MOTORSPORT: Van Gisbergen takes it all

Shane van Gisbergen’s domination of the Clipsal 500 does not bode well for any rivals proposing to take the Virgin Australia Supercars (VASC) drivers’ championship away from him.

And that applies to no-one moreso than his Red Bull Holden Racing Team team-mate Jamie Whincup, who was comprehensively out-paced and out-raced at the Adelaide parklands circuit.

Van Gisbergen was fastest in practice, fastest in qualifying, fastest in the ARMOR ALL shoot-outs and then won both 250km races in his Holden Commodore VF, albeit in very different ways.

On Saturday he ran away and hid from his rivals, winning by 15sec. On Sunday, he erased a 5.4sec gap to leader Scott McLaughlin, debuting for DJR Team Penske (DJRTP), passing the Falcon driver with just four laps to go when the DJR driver locked his rear brakes and slid wide.

It was a perfect 300-point start to van Gisbergen’s championship defence, highlighting his stellar car control, mile-high confidence and amazing ability of his Triple Eight-built Commodore to ride the street circuit’s notorious bumps, put the power down and clamp the brakes on better than any other car in the field.

It was a turnaround from a troubled test day and proof that he and engineer Grant McPherson have got on top of the new construction Dunlop control tyre, a factor many expected to upset the order of proceedings, not reinforce them.

“Coming into the weekend we had a fair few unknowns, but it's great to know that we know how the car performs, we know the car is fast,” said van Gisbergen.

“We cracked the big 300 podiums for Triple Eight today as well, which is an awesome milestone for the team. We can really head into the season knowing we gave the opener our all," he stated.

Whincup, by comparison, looked lost at a circuit where he has traditionally starred. There were set-up issues, strategy issues and just straight-out driving issues. He looked to be forcing things to happen when patience and metronomic pace have been his fortes through six championships.

The disturbing thing about all this for those expecting or hoping that Whincup will give van Gisbergen a tough fight for the title is this is very much how we left 2016; Whincup making mistakes and van Gisbergen racking up wins and points.

It’s early days, so much can change very quickly, of course.

Hopefully though, Adelaide was concrete confirmation DJR Team Penske has taken another big step-up in pace as it enters its third year under the control of US motor racing mogul, Roger Penske.

With McLaughlin signed from Garry Rogers Motorsport, gun engineer Ludo Lacroix from Triple Eight and Shell V-Power bulking up the funding base, DJRTP exited Adelaide with two front row starts, two second place finishes and Fabian Coulthard second in the championship.

It could have been better of course if McLaughlin had hung in there for a few more laps and won a first-ever VASC race for Penske, but the signs were good for that to happen sooner rather later.

“I really thought that today was probably the day where we could have got that first win,” said McLaughlin.

“But there’s a lot of promise there. I’m kicking myself, but it is what it is,” the young Kiwi lamented.

Every other team and driver were left very much in the wake of these two teams, effectively fighting over scraps.

James Courtney ran strong for the former Holden Racing Team, now Mobil 1 HSV Racing, but Adelaide had always been a happy hunting ground for this combination. So, the verdict remains out.

The Prodrive young guns Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters were supporting act starts too, while 2015 champion Mark Winterbottom got off to his traditional slow Clipsal start. He wasn’t helped by Whincup spinning him in race one and chattering brakes in race two, an issue that bedevils the Prodrive Falcon.

The rest were bit players; Craig Lowndes never looked a threat; the Brad Jones Racing duo of Tim Slade and Nick Percat looked more likely, but only when they weren’t making mistakes individually or running into each other; Garry Rogers Motorsport, its new Commodores and drivers Garth Tander and James Moffat will be better for the run. Ditto for Erebus Motorsport.

For the factory Nissan Altimas, Adelaide offered little evidence they have bridged the performance gap to the front of the field. Rick Kelly’s meeting started strong and went backwards; brother and carsales.com.au driver Todd started poorly and got better; Michael Carso struggled throughout; rookie Simona de Silvestro survived and finished. No more could be hoped from her, nor 16-year old rookie Alex Rullo who also survived the weekend in his Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Commodore.

Next up is the non-championship test sessions (oops, we mean sprint races) at the Australian F1 GP. Hopefully a lot of teams and drivers will use their time at Albert Park wisely and find pace they sorely need. Otherwise it’s going to be a long season for them with little satisfaction.