» Supercars: Van Gisbergen stripped of victory

Shane van Gisbergen’s quest to win a second Supercars Championship title was dealt a major blow after he was stripped of victory in Saturday’s first race of the season-ending Newcastle 500 round.

A 25-second time penalty was issued to the New Zealander – who won the race in dramatic fashion by passing an out-of-fuel Scott McLaughlin on the final lap to move to within 2 points of his compatriot in the championship battle – after the stewards ruled that his Red Bull Holden Racing Team pit crew had violated the rules.

The investigation of the alleged breach ran well into the night after TV replays showed that van Gisbergen’s car was lowered off its jacks just before refuelling was complete on his third and final pit stop.

The error was a clear violation of the rules, but the final decision was not handed down until Sunday morning while Red Bull Holden Racing Team officials continued to argue they did not have any performance gain from the error which it attributed to miscommunication between members of its pit crew.

The final decision was handed down, with van Gisbergen handed a 25-second time penalty – equivalent to a pit lane drive-through penalty – for the transgression which dropped him to fifth in the final classification.

McLaughlin was therefore promoted to the position of race winner, with David Reynolds (Erebus Motorsport Holden) and van Gisbergen’s teammate Jamie Whincup completing the podium. Scott Pye (Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden) was promoted to fourth place.

The updated race results see McLaughlin’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings extended to 53 points over van Gisbergen, with a maximum of 150 points available in Sunday’s final race. The DJR Team Penske driver must finish sixth or better – irrespective of where van Gisbergen finishes – to win his maiden Drivers’ Championship title.

2018 Australian Supercars Newcastle 500 – Race 30 Final Classification (95 laps)
Pos	Driver	Team / Entry	Result
1.	Scott McLaughlin	Shell V-Power Racing Team	2:00:26.0938
2.	David Reynolds	Erebus Penrite Racing	+ 7.006
3.	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	+ 16.487
4.	Scott Pye	Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	+ 18.706
5.	Shane van Gisbergen	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	+ 21.230
6.	Mark Winterbottom	The Bottle-O Racing Team	+ 36.707
7.	James Courtney	Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	+ 37.982
8.	Andre Heimgartner	Plus Fitness Racing	+ 46.156
9.	Rick Kelly	Castrol Racing	+ 48.335
10.	Simona de Silvestro	Team Harvey Norman	+ 50.392
11.	Anton de Pasquale	Erebus Penrite Racing	+ 52.772
12.	Lee Holdsworth	Preston Hire Racing	+ 55.126
13.	Todd Hazelwood	Bigmate Racing	+ 59.457
14.	Cameron Waters	Monster Energy Racing	+ 1:02.503
15.	Michael Caruso	Drive Racing	+ 1:03.740
16.	Will Davison	Milwaukee Racing	1 lap behind
17.	Richie Stanaway	RABBLE.club Racing	1 lap behind
18.	Tim Slade	Freightliner Racing	1 lap behind
19.	Jack Le Brocq	TEKNO Autosport	2 laps behind
20.	James Golding	Wilson Security Racing GRM	4 laps behind
21.	Chaz Mostert	Supercheap Auto Racing Team	5 laps behind
22.	Garth Tander	Wilson Security Racing GRM	5 laps behind
23.	Craig Lowndes	Autobarn Lowndes Racing	9 laps behind
	Not Classified	Team / Entry	Reason
DNF.	Nick Percat	Timken Racing	Collision
DNF.	Fabian Coulthard	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Accident
DNF.	Tim Blanchard	Team CoolDrive	Collision