Five races that defined SVG's 2021 title victory

It took 29 races and a washout, but Shane van Gisbergen’s charge to the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship was as dominant as they come.

Van Gisbergen clinched the 2021 drivers' title on Sunday after the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight finale was washed out.

The 32-year-old will head to the season-ending Repco Bathurst 1000 with an unassailable 349-point lead over Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Jamie Whincup.

On paper, van Gisbergen is a runaway champion; he won 14 races, claimed an additional nine podiums, led 32 per cent of all race laps and never once ceded the series lead.

However, his 2021 campaign featured a number of key peaks and troughs, as well as an early-season injury which threatened to derail his entire year.

Supercars.com has listed five races which demonstrated van Gisbergen's ruthless charge to a second drivers' championship.

Sandown, Race 3: Clipped wing? No worries

Van Gisbergen benefited from power steering and pit strategy failures by Tickford Racing in Bathurst to sweep the Repco Mt Panorama 500.

In the days after the event, he suffered a collarbone injury and faced a race against time to reach the second round at Sandown.

He made it on track after weeks of intense recovery and therapy, but qualified 17th for the opener.

Somehow, he clawed his way through the field and stole the lead from Waters on the final lap, completing a ruthless charge to victory which would set the tone for his season.

Tailem Bend, Race 10: Damage limitation

Van Gisbergen bumbled his way to seventh in the OTR SuperSprint opener, having lost time in the pits and due to an off.

Come Sunday, and he qualified 13th for the first race and loomed to lose a swag of points.

However, a dramatic first-lap incident helped van Gisbergen gain seven positions, before he raced to an unlikely podium.

Just hours later, he pushed Waters all the way in a thrilling Race 11, and ended up with the most points for the weekend.

Darwin, Race 13: Back in winning form

More pit drama saw van Gisbergen slump outside of the top 10 in the Darwin opener, extending his winless run to six races.

He still had a comfortable points lead, but it was a stark contrast to how he opened 2021 with six straight wins.

Will Davison scored both Sunday poles at Hidden Valley, but a fast start in Sunday's first race aided van Gisbergen's return to victory lane.

He repeated the dosage on Davison in Race 14 and extended his points lead heading to Townsville.

Townsville, Race 16: Turning the screws

It was in Townsville where the 2021 title began to swing firmly in van Gisbergen's favour.

Whincup led the bulk of both 250km races, but on both occasions, van Gisbergen hunted him down, caught him and claimed the lead.

Whincup led 123 of the weekend’s 176 race laps, but went home empty-handed as van Gisbergen's points lead blew out to 245 points.

The Sunday race was also van Gisbergen's 50th career win.

Sydney, Race 29: A champion’s comeback

In four events to the final SMSP round, van Gisbergen and Whincup had gone toe-to-toe on a number of occasions.

The teammates battled for the Race 18 victory in Townsville, tripped over each other in Race 28 to let Will Brown win, and suffered disasters of their own in the second Sydney event.

On Saturday, van Gisbergen was forced to double-stack early in Race 29 and was down the order in the final stint.

He had 17 seconds to make up in the final 10 laps, but armed with Super Soft tyres and changeable conditions, van Gisbergen was in the lead with two laps to go.

The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship and Dunlop Series seasons will conclude at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

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.