Shane van Gisbergen beat David Reynolds to complete back-to-back Adelaide 500 doubles, as Holden’s new Supercar filled the top three places.
Saturday winner van Gisbergen passed Reynolds early in the final stint and never looked back, while Garth Tander completed the podium for Garry Rogers Motorsport in another ZB Commodore.
Shane van Gisbergen says Scott McLaughlin’s puncture made him “paranoid for the next few laps” during the second leg of the Adelaide 500. The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver won both legs of the Supercars season opener in the brand-new ZB Commodore, matching his 2017 result. He was playing second-fiddle to Jamie Whincup, and his team-mate’s DNF meant the fight between van Gisbergen and McLaughlin would have been for the race win.
McLaughlin, though, slowed on the run to Turn 8 on lap 26 with a right-front puncture that is suspected to have been caused by a bolt on the circuit.
Having felt that he’d run over something through Turn 7, just ahead of McLaughlin, van Gisbergen feared the worst but was ultimately unscathed.
Van Gisbergen assumed control of the race when Whincup stopped, but had David Reynolds come out right ahead after his second stop, when he already had Garth Tander right behind.
Reynolds was able to hold van Gisbergen out on cold tyres into Turn 4, but relinquished the place into Turn 9.
The 250km, 78-lap contest went without a Safety Car, with the winner completing the journey in just one hour and 48 minutes.
With the weekend’s results, Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver van Gisbergen leads the championship with a perfect 300 points over Reynolds on 258 and James Courtney on 240.
After their problems, McLaughlin and Whincup are fifth and 15th – on 207 and 102 points –respectively.
