led over 100 laps this season
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Six different drivers have crossed the line to win in 2021, with Shane van Gisbergen head and shoulders above the rest.

Van Gisbergen, who enjoys a 276-point lead after seven events, has led the most laps this season.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver has led 319 of the season’s 798 laps through 19 races - nearly 40 per cent of all racing laps this season.

  • The benchmarks on dominant SVG's radar in 2021

Only van Gisbergen and teammate Jamie Whincup have completed all 798 racing laps this season.

Van Gisbergen has spent laps in the lead in 17 of the season’s 19 races; only Race 8 in Tasmania and Race 9 at The Bend did he fail to lead a racing lap.

Van Gisbergen’s 319 laps led nearly matches the combined totals of Whincup (165), Cameron Waters (121) and Chaz Mostert (58).

Just three drivers - van Gisbergen, Whincup and Waters - have led over 100 laps in 2021.

Van Gisbergen wins Race 18 in Townsville

That matches the tally from 2020, when Scott McLaughlin, van Gisbergen and Whincup all led over 100 laps.

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Four full-time drivers haven’t yet led a lap in 2021: Jack Le Brocq, Zane Goddard, Jack Smith and Garry Jacobson.

Le Brocq, while failing to lead a lap, is just behind van Gisbergen and Whincup on laps completed (796).

Van Gisbergen’s famous charge to victory from 17th at Sandown came on a day he led just seven laps, the fewest for a winner in 2021.

Waters won Races 17 and 19 in Townsville

Whincup has led the most laps in a race this season, 65 in Race 16 in Townsville. However, van Gisbergen passed him late on and won the race.

Whincup led a whopping 123 laps at the NTI Townsville 500, which featured two 250km, 88-lap races. Sadly for the retiring Whincup, van Gisbergen won both races.

Can a new driver hit the front the front when the season resumes at Winton in October?

14 of the 24 full-time drivers have led laps at Winton, four-time winner Mark Winterbottom the most with 184 in 35 starts, ahead of Whincup (177) and Fabian Coulthard (163).

Laps led in 2021 so far

319: Shane van Gisbergen165: Jamie Whincup121: Cameron Waters58: Chaz Mostert31: Anton De Pasquale20: Jamie Whincup17: Nick Percat16: Fabian Coulthard, Andre Heimgartner15: Scott Pye8: Brodie Kostecki, James Courtney5: Will Davison4: Jake Kostecki3: Will Brown, David Reynolds, Todd Hazelwood2: Bryce Fullwood, Tim Slade1: Macauley Jones, Mark Winterbottom

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