Will Davison
Will Davison of the Shell V-Power Racing Team won Race 27 of the Repco Supercars Championship at Pukekohe after leading all 41 laps.
Davison prevailed in the opening round of the ITM Auckland SuperSprint by a 0.8650 margin over Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner, about a second less than the lead of a Safety Car period which marked a five-lap run up to the checkered flag.
Heimgartner took advantage of a good pace and an orderly pit stop for Commodore ZB # 8 R&J Batteries to skip poleman Cameron Waters, who finished third in the # 50 Monster Energy Mustang.
Fourth went to Chaz Mostert (# 25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore) and fifth to championship leader Shane van Gisbergen, who scored the fastest lap bonus points right at death in the # 97 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore.
In the drivers’ standings, van Gisbergen’s margin is slightly reduced by 493 points over Waters, with Davison five points behind in third place.
Waters started Race 27 of the season inside the front row, but it was the Dick Johnson Racing drivers outside the first two rows who made the leap.
Davison (# 17 Mustang) drove team mate De Pasquale (# 11 Mustang), Waters, Mostert, Heimgartner, Scott Pye (# 20 Nulon ZB Commodore) and van Gisbergen into Turn 1.
Around the cusp of the top 10, Tim Slade (# 3 CoolDrive Mustang) shifted sideways due to contact with James Courtney (# 5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) in a four-width squeeze and while he saved him, he is then crashed into the barrier at Turn 4 and retired to the pits.
Heimgartner overtook Mostert on the whole chicane and van Gisbergen was sixth when he passed under Pye at turn 1 on lap 2, while the top three continued to run within a few tenths of a second of each other.
Davison jumped to a 1.7 second lead on lap 8 when Bryce Fullwood (ZB Commodore # 14 from Middy), who hadn’t pit in a long time, climbed up the pack a bit after coming back .
Such traffic continued to play a role and Davison was three seconds clear on lap 14, a margin he basically maintained until De Pasquale pitted for a new set of rears on lap 17.
However, he passed his box and when Mostert pitted a lap later, he came out in front of the # 1 Mustang. 11 in an effective change of position.
Waters and Heimgartner stopped on lap 19, the first for the working side tires and the second for the rear tires, and BJR pulled out his man ahead of Tickford Racing, with Waters picking up just ahead of Mostert.
Davison relinquished the lead when he pitted on lap 20 for the rears, leaving van Gisbergen in front to run longer, as usual.
However, the championship leader this time lacked the pace to really make the overcut work and Triple Eight Race Engineering opted for three tires when he stopped on lap 25.
Van Gisbergen merged just behind Pye before passing the entrance to Team 18 for an effective sixth position at the Hairpin on lap 27, and the pit cycle was concluded when Lee Holdsworth (# 10 Penrite Mustang) entered in service on lap 29.
Davison then drove 1.9 seconds from Heimgartner, a serious net gain for the # 1 car. 8, followed by Waters, Mostert, De Pasquale, van Gisbergen, Pye, Broc Feeney (# 88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore), Nick Percat (# 2 Mobil 1 Commodore NTI ZB) and David Reynolds (# 26 Penrite Mustang).
From first to second it was still 1.7 seconds when a Safety Car was called on lap 32 due to Macauley Jones being stopped to the right of the back of the “straight” drivers with front end damage to the # 1 Kubota ZB Commodore. 96.
Disturbing, van Gisbergen didn’t let the fastest lap rest long on his three fresh tires, and so was one to watch as the race resumed with five laps to go.
Heimgartner went with Davison to the jump while van Gisbergen was pushed back by De Pasquale when they arrived at the Hairpin, though it’s unclear how much of that was defensive and how much of it the DJR man himself was watching Mostert.
Two laps later, van Gisbergen showed his nose in the same spot and they ran side by side to the last corner, where the Triple Eight driver finally completed the overtaking.
Meanwhile, Davison had set the fastest lap to zero on lap 38 and moved to 0.6 seconds over Heimgartner, a gap that was roughly the same with one lap to go.
The DJR driver seemed to have put an exclamation mark on his win with a 1: 02.9559 on the last lap, only for van Gisbergen who snatched the five bonus points when he scored a 1: 02.9504 as he took the checkered flag in fifth. place, behind Waters and Mostert.
Sesto went to De Pasquale, from Feeney, Percat, Reynolds and Pye, while the top 20 finished on the header.
Jake Kostecki (# 56 Tradie Mustang) came home three laps behind in 21st place, but faces post-race investigation after not only being released on the course of Tickford teammate Courtney during his pit stop , but he also lost a rear wheel as he tried to get out of his bay.
UPDATE: Tickford penalized
Fullwood and Jack Le Brocq (# 34 Truck Assist ZB Commodore) were classified as finisher despite both having spent time in the pits due to power steering drama, with Jones and Slade the two DNFs.
