Will Davison has taken a shock win in a drama-filled Race 5 at the Tasmanian Supersprint round of the 2016 V8 Supercars championship.
Davison took the #19 Darrell Lea STIX car to pole position during qualifying, yet was relegated two spots after blocking James Courtney on his outlap. 2015 Champion Mark Winterbottom started from pole in his stead, with Shane van Gisbergen elevated to start second.
At the start of the race, van Gisbergen and Winterbottom wrestled vigorously at the start of the race with strong pace, leading the field into the pits under yellow flags after an incident involving Chris Pither and Nick Percat in the fence after a hefty turn 5 shunt, and after the restart.
Racing continued under green until lap 42, where Jamie Whincup got stuck in the gravel in Turn 4 on his outlap; On the restart, van Gisbergen continued to lead Winterbottom; behind them, Will Davison moved past Craig Lowndes for third position on lap 78, which proved vital for the race lead just two laps later.
The race exploded on lap 80 where the #97 and #1 cars slipped on oil emanated from Cam Water’s badly damaged #6 Monster Energy Ford Falcon on the entry to the turn 4 hairpin. The slipup by Winterbottom and van Gisbergen allowed Will Davison and Craig Lowndes to slip by for first and second respectively; Winterbottom recovered to put the Bottle-O Falcon on the final step on the podium, while van Gisbergen was burried in the gravel trap and unable to recover.
VIDEO: Lap 80 Carnage
Can you believe it! #V8SC https://t.co/CWHSp8MgJP
— V8 Supercars (@v8supercars) April 3, 2016
Video credit V8Supercars
Other cars that were affected by the oil dropped on the approach to turn 4 were Jamie Whincup, Andre Heimgartner and James Moffat, who all overshot the hairpin and ended up on the escape road.
Another major talking point on the race were brake dramas, which affected several drivers throughout the race. Scott Pye of Dick Johnson Racing Team Penske suffered from front brake issues, while Rick Kelly was forced to pit after running fourth in the race at a point after brake ducting issues roasted the front brakes. On the rejoin to the track, Kelly’s front rotor shattered forcing a retirement after running third in the championship.
Outside of the podium, Scott McLaughlin got the #33 Volvo in fourth, Chaz Mostert in fifth, Garth Tander in sixth, Courtney in seventh, Fabian Coulthard in eight, Lee Holdsworth in ninth, and Jason Bright rounding out the ten.
The wild events of Race 5 have heavily shuffled the championship. Before the race, van Gisbergen lead from Whincup, Kelly and Waters; in-race dramas heavily affected the driver’s championship, with Davison’s win helping him leading from Lowndes, Whincup, Winterbottom and Tander.
