Lucas Oil’s Shane van Gisbergen has dominated the Sydney Motorsport Park 400 on the weekend, taking back-to-back race victories in the wet on Saturday – and the outright round win with 246 points scored.
The star driver, who has won six times this year – three at the Australian Grand Prix, one in New Zealand, and two at Sydney Motorsport Park – was the man to beat on Saturday, with his VIP Petfoods/Lucas Oil Commodore the standout car in the sodden conditions.
“Our Commodore was amazing in the first race,” Van Gisbergen said.
“The guys really nailed the wet setup, and we had stunning pace throughout – so that was a really great win.
“For the second 100km race, we definitely had to work harder for that one.
“Our competitors had figured out some wet setup options – and were almost as good as us – so we had to push all the way.
“All in all, we had two great races and for us to clean sweep Saturday was a really cool moment for the team and its partners.”
However, the New Zealander could not continue his glory run in Sunday’s 200km race, bringing home the VIP Petfoods/Lucas Oil Commodore in seventh.
“We only finished where we qualified on Sunday, but I had quite a good race with a few battles between. Unfortunately we just couldn’t move forward," he said.
“We still wrapped up the weekend with the most points, and so that was great.”
Van Gisbergen and TEKNO Autosports will now turn its attention to the annual enduro events, which include the Wilson Security Sandown 500, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600.
“The good results give us confidence for the all-important enduros," Van Gisbergen said.
“You could really feel the energy on Saturday night in the garage, how pumped-up everyone was – and even now on Monday everyone is still pretty excited.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing, and if we are going to have any chance of the championship the next three races have to be great.”
Shane van Gisbergen and his VIP Petfoods/Lucas Oil Commodore will next be on track at the Wilson Security Sandown 500 on September 12-14.
2014 V8 Supercars Championship Series
Top 10 Drivers' Championship Points
- Jamie Whincup: 2025
- Mark Winterbottom: 1890
- Craig Lowndes: 1812
- Shane van Gisbergen: 1778
- Fabian Coulthard: 1712
- James Courtney: 1688
- Chaz Mostert: 1502
- Scott McLaughlin: 1497
- Garth Tander: 1404
- Jason Bright: 1329
Top 10 Teams' Championship Points
- Red Bull Racing Australia: 3887
- Ford Pepsi Max Crew: 3417
- Holden Racing Team: 3142
- Brad Jones Racing: 3041
- Norton Hornets: 2473
- Erebus Motorsport V8: 2385
- Wilson Security Racing: 2081
- Valvoline Racing GRM: 2002
- Jack Daniel's Racing: 1945
- Tekno Autosports*: 1803
* Single-car team.