Qualifying for Race 28 and Qualifying for Race 29 will take place tomorrow from 10:45 local time / 08:45 AEST.
Results: Race 27, ITM Auckland SuperSprint
| Pos | num | Team / sponsor | Driver | Machine | Turns | Race time |
| 1 | 17 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 16.5957 |
| 2 | 8 | R&J Battery Race | André Heimgartner | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 17.4607 |
| 3 | 50 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 18.3586 |
| 4 | 25 | Mobil 1 Optus Racing | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 19.1729 |
| 5 | 97 | Red Bull Ampol Racing | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 19.4814 |
| 6 | 11 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 21.3103 |
| 7 | 88 | Red Bull Ampol Racing | Broc Feeney | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 21.8437 |
| 8 | 2 | Mobile 1 NTI Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 22.4688 |
| 9 | 26 | Penrite travel | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 23.4810 |
| 10 | 20 | Nulon Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 24.5923 |
| 11 | 18 | IRWIN Racing | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 24.9955 |
| 12 | 10 | Penrite travel | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 25.4365 |
| 13 | 22 | PremiAir Coca Cola Racing | Chris Pither | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 27.4354 |
| 14 | 4 | SCT logistic races | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 27.9607 |
| 15 | 35 | Assistance rides for trucks | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 28.3769 |
| 16 | 55 | Castrol Racing | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 28.9609 |
| 17 | 31 | PremiAir Racing Underground | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 29.3866 |
| 18 | 5 | Running on the snowy river | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 41 | 48: 30.3924 |
| 19 | 9 | Upgrade Erebus’ mobile races | William Brown | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 31.0756 |
| 20 | 99 | Upgrade Erebus’ mobile races | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 41 | 48: 41.8243 |
| 21 | 56 | Race of Tradition | Jake Kostecki | Ford Mustang GT | 38 | 48: 31.2177 |
| 22 | 14 | Middy’s electric ride | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 34 | 48: 31.8241 |
| 23 | 34 | Assistance rides for trucks | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 33 | 48: 33.4187 |
| NC | 96 | Kubota Racing | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB | 28 | 30: 52.7575 |
| NC | 3 | CoolDrive auto parts | Tim Slade | Ford Mustang GT |
Fastest lap (bonus): Shane van Gisbergen, 1: 02.9504, lap 41
Drivers Championship
| Pos | Driver | Pt |
| 1 | Shane van Gisbergen | 2572 |
| 2 | Cameron Waters | 2079 |
| 3 | Will Davison | 2074 |
| 4 | Anton De Pasquale | 2039 |
| 5 | Chaz Mostert | 1844 |
| 6 | Broc Feeney | 1712 |
| 7 | David Reynolds | 1618 |
| 8 | André Heimgartner | 1438 |
| 9 | Brodie Kostecki | 1419 |
| 10 | James Courtney | 1383 |
| 11 | Mark Winterbottom | 1357 |
| 12 | Tim Slade | 1343 |
| 13 | William Brown | 1312 |
| 14 | Lee Holdsworth | 1220 |
| 15 | Nick Percat | 1182 |
| 16 | Todd Hazelwood | 1108 |
| 17 | Scott Pye | 1074 |
| 18 | Bryce Fullwood | 964 |
| 19 | Macauley Jones | 917 |
| 20 | Thomas Randle | 911 |
| 21 | Jack Le Brocq | 909 |
| 22 | Chris Pither | 857 |
| 23 | Jake Kostecki | 835 |
| 24 | Jack Smith | 796 |
| 25 | Garry Jacobson | 513 |
| 26 | James Golding | 344 |
| 27 | Giordano guys | 168 |
| 28 | Zak Best | 162 |
| 29 | Jayden Ojeda | 150 |
Team Championship Updated
| Pos | Cars) | Squad | Pt | ||
| 1 | 88 | 97 | Triple Otto racing engineering | 4284 | |
| 2 | 11 | 17 | Dick Johnson Racing | 4113 | |
| 3 | 5 | (6) | 50 | Tickford Racing | 3462 |
| 4 | 2 | 25 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 2996 | |
| 5 | 10 | 26 | Grove Racing | 2838 | |
| 6 | 9 | 99 | Erebus Motorsport | 2731 | |
| 7 | 18 | 20 | Team 18 | 2431 | |
| 8 | 8 | 14 | Brad Jones Racing | 2402 | |
| 9 | 34 | 35 | Matt Stone Racing | 2017 | |
| 10 | 55 | 56 | Tickford Racing | 1716 | |
| 11 | 22 | 31 | (76) | PremiAir Racing | 1714 |
| 12 | 4 | 96 | Brad Jones Racing | 1713 | |
| 13 | 3 | Blanchard Racing Team | 1343 | ||
| 14 | 49 | Stroke of images | 168 | ||
| 15 | 78 | Tickford Racing | 162 | ||
| 16 | 27 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 150 | ||
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