From there, it was van Gisbergen’s race as he took control on the restart, never getting a truly comfortable lead in the second stint — as Lowndes lurked less than a second behind — but holding consistent station out front before he pitted for the final time on lap 33 and handed the point to Andre Heimgartner. This sparked the only cycle of green flag pit work in the race, seeing Mark Winterbottom rally from a drive-through penalty after drilling the rear of Todd Kelly’s Nissan on the lap eight restart to lead two laps past halfway.
Frosty’s time out front was short-lived, however, as he pitted on the 40th round and handed the lead back to van Gisbergen for good. The pit cycle did elevate Slade past Lowndes for second, but the journeyman driver and recent two-time VASC winner couldn’t mount a charge and watched helplessly as van Gisbergen drove off into the distance in Darwin.
“Today was great just for us to back up the form we had when we won a few weeks ago,” Slade admitted. “I felt as though we had a really quick race car yesterday too, but got caught up in some things that kept us from contending. Today we were strong in qualifying, in the (top 10) shootout and it was a lot easier after Craig had a bit of an off there at turn one. When I saw the debris I knew it would be a safety car. Struggled a bit on the restart but managed to hold him off, so it’s a happy day.”
Lowndes completed the podium in third after leading 13 laps early on.
“It was a great day for us,” he smiled. “We had a great battle there with Tim. I had a couple little mistakes which, obviously, he capitalized on and kept us from getting there. Congrats to Shane — he did a hell of a job today — and thanks to all my guys for turning things around from yesterday.”
Will Davison’s TEKNO machine and James Courtney’s HRT, which started 20th and missed all of the chaos throughout the day, rounded out the top five.
The Virgin Australia Supercars Championship returns to action July 8-10 for the Castrol Edge Townsville 400 from Townsville Street Circuit.
RESULTS: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship; CrownBet Darwin Triple Crown Race Two; Hidden Valley Raceway; June 18, 2016
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Tim Slade
- Craig Lowndes
- Will Davison
- James Courtney
- Michael Caruso
- Scott McLaughlin
- Jamie Whincup
- David Reynolds
- James Moffat
- Chris Pither
- Andre Heimgartner
- Todd Kelly
- Garth Tander
- Rick Kelly
- Jason Bright
- Nick Percat
- Dale Wood
- Aaren Russell
- Mark Winterbottom
- Tim Blanchard
- Cameron Waters
- Chaz Mostert
- Scott Pye
- Fabian Coulthard
- Lee Holdsworth
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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