Van Gisbergen steals Sydney strategy thriller at the death

Shane van Gisbergen has one hand on the 2021 title following a thrilling charge through the field in Race 29.

The points leader was forced to fight through the back of the top 10, having lost time in pit lane following an early Safety Car.

Van Gisbergen's victory in the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight opener was his 14th win of 2021.

With Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Jamie Whincup second in the 250km race, van Gisbergen will carry an extended 349-point lead into Sunday.

Red Bull Ampol Racing also clinched the 2021 teams' championship following its seventh one-two of the season.

Cameron Waters led the majority of the 64-lap race, and clung on in the final laps to record his first podium finish at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Five drivers started the race on Super Softs: Whincup (second), van Gisbergen (fourth), Scott Pye (10th), Zane Goddard (15th) and David Reynolds (17th).

Whincup swept into the lead around Turn 1 and into a clear lead, with van Gisbergen accounting for Will Davison.

Reynolds survived a scare at Turn 3 following side-to-side contact with Jacobson.

Van Gisbergen rounded up pole-sitter Anton De Pasquale at the same corner on the second lap and set off after Whincup.

Whincup commenced lap 5 with a 4.1s lead over his teammate, with De Pasquale being chased by Pye.

Pye managed to clear De Pasquale on the following lap, with Goddard and Reynolds up to fifth and eighth respectively.

Goddard managed to overtake De Pasquale once the BP Ultimate Safety Car was deployed for Macauley Jones’ stricken car, which suffered a suspected engine failure.

Whincup led a train of cars into the lane, with van Gisbergen and Davison forced to double-stack behind their respective teammates.

Van Gisbergen dropped from second to ninth in the train, with Whincup retaining the lead.

Amid the stops, Fabian Coulthard was handed a drive-through penalty due to both compounds being fitted to his car.

Whincup led Pye, De Pasquale, Goddard and Reynolds when the race restarted on lap 10, with Waters the first Super Soft-shod driver in the queue in eighth.

Jack Le Brocq (10th), Will Brown (16th), James Courtney (18th) and Bryce Fullwood (19th) were the other drivers on Super Softs when the race resumed.

Waters muscled his way through the lead pack and picked off Whincup for the lead at Turn 2 on lap 12.

The Tickford Racing driver quickly raced into the distance; by lap 14, Waters was 3.6s ahead of teammate Le Brocq, who also took on Super Softs at his stop.

Brown was third, with Courtney sixth and Fullwood 11th, the latter losing time in a battle with Goddard.

Super Soft runners filled positions one through four once Courtney demoted Whincup to fifth on lap 15.

Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, was 12th ahead of Nick Percat and Davison, with Reynolds dropping from fifth to 15th in just six laps.

With Whincup five seconds and seven positions up the road, van Gisbergen began to turn the screws.

The points leader cleared Chaz Mostert at Turn 1 on lap 17, and muscled his way past Goddard two corners later.

In seven laps following the restart, Whincup had gone from the lead to fifth and 13.7s behind Waters.

Fullwood cleared De Pasquale for eighth on lap 19, with the pole-sitter wearing damage on the right rear corner of his car.

Waters commenced lap 22 with a five-second lead over Le Brocq, with Whincup 19.4s from the front of the race.

De Pasquale and van Gisbergen engaged in battle, and the latter completed the overtake for ninth through Turns 4 and 5 on lap 22.

Once clear of De Pasquale, van Gisbergen had four cars and 6.8s to clear in his path to Whincup.

Waters’ lead over Le Brocq plateaued at five seconds, with Brown a further five seconds from the rear of the #5 Truck Assist Mustang.

Courtney was, in turn, one second behind Brown, with Whincup 11.8s behind the 2010 series champion.

Whincup had dropped to 26 seconds from leader Waters in the 15 laps since the two crossed paths at Turn 2.

Brown, the Race 28 winner, caught and overtook Le Brocq for second position down the pit straight.

Fullwood, meanwhile, had failed to make key ground on his Super Softs and stopped at the end of lap 29.

De Pasquale and Mostert caught the ailing Fullwood at Turn 8 prior to Fullwood’s stop, and the #11 and #25 entries made contact.

