The status quo returned for the second race of the WD-40 Townsville Supersprint with the Red Bull Ampol Racing Team locking out the front row. Jamie Whincup held pole position from Shane van Gisbergen, while Chaz Mostert and Will Davison occupied the second row. Race 1 winner, Cameron Waters shared the 3rd row with David Reynolds.

As the race commenced it was Jamie Whincup who got the jump and immediately veered towards the middle of the circuit to cut off any challenge from his teammate. The run towards Turn 2 was more subdued than Saturday’s race as Whincup led van Gisbergen, Mostert, Davison, Reynolds, B.Kostecki, Fullwood, Waters, Hazelwood and Brown.

The same could not be said for the following corner as cars ran three wide on the approach to Turn 3. Mostert squeezed inside Davison for 3rd, while further down the order Nick Percat was spun after contact. Fabian Coulthard looked to have played a role in the incident as the Local Legends car continued with smoke pouring from a damaged left front guard that was rubbing against the tyre.

Coulthard and Slade were the first to make their compulsory stop when the pit window opened on lap 6. De Pasquale completed his visit to the pits a lap later and was followed shortly after by Heimgartner, who had been embroiled in a tense battled for 10th place with Pye, Brown and Goddard.

Whincup made his stop on lap 18 of 39, which handed the race lead to van Gisbergen from Mostert, with 10 cars still to complete their compulsory break. Whincup had three tyres changed and emerged in 9th. Shane van Gisbergen stopped a lap later and gambled by changing only two tyres. The time saved saw the #97 leave the pit exit comfortably ahead of Whincup.

By lap 22 there was nothing to separate the two Red Bull Ampol Racing cars with van Gisbergen under intense pressure from Whincup. A half a chance at the final corner was snuffed out when the #97 moved across to block the move. The battle raged for several laps with van Gisbergen vigorously defending his lead before Whincup gradually dropped back by just over a second.

“They’re allowed to race each other if they do it properly and fairly. We’ve got punters and people watching who want a motor race,” Team Principal Roland Dane said to Fox Sport when asked about the dice. “Shane’s got to be careful that he doesn’t get done for blocking because you’re not allowed to . If he takes it much further then he’ll get done. He’s on the edge at  the moment and he probably needs to remember that.”

Attention moved away from the leaders to the battle for 9th with Waters, Reynolds and Fullwood al fighting over the position. The trio ran three wide down the main straight on lap 33 with Fullwood squeezed for room as he became the Commodore in a Mustang sandwich. After brief contact Waters kept 9th from Reynolds and the WAU Commodore.

Shane van Gisbergen eased away to win with a handy margin from Whincup and Mostert, who barely survived a late race surge from Will Davison. Hazelwood, Pye, B.Kostecki, De Pasquale, Reynolds and Winterbottom rounded out the Top 10. Race 1 winner Cameron Waters faded during the final laps and fell back to 11th at the chequered flag.

“It was awesome,” Shane van Gisbergen said to Fox Sport. “We chose the option of 2 tyres to try and get ahead. All I had to do was keep him behind for a few laps before he toasted the fresh tyre and pulled away. It was a pretty cool battle and pretty intense. There were some tight moments in the garage but it was fun!”

“I guess the whole pit lane wants us to have a blue, but it’s not going to happen” Whincup joked to Garth Tander from Supercars Media. “Great team points for both cars, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something in my car is bent. I really struggled to brake, probably about 4 laps before the stop and I had a pretty bad vibration. SVG made it hard and I did what I could at the start to pull away from everyone and minimise the stacking of cars and give both of us an advantage by the stop, but I probably burnt myself out a bit trying to play the team game. That’s okay a team 1-2 and I couldn’t be happier.”

Photos: supercars.com

MORE MOTORSPORT NEWS…

• BLACK IS BACK AT THE WD-40 TOWNSVILLE SUPERSPRINT

• SUPERCARS CONFIRMS RETURN TO QUEENSLAND RACEWAY

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