Just hours after having a season-opening victory stripped from his team, Shane van Gisbergen has taken victory in race two in a controversial beginning to the new Gen3 Supercars season.
Red Bull Ampol Racing stars van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney were sensationally disqualified from their Supercars 1-2 triumph after a protest following Saturday’s race.
But van Gisbergen had the final say in Steel City after overcoming a fifth-placed start and time sensitive racing to pass Chaz Mostert and roar home to career win No.76 in Sunday’s race.
It began with an immediate red flag when Declan Fraser and Macauley Jones made contact from take-off.
Mostert had gained first from pole sitter David Reynolds and would lead the race upon restarting till the final moments. But then van Gisbergen attacked.
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The pair gave a 167,197 strong weekend crowd their money’s worth in the dying stages following Mostert’s earlier battle with Cam Waters.
And with eight minutes remaining van Gisbergen had his eyes set on the lead and passed Mostert down an inside line on turn nine with contact. Mostert returned serve by bumping the Kiwi a few corners later.
As time expired, van Gisbergen reeled away for the final lap and second career victory in Newcastle, with David Reynolds finishing third.
The New Zealander’s win capped a whirlwind 24 hours following his team’s disqualification from race one.
Motorsport Australia officials announced the decision on Sunday morning, after convening following protests by rival teams Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United over the driver cooling systems in the Red Bull team’s Camaros following Saturday’s race.
They upheld the protests, finding the cars were in breach of rule C16.2.1.1, with the driver cooling systems not correctly placed within the car cockpit.
“The Head of Motorsport’s clear determination is that the systems in issue do not comply with the rules,” the decision read.
Both Red Bull cars had their cooling systems to the right of the driver and packed with dry ice, instead of the passenger side as per the rules.
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Their cooling boxes were placed in the correct area for Sunday’s action but Red Bull Ampol said they would appeal against the findings.
“The team has sought permission from the Supercars head of motorsport prior to race 1 of the Supercars championship, which was granted, and we acted upon this permission,” Red Bull Ampol said in an Instagram post.
“This was not a performance-enhancement method, but a driver safety tool.
“Our team ethos is to race hard and fair every time we hit the track, and our full focus is on today’s race in Newcastle.”
Due to the disqualification, Monster Energy Racing’s Waters was promoted to be the race one winner, with Mostert second and Brodie Kostecki third.
Red Bull has 72 hours to lodge its appeal, with proceedings then going to a three-person tribunal at a later date.
Supercars Race 2
1. Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Ampol Racing)
2. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
3. David Reynolds (Penrite Racing)
4. James Golding (Nulon Racing)
5. Broc Feeney (Red Bull Ampol Racing)
