Long stint propels van Gisbergen to victory

A monster first stint has propelled Shane van Gisbergen to victory at the OTR SuperSprint.

Van Gisbergen’s Race 21 win, his 12th of the season, was centred on a long run.

The points leader took the effective lead from pole-sitter Zak Best on lap 11.

From there, van Gisbergen set his own pace in clear air as rivals peeled into the lane.

Red Bull Ampol Racing brought van Gisbergen in at the end of lap 20.

He emerged ahead of Davison and cruised home, ending a run of eight straight Ford wins in Tailem Bend.

An undercut helped Davison from sixth on the grid to second at the flag, with Chaz Mostert third.

Van Gisbergen took home the maximum 105 points, having set the fastest lap on the final tour.

It was the eighth time from 17 attempts in 2022 that van Gisbergen scored fastest lap bonus points.

"The car was magic," van Gisbergen said.

"We had to run long to gain clear air.

"[The tyres] were still fine... Will had passed us, we had to make that speed.

"The pit stop was awesome too."

Mostert made the best start of the first four, but Best held track position the lead through Turn 1.

Cam Waters went underneath van Gisbergen and made it a Tickford one-two.

Best was placed under investigation over his start, but he was later cleared.

Davison led Will Brown, Jake Kostecki and Tim Slade into the lane on lap 5.

Brown and Kostecki were hit with penalties for an unsafe release and pit lane speeding respectively.

Anton De Pasquale, who lost track position to Davison off the line, stopped on lap 6 with Brodie Kostecki.

Van Gisbergen passes Best

Seconds later, van Gisbergen cleared Waters at Turn 1, and set off after Best.

Best held his own and kept van Gisbergen at bay, with Waters keeping a watching brief.

Tickford brought Waters in on lap 10, leaving Best as prey to van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen passed the pole-sitter at Turn 3; Waters emerged behind Davison.

Waters was forced to defend from De Pasquale, and the two Fords made contact through Turns 1 and 2.

Van Gisbergen set the fastest lap of the race as Best peeled in from second on lap 12.

Best emerged behind Waters; De Pasquale lost a position to Brodie Kostecki as he attacked Best.

Mostert rejoined between Waters and Best when he stopped on lap 14. All the while, van Gisbergen carried on.

On lap 17, Waters pinched a brake and fired off at Turn 1, and was passed later around the lap by Mostert.

Van Gisbergen was brought in on lap 20, and emerged 1.2s ahead of Davison.

However, armed with fresh tyres, van Gisbergen ran unchallenged to the flag to clinch career win No. 66.

Van Gisbergen flexed his muscle with a fastest lap on the 24th and final tour.

It was van Gisbergen’s third Tailem Bend win, and Red Bull Ampol Racing’s fourth.

Waters finished fourth ahead of Best, with Brodie Kostecki, Broc Feeney and David Reynolds sixth, seventh and eighth.

De Pasquale faded to ninth, with Andre Heimgartner rounding out the top 10.

Van Gisbergen will carry an extended 323-point lead over De Pasquale into Sunday.

Cars will return to the track on Sunday for dual ARMOR ALL Qualifying sessions at 9:35am local time.