Photo: Red Bull Racing Australia

Newly crowned champion Shane van Gisbergen wins final race of 2016

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Newly crowned V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen managed to win the final race of the season in Sydney for Triple Eight Race Engineering, despite hard pressure from pole-sitter Garth Tander.

The duo were locked in a hard fight for the lead throughout the race, with Holden Racing Team driver Tander taking the lead off the line.

Van Gisbergen managed to reclaim the lead on lap 20, a lead he held for the remainder of the race despite the best efforts of Tander.

Another driver under hard pressure was Erebus Motorsport driver David Reynolds who finished third with Jamie Whincup right on his tail.

Whincup had to settle for fourth ahead of Scott McLaughlin who did his last race for Garry Rogers Motorsport and Volvo. The Kiwi managed to secure third overall in the championship with fifth position as Triple Eight Race Engineering driver Craig Lowndes only managed ninth.

James Courtney crossed the line in sixth position for Holden Racing Team, with Tim Slade and Will Davison rounding off the top eight.

Van Gisbergen claimed the title on 3,368 points, 200 points more than Whincup in second place and 562 points more than McLaughlin in third.