Fast-rising young New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen is now tenth overall in the 2009 Australian V8 Supercar championship points standings after a top four finish at the latest round at Phillip Island over the weekend.
Heading into the round the 20-year-old in just his second full season in the popular Ford/Holden category was 12th with 1466 points. Now, after a fifth place finish in the first race and a sixth in the second saw him fourth overall for the weekend he is tenth in the series points standings with 1679 points with just two rounds to go.
It was another strong, confident round for the precociously talented Aucklander who worked his way up to fifth from his eighth place starting position in the first (22 lap) race of the weekend on Saturday then started and finished Sunday's longer (44 lap) race sixth despite having to make five places back up after being delayed exiting the pits after his first stop.
The round was won by championship points leader, Ford driver Jamie Whincup from Rick Kelly and Garth Tander with van Gisbergen fourth, Whincup's title adversary Will Davison fifth and James Courtney sixth.
Though he was lucky to escape censure after an early race two clash which saw Ford Performance racing's Mark Winterbottom end his race in the gravel trap, van Gisbergen had his work cut out moving forward in the first race. After qualifying fourth quickest but managing only the eighth quickest time in the Top 10 Shootout on Saturday. Then in the second he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when it came to leave the pits for the first time.
As team boss Ross Stone said afterwards;
"I don't go off luck very often but we had bad luck in the pit road when Shane got caught up in the traffic. He did a great job today, I am really proud of how he drove. He had good speed and good consistency all day and made a great recovery after the pit lane mess.
"We can see that podium for Shane we just haven't been invited there yet! We will just keep doing what we're doing and I'm sure it will happen soon."
RESULTS
Qualifying for Race 1 (Saturday)
1. Jason Bright 1:33.6487*
2. Will Davison 1:34.0346
3. Jamie Whincup 1:34.1541
4. Todd Kelly 1:34.2253
5. Rick Kelly 1:34.4099
6. Lee Holdsworth 1 1:34.4810
7. Craig Lowndes 1:34.4921
8. Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools Ford Falcon) 1:34.5078
9. Fabian Coulthard 1:34.7177
10. Mark Winterbottom 1:35.1458
Race 1 (Sat 22 laps)
1. Jamie Whincup
2. Will Davison
3. Rick Kelly
4. Garth Tander
5. Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools Racing Ford Falcon)
6. Mark Winterbottom
7. Lee Holdsworth
8. Steven Johnson
9. James Courtney
10. Jason Richards
Qualifying for Race 2 (Sunday)
1. Jamie Whincup 1:35.1992*
2. Mark Winterbottom 1:35.2470
3. Paul Dumbrell 1:35.4984
4.Jason Richards 1:35.5161 7
5. Rick Kelly 1:35.5433
6. Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools Ford Falcon) 1:35.5745
7. Steven Johnson 1:35.5747
8. Jason Bright 1:35.6667
9. Will Davison 1:35.6711
10. Michael Caruso 1:35.7320
Race 2 (Sunday 44 laps)
1. Jamie Whincup
2. Rick Kelly
3. Garth Tander
4. James Courtney
5. Jason Bright
6. Shane van Gisbergen (SP Tools Ford Falcon)
7. Craig Lowndes
8. Paul Dumbrell
9. Fabian Coulthard
10. Michael Caruso
Ends
2009 V8 Supercar Series
Points after Rnd 12 of 14
1. Jamie Whincup 2905
2. Will Davison 2783
3. Garth Tander 2565
4. Craig Lowndes 2292
5. Mark Winterbottom 1964
6. Steven Johnson 1961
7. Rick Kelly 1925
8. Lee Holdsworth 1817
9. James Courtney 1790
10. Shane Van Gisbergen (SP Tools Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon) 1679
11. Russell Ingall 1676
12. Michael Caruso 1623
13. Paul Dumbrell 1585
14. Jason Richards 1579
15. Steven Richards 1504
16. Cameron McConville 1451
17. Todd Kelly 1423
18. Alex Davison 1423
19. Fabian Coulthard 1350
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