Shane van Gisbergen takes Supercars win in Albert Park, Melbourne, after crash during practice

Dramatic moment Shane van Gisbergen spins out and slams into a concrete wall – before coming back to claim a shock victory at Albert Park

  • Shane van Gisbergen won Race Three in Melbourne
  • He spun-out during practice but was on track for qualifying
  • Chaz Mostert maintains the championship lead 

Shane van Gisbergen has claimed his second official win for the 2023 season in the first Thursday race in V8 Supercars’ 63-year history.

The reigning Supercars Champion took claimed victory for Race Three at Melbourne’s Albert Park following a dramatic spin-out in practice.

The Triple Eight driver lost control of his Red Bull Camaro after his left rear wheel caught the grass, sending him whirling down the track and into a concrete wall.

Gisbergen appeared shaken after the crash but quickly recovered for qualifying sessions three and four. 

He praised his team for repairing the damage to the rear of his car and spoiler in time for qualifying.

Shane van Gisbergen won Race Three of the V8 Supercars 2023 season at Melbourne’s Albert Park on Thursday (pictured, Gisbergen on the podium alongside Erebus Coca-Cola’s Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown)

‘Thanks to my team. After what I did to the car this morning, tried to write the car off,’ he joked.

‘Patched it up like they did, then two good qualis (sic) and a race win. Stoked.’ 

Gisbergen started Race Three in third position behind Erebus Coca-Cola’s Brodie Kostecki in second and Shell V-Power’s De Pasquale in pole position.

The victory means Gisbergen has finished first on track in every race this season but he was stripped of his Race One win for running an illegal cooling system. 

Kostecki and his Coca-Cola Racing teammate Will Brown filled the remaining spots on Thursday’s podium.

In fourth was Red Bull’s Brock Feeney resulting in Camaros claiming the four top spots.

Feeney has also scored five bonus championship points for driving the fastest lap of the race. 

Chaz Mostert broke the Camaro streak in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang by taking out fifth place. He’s maintained his championship lead by just 31 points. 

The race was divided in two by pit stops with half the cars only stopping at the end of Lap 17 of 19.  

Race Three marked the first time in Supercars history a race has run on a Thursday (pictured, turn one of Race Three)

Race Three marked the first time in Supercars history a race has run on a Thursday (pictured, turn one of Race Three)

Shane van Gisbergen managed to claim victory on Thursday following a dramatic crash (above) that damaged the rear of his car during practice

Shane van Gisbergen managed to claim victory on Thursday following a dramatic crash (above) that damaged the rear of his car during practice

De Pasquale was one of the late-pitting cars and missed a chance at the podium after a slow stop, finishing in sixth.

Van Gisbergen also suffered a sluggish pit stop with the team fumbling the right rear tyre, costing the Kiwi his two-second margin over Kostecki just one lap before the race’s end.

Number 23 driver Tim Slade climbed five places to finish in 20th following a crash at turn five during practice.

His car suffered significant rear and left-corner damage after hitting the concrete barrier with the Nulon Racing V8’s left-rear wheel left hanging loose.

Slade’s team managed to fix the car just five minutes before the flag dropped for Race Three but his absence from qualifying resulted in a pit lane start.

A strategic tyre move by the Triple Eight and Erebus teams caught the eye of officials in the last lap of the race.

Teams were told they would be required to use two differing tyre compound sets for the Melbourne race but the track was declared wet at the beginning, nullifying the rule.

Chaz Mostert in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang (above) has retained his 2023 championship lead by 31 points

Chaz Mostert in the Mobil 1 Optus Mustang (above) has retained his 2023 championship lead by 31 points

Instead, teams were only required to switch out two of the car’s tyres over the course of the race but the loophole was only fully realised on Lap 18.

Erebus and Red Bull both swapped just two tyres on their cars, giving them a significant advantage over the rest of the track.

Thursday’s 19-lap race was first of four this week set to run on the same track as Sunday’s Australian F1 Grand Prix.

V8 Supercars will return to the track for a 15-lap race at 2.55pm on Friday. 

2023 V8 SUPERCARS RESULTS 

RACE THREE

1 Shane van Gisbergen – Red Bull Ampol Racing

2 Brodie Kostecki – Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus

3 Will Brown – Coca-Cola Racing by Erebus

4 Broc Feeney – Red Bull Ampol Racing 

5 Chaz Mostert – Mobil 1 Optus Racing

6 Anton De Pasquale – Shell V-Power Racing Team

7 Cam Waters – Monster Energy Racing 

8 Jack Le Brocq – Truck Assist Racing

9 James Courtney – Snowy River Racing 

10 Macauley Jones – Pizza Hut Racing

11 Bryce Fullwood – Middy’s Racing

12 Thomas Randle – Castrol Racing

13 Matthew Payne – Penrite Racing

14 Nick Percat – Mobil 1 NTI Racing

15 Scott Pye – Resimax Group

16 Will Davison – Shell V-Power Racing Team

17 Andre Heimgartner –  R&J Batteries Racing

18 Cameron Hill – Truck Assist Racing

19 David Reynolds – Penrite Racing

20 Tim Slade –  Nulon Racing

21 Mark Winterbottom – DEWALT Racing

22 James Golding – Nulon Racing

23 Jack Smith –  SCT Motorsport

24 Declan Fraser – Tradie Racing

25 Todd Hazelwood – CoolDrive Racing

 CHAMPIONSHIP

1 Chaz Mostert –  331 points

Brodie Kostecki – 300 points

Cam Waters – 267 points

Will Brown – 250 points

Andre Heimgartner – 234 points

David Reynolds – 231 points

Shane van Gisbergen – 225 points

Jack Le Brocq – 219 points

Mark Winterbottom – 201 points

10 James Golding – 190 points

11 Scott Pye – 180 points

12 Broc Feeney – 171 points

13 Bryce Fullwood – 168 points

14 Anton De Pasquale – 165 points

15 Matthew Payne – 165 points

16 Will Davison – 148 points

17 Tim Slade – 145 points

18 Thomas Randle – 139 points

19 Todd Hazelwood – 138 points

20 James Courtney – 132 points

21 Macauley Jones – 126 points

22 Cameron Hill – 112 points

23 Jack Smith – 105 points

24 Declan Fraser – 82 points

25 Nick Percat – 67 points

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