Photo: V8 Supercars

Shane van Gisbergen claims maiden win for Triple Eight

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Shane van Gisbergen claimed his first V8 Supercars victory for Triple Eight Race Engineering, beating team mate and multiple champion Jamie Whincup in the first of four non-championship races at Albert Park.

The Kiwi started fifth but passed three cars on the first lap. Van Gisbergen then put hard pressure on Whincup and was able to get past as his team mate made a small mistake.

The Holden duo remained close throughout the race and crossed the finishing line just 0.5 seconds apart.

The race had one safety car intervention to remove the stranded Nissan Altima of Todd Kelly, seemingly suffering from a blown engine.

Fabian Coulthard and Chaz Mostert fought hard for third place, with Coulthard getting past the Ford rival at the safety car restart. But the Prodrive Racing Australia driver fought back and got back into third with three laps remaining of the race, demoting Coulthard to finish fourth ahead of DJR Team Penske team mate Scott Pye in fifth.

Garth Tander claimed sixth position for Holden Racing Team while Craig Lowndes and James Courtney rounded off the top eight.

Reigning champion Mark Winterbottom had a nightmare race after being turned around on the opening lap in a fight with Coulthard. The Ford driver finished 21st.