After missing out on what could have been a third place finish in the first V8 Supercar race at Adelaide's Clipsal 500 meeting on Saturday, SP Tools-backed Stone Brothers Racing Ford driver Shane van Gisbergen stormed back on Sunday to finish a fighting fourth in the second.
In stark contrast to Saturday's incident-packed 78 lap/250km race, Sunday's ran without major incident, but was interrupted by a safety car period when the curb at Turn 8 broke up in the final quarter.
The subsequent laps under the safety car were just what van Gisbergen and Stone Brothers Racing teammate Tim Slade needed because of their two-stop fuel strategy with both able to finish the race - despite van Gisbergen's #9 Falcon ending up back at the Stone Brothers Racing pit with just a litre of fuel left in the tank.
"Under safety car I was told to conserve as much fuel as possible which is what I did. When the race restarted I was trying to go fast but use less fuel so I was backing off a bit earlier than I normally would. Under safety car I was in sixth gear (2,000 revs) doing 40kms just trying to save fuel," van Gisbergen said.
Young gun van Gisbergen's drive in Sunday's race was the talk of the meeting, the 20-year-old spending the closing laps once the track was clear trying to find a way past Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom for fifth before being elevated to fourth with just three laps to go when one of the drivers in front of him, championship points leader Jamie Whincup, was forced to serve a pit lane penalty for loose panel work.
The result saw van Gisbergen claw his way back up to eighth place for the round (after finishing the first race in 22nd position) and he is now fourth in the series points standings behind Whincup, Winterbottom and James Courtney.
"Fourth is a great comeback from yesterday, I wanted to get a podium for the guys but we didn't quite get there, we are really happy with the points haul."
Both races were won by Toll Holden Racing's Garth Tander, Saturday's from Ford's James Courtney and Holden's Lee Holdsworth, Sunday's from Courtney, Winterbottom and van Gisbergen.
The Stone Brothers Racing Team will now head back to the Gold Coast to begin preparations for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne (March 25 - 28).
RESULTS - Clipsal 500, Race 2
1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander
2 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney
3 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom
4 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane van Gisbergen
5 55 The Bottle-O Racing Team/Paul Dumbrell
6 15 Jack Daniel's Racing/Rick Kelly
7 3 Centaur Racing/Tony D'Alberto
8 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson
9 8 Team BOC/Jason Richards
10 34 Fujitsu Racing /GRM/Michael Caruso
Qualifying (20 mins) Race 2
1 2 Toll Holden Racing Team/Garth Tander 1:20.9560
2 1 TeamVodafone/Jamie Whincup 1:21.0513
3 5 Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon/Mark Winterbottom 1:21.1788
4 17 Jim Beam Racing/Steven Johnson 1:21.2616
5 34 Fujitsu Racing /GRM/Michael Caruso 1:21.4465
6 15 Jack Daniel's Racing/Rick Kelly 1:21.4698
7 22 Toll Holden Racing Team/Will Davison 1:21.4946
8 9 SP Tools Racing/Shane Van Gisbergen 1:21.5496
9 18 Jim Beam Racing/James Courtney 1:21.5701
10 3 Centaur Racing/Tony D'Alberto 1:21.5992
V8 Supercars Championship Series Points
1 Jamie Whincup 771
2 Mark Winterbottom 714
3 James Courtney 696
4 Shane Van Gisbergen 630
5 Lee Holdsworth 573
6 Craig Lowndes 552
7 Rick Kelly 530
8 Paul Dumbrell 489
9 Michael Caruso 462
10 Steven Johnson 455
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