All the while, van Gisbergen continued to claw back ground and overtook Brodie Kostecki for seventh through Turn 9.

Brown was lapping a second per lap faster than Waters. Le Brocq stopped on lap 33, having lost seven seconds in four laps after he was overtaken by Brown.

Tickford pulled Waters in from the lead on the following lap, with Brown slashing the margin to 2.6s.

Courtney stopped on the following lap, leaving Brown 21.3s ahead of Whincup, with van Gisbergen six seconds behind his stablemate.

De Pasquale and Mostert stopped at the end of lap 36 and took on Super Softs, just as light rain arrived at Eastern Creek.

Percat, Davison and Mark Winterbottom took on Super Softs on lap 37, with Brown stopping from the lead on the following lap.

Brown had managed to complete 32 laps on his Super Softs, and returned to the race six seconds behind Waters.

De Pasquale and Mostert resumed their battle, and it fell the way of the former following a robust exchange through Turn 7.

Whincup led van Gisbergen and Goddard once Pye stopped from fourth on lap 41, with the Team 18 driver refitted with his Super Softs.

Van Gisbergen did the same on lap 42, and returned to the race behind Waters, Brown, Le Brocq, Courtney, Kostecki, Mostert and De Pasquale.

Critically, van Gisbergen resumed on Super Softs 31 seconds behind Waters.

Whincup stopped on lap 43 and slotted in behind Mostert, who was 1.3s ahead of the squabbling De Pasquale and van Gisbergen.

Waters was released into the lead once Goddard stopped on lap 44, with Brown 8.1s behind. Kostecki was the first Super Soft runner in the queue, albeit fourth and 21 seconds from the lead.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing duo, both on Super Softs, began their march towards the front.

Van Gisbergen cleared De Pasquale at Turn 2 on lap 48 and followed Whincup through past Courtney at the end of the lap.

Whincup let van Gisbergen past at Turn 3 on lap 49, with the points leader 24.3s from the lead.

Critically, Kostecki continued to cut into Waters’ margin, which was 14.5s when the leader commenced lap 51.

When Waters commenced lap 53, Kostecki had slashed the margin to 11.5s, with Le Brocq 1.7s up the road.

Brown, all the while, had cut Waters’ lead to four seconds, which was 3.8s when the leader commenced lap 54.

Kostecki cleared Le Brocq at Turn 4 on lap 55 and set off after his teammate, who had edged another second closer to Waters.

The margin between Waters and Brown was just 1.2s with seven laps remaining, with Kostecki 6.1s behind his teammate.

Rain returned and intensified as Brown edged closer to the rear of the Monster Mustang, with Mostert eating into the gap to Kostecki.

Mostert overtook Kostecki at Turn 2 on lap 59, and had five seconds to find on Brown. At the end of the lap, van Gisbergen demoted Kostecki to fifth, which became sixth when Whincup went through shortly afterwards.

Van Gisbergen fought past Mostert on the following lap, with the margin 2.8s to Brown. On lap 62, van Gisbergen overtook Brown at Turn 3, and set off after Waters.

Just as he did in Race 3 at Sandown, van Gisbergen denied Waters with the end in sight, with Whincup dropping Brown to fourth. Seconds later, Whincup dropped Waters to third.

Van Gisbergen crossed the line 1.1s ahead of Whincup, with Waters denying De Pasquale the final podium spot by 0.39s.

Mostert, Pye, Brown, Kostecki, Davison and Percat rounded out the top 10, with Le Brocq 11th.

With two races remaining in 2021, only van Gisbergen and Whincup can become champion in 2021.

"I thought it was done once we used the [Super] Softs," said van Gisbergen, who will take a 73-point Beaurepaires Sydney Cup lead into Sunday.

"That was awesome, that second lease of life on them. Jamie let me through, which was nice of him.

"Thanks to the team. We lack a bit in qualifying, but in the races, the car's a jet."

Cars will return to the track for ARMOR ALL Qualifying on Sunday at 10:50am AEST. Click here to view the race schedule.

Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.

The Seven Network will provide live free to air coverage of the event. Tickets for the event are on sale now.