MOTORSPORT: Bulls run riot in Townsville
Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup dominate Supercars mini-enduros in TownsvilleThe Bulls ran riot on the streets of Townsville as Shane van Gisbergen and Jamie Whincup completed a formation finish through the latest leg of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship.
The pair finished 1-2 at the end of both 250km mini-enduros in a display of total domination that meant no-one got close to the Red Bull Ampol Holden Commodores, which were both speedy and kind to their Dunlop tyres on a track which is one of the toughest on the Supercars trail.
Anton De Pasquale was best-of-the-rest on both days, but even he admitted his Shell V-Power Ford Mustang was not capable of threatening the Bulls.
“Those guys are quite good,” he said, in a masterful understatement.
But van Gisbergen is way better than good, and has become a beast as he crushes all opposition on the way to the 2021 title.
He ran second to Whincup for the majority of both races, but then muscled past in the dying laps as his superior race craft translated into more speed when it counted.
He even used an aggressive block-pass on Whincup, swapping paint in the process, in a move that most drivers would reserve for hated rivals.
The result was his 10th win for season 2021, and his 50th in total, and five-times champion Mark Skaife was quick to point out that no-one has lost a championship after winning 10 times.
“I’ve just got to keep winning races and finish ahead of Jamie,” said van Gisbergen, underplaying his overwhelming advantage.
“I had a good little battle with Jamie. I had another horrible start today (Sunday), the same as yesterday, and came back through the field, but it was an awesome battle with Jamie. It’s never good that we touch but it was a cool bit of racing – hopefully it was cool to watch.”
The Sunday race was tougher as Whincup had learned from the pair’s Saturday stoush, but he always knew the result.
“There’s a small part of me that’s disappointed to have led 140-something laps and not get any chocolates for the weekend, but looking at the bigger picture, it’s a fantastic team result and I couldn’t be happier,” said Whincup.
The mid-winter trip to the heat and humidity of far-north Queensland produced some torrid racing but, surprisingly, there was no work for the safety car and few retirements.
And the up-and-down efforts of several teams continued, with race winner Chaz Mostert mired in the midfield in his Commodore but David Reynolds grabbing fifth on Saturday after recent mechanical updates at the Kelly Grove Mustang squad.
Nick Percat, recently re-signed with Brad Jones Racing, was strong for fourth on Saturday and could have done better on Sunday, if not for a power steering failure.
So it was Will Davison, the victim of a tiny refuelling error on Saturday, who followed De Pasquale on Sunday in a formation finish that was about consistency and staying out of trouble.
“A good recovery over the weekend. I was pretty happy,” said Davison.
But the best recovery came from James Courtney, who was spun on the first lap on Sunday but drove back through the field – passing some cars three times because of pit stops – to finish just outside the top 10.
“The car had good pace and we were able to come all the way back. It looks like it’s been in a war. But it’s good to be able to salvage something,” said Courtney.
His Tickford team boss, Tim Edwards, joked: “The old bloke has still got a bit of speed.”
The Townsville 500, with two pit stops for refuelling and tyre changes, provided lots of action but things will change considerably for the next leg of the Supercars series.
COVID-19 lockdowns and uncertainty over the planned events at Sydney Motorsport Park and Winton in rural Victoria mean the Supercars circus is staying in Townsville for a double header, but the back-to-back event will be a SuperSprint with three 100km contests.
“I’m not sure what the format will look like, but we’ll obviously look at our strategies and we’ll have to change the car to set up for two tyres in the pit stops, so they’ll be small differences, but everyone will be aggressive when they return here, so we’ll have to be ready,” said van Gisbergen.
But no-one is betting against The Beast.
2021 NTI Townsville 500 results
Race 1 – 87 laps
- Shane van Gisbergen – Commodore
- Jamie Whincup – Commodore
- Anton de Pasquale – Mustang
- Nick Percat – Commodore
- David Reynolds – Mustang
- Tim Slade – Mustang
- James Courtney – Mustang
- Cam Waters – Mustang
- Will Davison – Mustang
- Mark Winterbottom – Commodore
Race 2 – 88 laps
- Shane van Gisbergen – Commodore
- Jamie Whincup – Commodore
- Anton De Pasquale – Mustang
- Will Davison – Mustang
- Will Brown – Commodore
- Cam Waters – Mustang
- Todd Hazelwood – Commodore
- Tim Slade – Mustang
- Chaz Mostert – Commodore
- Jack Le Brocq – Mustang
2021 Repco Supercars Championship standings:
- Van Gisbergen – 1511 points
- Whincup – 1278
- Mostert – 1194
- Davison – 1171
- Waters – 1154
- Percat – 947
- Winterbottom – 939
- De Pasquale – 891
- Courtney – 840
- B. Kostecki – 803
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