An "angry" Shane van Gisbergen charged to victory in the Newcastle 500's second race to put Saturday's disqualification behind him and conclude a drama-filled opening round of the Supercars season.
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The reigning champion, who roared to the front with five laps left to race on Sunday, cut a frustrated figure in the post-race press conference, repeatedly knocking back the host's questions saying "all our talking was done on the track today".
After an awkward opening to the media event, and once the attention turned to fellow podium-finishers Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds, van Gisbergen eventually gave a brief response about his winning drive.
"I drove focused, angry, but done everything I could and yeah, got it done," the 33-year-old Kiwi said.
Mostert, who leads the drivers' championship standings after finishing second in both Newcastle races, commended van Gisbergen's Sunday drive.
"How he drove that race and being able to make those tyres live on that car that second stint, getting the times from what he was doing ... was super impressive.
"I left it all out there, tried my hardest to make mine live ... my hardest to hang on."
After making his second pit-stop on lap 58 - 12 laps before van Gisbergen's - Mostert had to drive around the east end street circuit with one eye in his rear-view mirror as the Red Bull Ampol car roared towards him on fresher tyres.
Van Gisbergen was eight seconds behind Mostert after making his second stop, but the three-time series champion bridged the gap with five laps remaining.
He made his move coming out of Scott Street onto Parnell Place, making contact with Mostert in the process.
It was a down-to-the-wire contest that made for a thrilling finish to the event, the first held since 2019 after a COVID-enforced hiatus.
Van Gisbergen's win came after he and teammate Broc Feeney were earlier stripped of their one-two finish in Saturday's race following multiple overnight protests.
The Red Bull Ampol/Triple Eight Racing team were found to have breached the rules by placing dry ice into a cooling system under their drivers' seats when it is only meant to be deployed on the passenger side of the car.
Triple Eight have appealed the penalties but it turned a dream start into a nightmare for van Gisbergen as he chases a third-consecutive drivers' championship in 2023.
If they are unsuccessful in their appeal, it will be the second time van Gisbergen has been stripped of a race victory at Newcastle after a 25-second time penalty for a pit-stop infringement dropped him from first to fifth in the opening 2018 race.
His victory on Sunday was some sort of redemption but he lost 150 championship points being disqualified from Saturday's results.
Sunday's race started with drama of its own when the race was red-flagged after just one lap so officials could repair a section of fence between the track and pit-lane.
It was damaged by a crash that occurred at the back of the grid just moments after the start lights went green.
Mostert had jumped ahead of pole-position holder David Reynolds off the start to grab the lead into turn one but there was a safety car deployed immediately after Declan Fraser was spun around and hit the pit-wall.
After the race resumed, Mostert led until lap 24 when he made his first pit-stop. Cam Waters pitted at lap 30, David Reynolds the next lap and James Golding quickly followed, which left van Gisbergen as the race leader.
He made his stop on lap 38 and emerged back in fifth.
With newer tyres, Waters bridged the gap to Mostert mid-race and looked set to pass the leader before bumping the inside wall coming out of Scott Street. The hit damaged a steering arm and Waters was forced to pit, losing major ground in the field.
It left Mostert 12 seconds in front of van Gisbergen but with deteriorating tyres his lead was being closed by nearly a second a lap.
Van Gisbergen got caught in a bit of traffic about the 65-lap mark but he emerged from his second pit-stop on lap 70 eight seconds behind Mostert and passed the Walkinshaw Andretti driver with five laps remaining to secure a valuable victory.
Meanwhile, Singleton's Ryan Gilroy enjoyed a maiden Dunlop Series podium by finishing third in race two of lower-tier Super3 category on Sunday.
Elermore Vale's Michael Sherwell was nursing a leg injury after a multi-vehicle crash in the fourth and final Aussie Racing Cars event, also involving Merewether's Cody McKay and Warners Bay's Charlotte Poynting.
ALL OF THE SUPERCARS NEWS:
- SVG bounces back from disqualification to claim victory in race two
- Everything that happened trackside at the Newcastle Supercars
- Singleton rookie nabs maiden Dunlop Series podium at Newcastle 500
- Offensive behaviour, Supercars exclusion for two men in concert fight
- All the photos from Newcastle Supercars 2023
Max McKinney
Max McKinney is a sports reporter with the Newcastle Herald. He previously worked in news, covering mainly local government and transport. Max mostly reports on the Newcastle Knights, but also covers a mix of local sport.
Max McKinney is a sports reporter with the Newcastle Herald. He previously worked in news, covering mainly local government and transport. Max mostly reports on the Newcastle Knights, but also covers a mix of local sport.
Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
