March 14, 2014 — race report by Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — V8SC photo — MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA — Two races, two wins.
Pretty good record, wouldn’t you say?
That’s exactly the record that Shane van Gisbergen has built so far in Albert Park during the 2014 Rolex/MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. SvG held off the charges of both Scott McLaughlin and Craig Lowndes over the course of the 12-lap event to take the victory by a half-second at the checkered flag.
“I got a fight in this race which was great,” an enthusiastic van Gisbergen expressed after Race 2. “Craig was quite fast and giving it to me the whole day.”
“The biggest thing about this weekend so far has been that you can push 100 per cent and find the flaws in your car so I really learned a lot for the rest of the weekend I would say.”
Three-time champion Lowndes came home in second but was disappointed despite a strong performance.
“I think we pushed pretty hard today. At the start (of Race Two) the front pack went to the inside, which opened the door for me to get a good, fast run on my racing line. Our car was reasonably good from the beginning and to be honest I was a little worried it was too good.”
“We just didn’t have enough speed at the end to run up and challenge Shane, which I hate because I feel like it would have been quite a race for the win.”
Asked about the surprising performances by the Norton Hornet of Michael Caruso (who qualified on pole) and the Valvoline GRM car of Scotty McLaughlin, Lowndes was quick to respond with high marks for both teams.
“It’s great to see the Nissans and Volvos are a quick package; they’ve just been caught up in a bit of traffic this weekend. There’s no doubt that it’s a competitive year and the Champion at the end of the season is going to be the one who has made the least mistakes.”
Behind SvG and Lowndes, Fabian Coulthard, Caruso and McLaughlin rounded out the top five at the finish.
Jamie Whincup finished seventh after starting seventh due to a five-spot grid penalty for bad sportsmanship in forcing McLaughlin onto the grass during Race One.
Starting from pole thanks to his Race 1 victory, the Tekno Autosports Holden of van Gisbergen pounced on the initial start to grab the lead into the opening corner.
SvG fought off the charging Volvo of McLaughlin for the first half of the opening lap before McLaughlin ran wide at Turn 11 and fell back to fifth.
From there, Lowndes took up the chase of the VIP Petfoods Holden, but had nothing for the #97 over the remainder of the event.
James Moffat, in the second Norton Nissan, ran off-track late at Turn 13 and fell from ninth to outside the top ten.
Scott Pye endured a difficult afternoon in his Dick Johnson Racing Ford. Pye received a post-race time penalty after Race 1 for spinning David Reynolds, ensuring he lined up last for the second event. A motor failure on the grid then necessitated an engine change and forced Pye to start Race Two from the pit lane. Pye eventually finished a lap down in last place.
The Rolex/MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge continues on Saturday, with Race Three going green at 3:25 PM local time.
