Van Gisbergen made the most of starting from pole, keeping the lead off the line as Whincup and McLaughlin fell to fourth and 11th, from second and seventh. David Reynolds and Rick Kelly slotted into second and third, but were both passed by Whincup by lap five.

The factory Commodores pulled away at the front of the field through the first stint, van Gisbergen’s advantage trimmed from 1.6 seconds to 0.8s by the time Whincup pitted on lap 18.

McLaughlin got back up to ninth before making the race’s first pitstop on lap 13, with a shorter fuel fill in a bid to get clean air.

Van Gisbergen stayed out until lap 24 and came out behind both Whincup – by 7s – and McLaughlin, and just ahead of Reynolds. He moved past McLaughlin on lap 28, as the Shell Ford’s earlier stop started to show. With his tyres dropping off, McLaughlin was unable to stay with the top two.

Whincup’s lead was cut as the tyre strategies played out in the second stint, and van Gisbergen made a pass for the lead into Turn 11 as they navigated lapped traffic on lap 43. Racing resumed with five laps to go, and while Whincup went with van Gisbergen he could not mount a challenge. The pair ultimately crossed the line split by 0.7822s.

Watpac Townsville 400 Results