Van Gisbergen clinches title with Race 31 win

Shane van Gisbergen has clinched the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship with victory in the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 opener.

Van Gisbergen was imperious in his march to win No. 20 of the season.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver had to overhaul pole-sitter David Reynolds to win the race.

From there, the New Zealander pieced together a dominant drive to seal his third crown with a win.

The 85-lap race ran green for its entirety, van Gisbergen taking the win with a margin of 16.8s.

It was his 11th win from the last 13 races, and a record-breaking 26th podium of the season.

Reynolds and Chaz Mostert completed the podium, with Will Davison and Cam Waters rounding out the top five.

Waters was the only driver who could deny van Gisbergen, but threw away a podium with a wild spin before his second stop.

"We had to beat one car to secure it, but we killed everyone," he said.

"That was amazing, it was a great battle at the start, Dave was driving awesome. I enjoyed racing him, it's been a while.

"What a year, it's been a lot of fun... I want to come out tomorrow and do the same job.

"To see the guys, how much effort they've been putting in... I'm stoked, It's hard to put it into words yet."

Reynolds led van Gisbergen into the first chicane, and set about opening up a gap.

A charging van Gisbergen recovered from a wobble at the final corner on lap 2 to keep the pressure on.

James Courtney and Davison began the pit cycle on lap 8, with the latter encountering a slow stop.

Van Gisbergen closed to Reynolds and threatened an overtake at the hairpin on lap 15.

On the following lap, Reynolds could do little to prevent van Gisbergen making the move stick.

Waters and Anton De Pasquale stopped on lap 19, and rejoined ahead of Courtney and Davison.

Van Gisbergen opened up a 1.7s lead by the time Reynolds pitted on lap 24.

Red Bull Ampol Racing responded and brought van Gisbergen in on the following lap.

He rejoined just ahead of Reynolds, who had to overhaul the lapped Jack Smith down the pit straight.

Van Gisbergen retained the lead after the final stoppers pitted, with Reynolds 0.5s behind.

Waters, De Pasquale, Davison and Courtney were within 6.3s of the lead.

Mostert, meanwhile, had dropped from fourth at the start to seventh, with Thomas Randle and Mark Winterbottom behind.

Drivers began to encounter trouble; Will Brown hit a beach chicane tyre bundle, and James Golding hit Bryce Fullwood at the first chicane.

Andre Heimgartner, meanwhile, was also forced into the garage with a misfire.

Van Gisbergen opened up a 2.5s gap as Reynolds reported steering dramas.

Courtney kicked off the second pit cycle on lap 43; meanwhile, Mostert picked off both Shell V-Power drivers, and set off after Waters.

Davison stopped on lap 44; De Pasquale emerged behind teammate Davison following his own stop.

By then, van Gisbergen was 5.7s ahead of Reynolds, with Mostert clearing Waters at the beach chicane.

In pursuit of his old rival and former teammate, Waters tagged the barriers at the front chicane and spun.

The Monster Ford avoided the concrete walls, but dropped a swag of time.

Mostert led Waters into the lane, with the latter dropping behind both Shell V-Power drivers.

Penrite Racing changed the steering wheel on Reynolds’ car when he took his final stop.

Van Gisbergen retained the effective lead when he stopped on lap 54, and held a 10-second lead over Reynolds.

Reynolds, still fighting his steering dramas, came under attack from Mostert, who was later warned for exceeding track limits.

Waters passed De Pasquale for fifth, with Davison closing up to Reynolds and Mostert ahead.

Try as he might, Davison was unable to take the final podium spot from Mostert, with Reynolds hanging onto second.

Van Gisbergen will take an unassailable 606-point lead over Waters into Sunday.

Cars will return to the track on Sunday for ARMOR ALL Qualifying, a Shootout and Race 32.