Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen has sealed the Repco Supercars Championship after Race 30 was abandoned due to treacherous conditions.
Inclement weather plagued the day, but produced a mix of results as Kelly Grove Racing’s Andre Heimgartner placed his Ford Mustang on provisional pole position entering the Top 10 Shootout.
Many drivers including Todd Hazelwood and Jamie Whincup came a cropper during the session, although the Brad Jones Racing driver finished the session third.
It was Kiwis at the top with Heimgartner leading van Gisbergen, while Hazelwood, Fabian Coulthard in his best showing for Team Sydney, Nick Percat, Tim Slade, Jamie Whincup, Chaz Mostert, Cameron Waters and David Reynolds progressed to the Top 10 Shootout.
Shell V-Power Racing’s Anton De Pasquale struggled in 17th, as did Erebus duo Will Brown in 16th and Brodie Kostecki back in 19th.
The Top 10 Shootout was held in damp conditions and it was Percat who prevailed in his Brad Jones Racing Holden ZB Commodore.
Van Gisbergen fell 0.4093s short of Percat’s time as Reynolds was the big mover to be third alongside Slade.
Provisional polesitter Heimgartner was eighth.
After a chaotic and red flagged Super2 Series race, Supercars elected to start under safety car just like the majority of categories during the day but that was as far as it got.
The abandonment of Race 30 meant Shane van Gisbergen was provisionally crowned this year’s Repco Supercars champion as his margin of 349 points cannot surpassed, which added to the $25,000 cheque he received as winner of the Beaurepaires Sydney Cup.
For more on van Gisbergen’s title reflection, stay tuned to The Garage.