MOTORSPORT: Supercars roars into action
Van Gisbergen and Waters establish two-horse series race at Mt PanoramaA two-driver contest for the 2021 Supercars Championship has begun.
Shane van Gisbergen and Cam Waters are the clear contenders for the top prize in Australian motorsport after two torrid tussles at the Mount Panorama 500.
SvG eventually swept to twin wins at Bathurst but Waters led until steering failure on Saturday and then chased his race rival all the way to the flag on Sunday afternoon in his Monster Mustang.
Chaz Mostert was strong with a pair of podiums in a Commodore that has been revitalised by solid off-season improvements at Walkinshaw Andretti United.
But the previously-dominant Shell V-Power team is now in a rebuilding phase without Scott McLaughlin and Jamie Whincup was also missing from action at the Red Bull Ampol team that did everything right with van Gisbergen.
The speedy Kiwi was tough on Saturday but could afford to have fun on Sunday once he jumped Waters as the season opened with a pair of 250km races that included two pitstops for fuel and tyres.
“That middle stint was just insane. [But] I’d rather have won the race by passing him [Waters], says van Gisbergen.
“It’s just a good feeling to come out of the first round with a strong start. It sets you up for the season.
“But I’m not going to be protecting, I want to win every race.”
The last time he swept the season opener, on the streets of Adelaide in 2018, van Gisbergen was narrowly beaten to the championship by McLaughlin before he turned his eyes and focus to IndyCar racing in the USA.
This time, SvG refuses to even discuss the title fight.
“I think there are probably six guys who are going to be there,” he said.
Waters?
“Awesome recovery from what happened yesterday. Second was a pretty good bag of points and got the season underway,” he said.
“It’s way too early to be talking about the championship. You cannot help bad luck, and I’ve already had some bad luck. For me, it’s the same as Shane, to try and go out every weekend and win races and be up there at the front.”
And Mostert?
“A second and a third, so we’ll take that. It’s been a fantastic start to the year for us,” he said.
“I’ve still got a little bit to find. We’ll see what we’ve got at round two. I probably didn’t maximise what I had, so I have to change my driving style a little bit.
“I’d like to continue to have the three-way tussle that we’ve got going on.”
Back from the leading pack, Tim Slade was speedy on Saturday and was strong in fourth until a massive crash that sent his CoolDrive Mustang back to Melbourne for urgent repairs and out of Sunday’s second heat.
Anton de Pasquale also crashed on Saturday but bounced back for fourth only Sunday, although he only rated himself “I guess a two” for his first weekend in the Shell Mustang.
“I cannot remember the last time I made a mistake on my own,” said his teammate Will Davison, after a miscue on Sunday following a podium on Saturday.
Among the others to crash were Will Brown, who will need a new Erebus Commodore after a giant practice smash even though the car was repaired for racing, and veteran James Courtney, who hit the wall on Sunday in his Boost Mustang.
2021 Repco Supercars Championship pointscore:
Shane van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing (300 points)
Chaz Mostert – Mobil 1 Appliances Online Racing (267)
Mark Winterbottom – Irwin Racing (231)
Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team (225)
Jamie Whincup – Red Bull Ampol Racing (198)
Cam Waters – Monster Energy Racing (183)
Bryce Fullwood – Mobil 1 Middy's (177)
David Reynolds – Penrite Racing (156)
Jack Le Brocq – Truck Assist Racing (150)
Andre Heimgartner – Ned Racing (144)
Brodie Kostecki – Erebus Boost Mobile (141)
Scott Pye – DEWALT Racing (138)
Todd Hazelwood – Dunlop Racing (129)
Nick Percat – R&J Batteries (129)
Zane Goddard – Yellow Cover Racing (126)
Jake Kostecki – Unit Racing (120)
Will Brown – Erebus WD-40 (120)
Anton De Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing (120)
Fabian Coulthard – Local Legends (102)
Jack Smith – SCT Logistics (96)
James Courtney – Boost Mobile Mustang (90)
Macauley Jones – Coca Cola Racing (60)
Garry Jacobson – PremiAir Racing (45)
Tim Slade – CoolDrive Racing (0)
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