Kiwi ace Shane van Gisbergen has used all his cunning and guile to grab a 17th win of the 2022 Supercars Championship - and 71st of his career - to extend his lead atop the table at Pukekohe.
After grabbing pole position in morning qualifying, the defending champion negotiated a chaotic opening lap and expertly controlled restart to grab another victory at the iconic raceway on its last day as a motorsport venue.
Van Gisbergen jumped off the grid well and led through the first turn, but behind him, others weren't so lucky. Sitting fourth in the championship, Anton De Pasquale spun into a wall to spark a safety car, but that was soon overridden, when Will Brown shifted a concrete retainer near pitlane and the race was suspended.
Neither driver was able to rejoin the race and officials spent several laps handing out penalties to others involved in the incidents.
When the race restarted, van Gisbergen forced the field to bunch before accelerating away and then closed the door on Will Davison's attempted pass, which saw his rival lose placings in his bid for a second victory this weekend.
Davison is shaping as the Kiwi's toughest opponent for the title, winning on Saturday and claiming pole for Sunday's second race, but his rush of blood put paid to his chances in this contest.
"It was a bit crazy on that restart," said van Gisbergen. "I did everything I could to get going, but I was struggling with my tyres and once it cleared up, I was gone."
Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters snuck past Davison to fill the other podium spots, with Kiwi Andre Heimgartner in sixth.
Last time Supercars visited Pukekohe in 2019, the local favourite took overall honours, so victory carries special significance on this occasion, with a home crowd cheering him on.
"I just wanted to do a burnout, but I've got another race this afternoon," he said. "I looked after it a bit and hopefully I'll get a chance tonight."
Van Gisbergen has qualified only eighth for the day's second race, so will have his hands full trying to overhaul Davison, with Heimgartner among those ahead of him in fifth on the grid.
