Shane van Gisbergen says his first day at Albert Park was "anything but straightforward" after winning back-to-back Supercars races and making it three from his past five starts in Melbourne to kick off four days of racing.
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The two-time reigning Supercars champion did not let a light drizzle affect his shining Chevrolet Camaro on his way to career win No.77 and a maximum 75 points in the first ever Thursday race in Supercars and Australian Touring Cars Championship history.
Starting on the second row behind pole-sitter Anton de Pasquale, van Gisbergen quickly passed Brodie Kostecki into second before a simple inside manoeuvre on lap three, turn three, saw the Kiwi take a lead he never relinquished.
SVG made his compulsory stop with one lap remaining after de Pasquale's podium hopes were derailed by a slow rear tyre change a lap earlier.
All seemed fine for Red Bull's main man at race time, but it was not the case earlier in practice one.
In a brief moment of mortality, van Gisbergen spun out of control exiting turn eight at high speed, rotated once, then twice, before finding the wall horizontal to the track and damaging the rear of his car.
Van Gisbergen then missed practice two completely as he and crew members hastily sought repairs under time constraints.
"My day was anything but straightforward," van Gisbergen said.
"Making the mistake in first practice, having to fix it and not knowing what it was going to be like fixed.
"The guys did an amazing job learning a new car and how different it is - I was helping pull it apart, and there were so many little parts that were wrecked."
Fortunately for Red Bull Ampol, van Gisbergen carried on with the form that saw the 33-year-old win both opening races in Newcastle's season-opener before being sensationally disqualified from race one alongside teammate Broc Feeney due to a breach of driver cooling systems within the cockpit.
Rounding out the podium on Thursday were Kostecki and teammate Will Brown for a Coca-Cola Racing double, with Brown scoring an extra five points for his team after registering the fastest lap.
SVG will start on pole for race four, scheduled for 2.55pm AEDT on Friday, ahead of Brown, Feeney and Kostecki.
Drivers will then be back in action on Saturday morning in back-to-back sudden-death qualifying sessions that lead into race five (5.30pm AEDT) and Sunday's final race at 11.25am AEDT.
SUPERCARS RACE THREE RESULT:
1. Shane van Gisbergen (Red Bull Ampol Racing)
2. Brodie Kostecki (Coca-Cola Racing)
3. Will Brown (Coca-Cola Racing)
4. Broc Feeney (Red Bull Ampol Racing)
5. Chaz Mostert (Mobil1 Optus Racing)
SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Chaz Mostert (Mobil1 Optus Racing) 331 pts
2. Brodie Kostecki (Coca-Cola Racing) 300 pts
3. Cam Waters (Monster Energy Racing) 267 pts
4. Will Brown (Coca-Cola Racing) 250 pts
5. Andre Heimgartner (R&J Batteries) 234 pts
Australian Associated Press
